CrazyPaco proposed plan for Pitt's campus

Throughout the history of the University of Pittsburgh, there have been various campus plans and designs. From its start in downtown Pittsburgh, to Observatory Hill on the North Side and finally to the Oakland area of Pittsburgh in 1909, the Pitt campus has undergone many changes. For the move to Oakland, a Greek acropolis design for the campus was chosen to be built along the hillside of today's upper campus. Today, only Thaw Hall remains from this original Oakland plan that was never completed due to lack of funds and that was officially abandoned with the construction of Eberly Hall (then called Alumni Hall). In the 20s and 30s, the gothic plan for the Schenley Farms property was planned and undertaken. This plan progressed in development through the construction of what are now the Cathedral of Learning, Heinz Chapel and the Stephen Foster Memorial. A planned classic gothic college quadrangle to be constructed entirely on the grounds of the Cathedral Lawn ended in the mid-1950s with the placement of Clapp Hall across 5th Avenue due to community opposition of further construction on the Cathedral Lawn. Pitt's campus has also added existing buildings to its campus as they have become available the Schenley Hotel (now William Pitt Union) and Apartments (Schenley Quad residence halls), YMHA (Bellefield Hall), and more recently the Masonic Temple (now Alumni Hall). Other major expansion of the campus came just prior to and following the shift to Pitt's status as a state-related university and the subsequent increases in enrollment. Modern institutional-style buildings such as Posvar, Mervis, Langley, Benedum, Chevron and David Lawrence Halls along with the Litchfield Towers dormitories greatly expanded the campus. Along the way, Frick Fine Arts building was built in the 60s in an Italian Renaissance style unlike any other university buildings constructed at that time or any other. Most recently, buildings such as the Petersen Events Center, Sutherland, Pennsylvania and Panther Halls have been built in the upper campus along with buildings in the lower campus such as Sennott Square and the Bouquet Garden residences.

What is clear, from Thaw Hall's Greek revival to the Information Science Building's unusual design to the Pete's sleek glass, there is no shortage of architectural diversity. Some bemoan this as a lack of architectural continuity that is found on more traditional campuses, but others have championed it. Terence Smith, the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Contemporary Art History and Theory has described it the following way, "...if you look at the range of architecture surrounding the Cathedral of Learning, it’s kind of a theme park of replica buildings, representing the architecture of the past speaking to the present."[1] Pitt's unique collection of buildings can and should be viewed as a strength, and Pitt should not be shy about greater illumination on this often overlooked attribute. After all, Pitt, physically, is what it is.

Fostering an appreciation of the physical Pitt can only enhance a sense of Pitt pride, history and community. In celebrating Pitt's eclectic architecture, it would be helpful to place markers somewhere on or near campus building listing their architect, design, year constructed, information about the buildings namesake (how many people living in Holland Hall know who William Jacob Holland was? Do people know that Langley Hall is named after the same person, and Pitt professor, that Langley Air Force Base is?) and perhaps other interesting trivia. To add to sense of history for both faculty and staff, a sense that seems to be severely lacking for an institution boasting over 200 years of rich history, perhaps "then-and-now" photographs, or saved features from demolished structures, such as the saved terra cotta stature of Aesculapius or ornamental ironwork from the old Pennsylvania Hall, could be added or displayed around campus. Such displays could create new areas of interest in the otherwise mundane and unusable steep hills of the upper campus and reignite pride and interest in buildings long overlooked.

Pitt's heterogeneity can and should be revealed as a strength, as symbol of its diversity, and an advantage for the History of Art and Architecture department. That said, there are problems with the campus that have been discussed well before the present day. The bisection of the campus by major traffic arteries (mainly 5th and Forbes Ave) and the interruption of pedestrian flow from the main student area comprised of the Union, Schenley Quad dorms and the Towers to the main academic building, the Cathedral of Learning, by the existence of Bigelow Blvd severely restricts the feel of fluency between campus buildings, interferes with pedestrian traffic, and prohibits the congruity of the campus and, in a way, thereby prohibits the "sense" of Pitt, especially in light of its architectural heterogeneity. In a way, Pitt's impressive architectural array of buildings could also be thought to be like a collection of jewels lacking their proper setting.

Pitt's administration, throughout its history, has sought, studied, and commissioned plans to develop the Oakland campus and solve these shortcomings. In an effort to revive attention to the design of Pitt's campus during this current period of unprecedented health and advancement by the university, I present campus plans that blend the ideas of past administrations and designers with some of my own. Though flawed with hurdles both financial and political, these plans are, in my mind, plausible. I present them for free use, in the hope that during this period of incredible growth and fundraising by Pitt, at a time when Pitt has mobilized it resources to move into the upper echelon of the world's public research universities, it inspires someone, somewhere to considered "finishing" a campus worthy of the Pitt "brand".

