Pittsburgh City-County Building: Difference between revisions

{{Infobox PAhistoric|PAhistoric_type=CPHStructure|architect=Henry Hornbostel|area=Downtown|built=1914-19171914–1917|coordinates={{coord|40|26|18.12|N|79|59|49.73|W|type:landmark_region:US-PA|display=inline,title}}|governing_body=The City of Pittsburgh & Allegheny County|image=Pittsburgh City-County Building in 2016.jpg|location=414 Grant Street ([[Downtown Pittsburgh|Downtown]]), [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]], [[United States|USA]]|locmapin=Pittsburgh|map_caption=Location of the City-County Building in Pittsburgh|name=Pittsburgh City-County Building}}

The '''Pittsburgh City-County Building''' is the [[Pittsburgh City Council|seat of government]] for the City of [[Pittsburgh]], and houses both [[Pittsburgh]]city and [[Allegheny County, Pennsylvania|Allegheny County]] offices. It is located in [[Downtown Pittsburgh]] at 414 [[Grant Street]], Pittsburgh, [[Pennsylvania]]. Built from 1915-17 to 1917 it is the third seat of government of Pittsburgh. Today the building is occupied mostly by Pittsburgh offices with Allegheny County located in adjacent county facilities. It also contains a courtroom used for the Pittsburgh sessions of the [[Supreme Court of Pennsylvania]].

At the start of the 20th century, [[Pittsburgh|City of Pittsburgh]]city and [[Allegheny County, Pennsylvania|Allegheny County]]county officials began to realize that the current structure which housed the city and county government offices was insufficient for the city's rapid growth. The offices at that time were located in the Smithfield Street City Hall building, which was built in 1868-1872. The demand for new offices grew exponentially with the incorporation of [[Allegheny, Pennsylvania|Allegheny City]] into the City of Pittsburgh in 1907, which added 130,000 new residents to the city.<ref>''Allegheny City: A History of Pittsburgh’sPittsburgh's North Side''. Dan Rooney & Carol Peterson. University of Pittsburgh Press, 2014.</ref> In 1909 plans for a new City Hall began. [[William A. Magee|Mayor William A. McGee]] proposed selling the current offices in the Smithfield Street City Hall and the Public Safety building, and using these funds to buy the [[Allegheny County Courthouse]] and use it as the space for construction of a new City Hall.<ref>“The"The Proposed City-County Building Trade”Trade". ''The Pittsburgh Press'', November 9, 1909.</ref> By 1912 the plans moved forward substantially with both the City of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County approving a joint venture to purchase the land and both occupy the new building. The architect for the new building was to be chosen through a competition, only accepting architects residing and doing business within Allegheny County.<ref>“Approved"Approved Agreement for City-County Building”Building". ''The Pittsburgh Press'', May 22, 1912.</ref> Regional favoritism was used in the building's construction as well, as in 1914 [[Joseph G. Armstrong|Mayor Joseph Armstrong]] claimed that all material for the building should come from manufactures who produce and are located in Pittsburgh, and that all labor employed should be obtained or taken from Allegheny County.<ref>“Home"Home Industry Favored”Favored". ''The Gazette Times'' (Pittsburgh), October 2, 1914.</ref> The plans for the development of the new building even extended to some of the prominent organization within Pittsburgh such as the [[Carnegie library|Carnegie Library]], and the Civic Club of Allegheny County who both had plans for space in the new building.<ref>“Large"Large Civic Center Plan is Announced.”" ''The Pittsburgh Post'', February 28, 1914.</ref><ref>“Library"Library Branch Offer”Offer". ''The Gazette Times'' (Pittsburgh), June 25th, 1914.</ref> Construction was postponed for more than a year though as the general contracting firm of W. F. Trimble & Sons filed an injunction claiming that the selection of James L. Stuart as consulting and supervising engineer was done through an improper bidding process.<ref>“City"City-County Building Case Argued in Court”Court". ''The Gazette Times'' (Pittsburgh), October 9, 1914.</ref> The case was eventually decided by the [[Supreme Court of Pennsylvania|Pennsylvania Supreme Court]] and resolved by a legislative act, and development on the building was allowed to continue.<ref>"Trimble v. Pittsburgh et al.”" Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, March 22, 1915.</ref> The groundbreaking on the building occurred with a ceremony on July 6, 1915, with County Commissioner I. K. Campbell striking the first blow with a pick and Joseph G. Armstrong Jr. lifting the first shovel of dirt. Both the pick and the shovel were later silver plated and preserved as mementos in the office of the [[List of mayors of Pittsburgh|Mayor]].<ref>“Excavation"Excavation Started for City-County Hall”Hall". ''The Pittsburgh Post'', July 7, 1915.</ref><ref>“Work"Work is Begun on City-County Joint Building”Building". ''The Pittsburgh Press'', July 6, 1915.</ref> Following significant progress in construction a cornerstone laying ceremony was planned to coincide with the celebration of Pittsburgh's Centennial.<ref>“Cornerstone"Cornerstone Exercises”Exercises", ''The Gazette Times'' (Pittsburgh), August 4, 1915.</ref> On March 26, 1916, the celebration of the 100th anniversary of incorporation was held in Pittsburgh and a parade wound through downtown Pittsburgh ending at a steel-framework of what would become the new City-Council Building. Three cornerstones were laid during the celebration, including one for the City, one for the County, and one for the workers, each of which contained time capsules.<ref>[https://www.newspapers.com/clip/12362126/ "City-County Building Workers Lay Their Own Cornerstone"], ''The Pittsburgh Sunday Post'', March 19, 1916, p. 3.</ref><ref>“Civic"Civic Pageant Draws Throngs of Spectators”Spectators", ''The Pittsburgh Sunday Post'', March 19, 1916, p. 3.</ref><ref>“City’s"City's Cornerstone Contents Announced”Announced", ''The Pittsburgh Post'', March 18, 1916.</ref> The construction on the new building finished in 1917, and was completed under budget.<ref>“File"File Figures on Cost of County-City Building”Building", ''The Pittsburgh Press'', June 13, 1915.</ref> In April 1917, the City Law Department was the first to switch into the new building, with the rest of the remaining offices allocated by June.<ref>“City"City Law Department to Change Location”Location", ''The Pittsburgh Press'', March 23, 1917.</ref> The building was nominated in January 2016 to become a City Historic Site by [http://www.preservationpgh.org/nominations/ Preservation Pittsburgh].

The building was designed in the [[Beaux-Arts architecture|Beaux Arts]] style, with elements of the [[City Beautiful movement|City Beautiful Movement]]. The City-County building is a representation of a distinctly American extrapolation of the Beaux Arts mode.<ref>Leland Roth, ''American Architecture'', p. 287.</ref> Hornbostel was known for this architectural style, and architectural historian James Van Trump has stated that Hornbostel kept the principles of the Beaux Arts central with his designs, but also frequently departed from the precepts, and integrated elements of other styles akin to industrially-inspired [[Brutalist architecture|brutalism]].<ref>James Van Trump, ''Art and Architecture in Pittsburgh'', Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, Pittsburgh, Pa., 1985, p.144.</ref> The design of the building was also influenced by the City Beautiful Movement. This movement featured urban planning with soaring [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]] buildings, clean and orderly designs, and included the concept of the “White"White City”City". The City-County Building was one of Pittsburgh's first attempts at incorporating the City Beautiful Movement into its urban design.<ref>Walter Kidney, ''Henry Hornbostel: An Architect’sArchitect's Master Touch'', Lanham, Md., Roberts Rinehart Publishers., p.141.</ref>

Some of the most significant design elements of the building include the Grand Lobby, which is a naturally lit atrium with a 47-foot high barrel-vaulted ceiling. The ceiling is held up by bronze columns crafted by Louis Tiffany Studios. They feature at their bases, the Seals of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County, frontiersman Guyasuta, and Pittsburgh's oldest surviving building, the Fort Pitt Blockhouse. The roomsroom's ornate elevator doors feature a series of reliefs detailing the previous homes of municipal government. The reliefs age with the building'sbuildings they clutch, reaching adulthood with the present City-County Building and Allegheny County Courthouse.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.pittsburghpa.gov/city-county-100/index.html|website=pittsburghpa.gov|title=City County Building - City of Pittsburgh}}</ref>

Scenes of the 1997-981997–98 Superman remake ''[[Superman in film#Superman Lives|Superman Lives]]'' were slated to be filmed in the building's "crystal palace" grand mezzanine and serving as ''Daily Planet'' offices but production was [[Superman (film series)#Proposals for fifth film|delayed]] by [[Warner Brothers]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://articles.mcall.com/1998-04-16/news/3203721_1_jimmy-olsen-clark-kent-lois-lane |title=Can Pittsburgh Survive A 'Superman' Invasion? Business As Usual - tribunedigital-mcall |publisher=Articles.mcall.com |date=1998-04-16 |access-date=2016-08-15}}</ref>