Current:
Here is a relatively current satellite photo of Pitt's Oakland campus just prior to completion of Schenley plaza (probably 2005).
---> please scroll to the right to see entire view --->

Now imagine standing on the steps of Heinz Chapel facing the Cathedral of Learning. To your right, the Cathedral Lawn and pedestrian pathways extend to the steps of Alumni Hall (former Masonic Temple now home of the Pitt Alumni Association) and Clapp Hall (already situated to face towards the Cathedral from across 5th Ave). Behind you, the lawn extends to Bellefield Hall and the Mellon Institute. Ruskin Ave and most of Tennyson and Lytton Avenues between 5th and Bigelow Blvd are also closed along with Bigelow Blvd between Forbes and 5th Ave. The Cathedral Lawn now encompasses park-like space with easy pedestrian traffic from the Towers dormitories to Bellefield Hall's recreation facilities the whole way to the School of Information Science building. Pitt now has a truly contiguous campus, perhaps the most impressive urban campus in the country. This campus gives a park-like presence to central Oakland restoring part of the area's original character that existed at the start of the 20th century and beautifying and extending the appeal of Oakland as destination to work and live, thereby cementing Oakland as a world class location for its world-class institutions. Although parts of the development will be expensive, I believe it is both realistic to achieve for both the University and City of Pittsburgh. However, it would also require unprecedented cooperation and vision. Detailed below are the changes that would occur along with other feasible improvements around the lower and middle Pitt campus in Oakland.

After:
What follows is my mock-up of the same satellite photo altered with my proposed changes followed by descriptions of my suggested changes. Details of these changes and how they would be accomplished are detailed below.
----> Please scroll to the right to see the entire view --->

Here is a list of the 1st tier critical acquisitions that Pitt would have to make:
These acquisitions would form a major continuous campus/quad from Tower C to Bellefield Hall to the West and Alumni Hall/Clapp Hall to the North. Street names are on a campus map below.

1. Pitt, from the city, would acquire Bigelow Blvd between Forbes Ave and Fifth Ave. Pitt has been trying to close this stretch of road for years to turn it into green space as it bisects the major concentration of student housing from the main university building and also has been the scene of repeated accidents involving cars and pedestrians (including the death of former Chancellors John Bowman's wife... I personally witnessed a car strike a wheelchair bound student attempting to cross this street in the mid-90s). As called for in the original closing plan, traffic along South Bouquet St. will be turned into one-way traffic in the direction of Fifth to Forbes Ave. South Dithridge Street (instead of Bellefield Avenue as in the original plan) is turned into one-way in the direction of Forbes to Fifth Avenue. Parking is eliminated on these streets to facilitate the flow of traffic. At the current Pitt-owned parking lot and parklet between South Bouquet and Oakland Avenues, additional parking could be constructed such as Parking Garage. This land/garage, along with financial compensation, could be granted to the city in exchange for the Bigleow Blvd land/lost parking and the land/lost parking on Bellefield Avenue (see below) and Fifth Ave between South Bellefield Ave and Bigelow Blvd (see below). Alternative compensation for lost city parking on the east end of campus could be explored. In the end, the city loses land that it was only generating parking meter revenue from, gets new parking garage income, fair market compensation for the land, and beautified publicly accessible space most likely raising property values of surrounding neighborhoods.

2. Pitt would acquire South Bellefield Avenue between Forbes Ave. and Fifth Ave. This is a more difficult acquisition for Pitt since the east side of South Bellefield is home to Mellon Institute (the building is owned by CMU ), Bellefield Hall (owned by Pitt), and the Pittsburgh Board of Education Building (owned by the Pittsburgh Public School District). It would require CMU to sign off on the plan (probably pretty likely) as well as the Pittsburgh School District (perhaps more difficult). Ideally, Pitt would be able to acquire the Board of Education Building from the cash-strapped Pittsburgh public school district (see below in 3rd tier acquisitions). As noted above with the Bigelow closing, traffic would be rerouted on South Dithridge and South Bouquet Streets. This land would also be turned into additional green space and the views of the three impressive and historic buildings along South Bellefield Ave from the Cathedral and Heinz Chapel would be preserved. These buildings would form a beautiful and natural end to the Cathedral lawn in a traditional campus quad-like manner. As noted above, cash and land/garage-swap compensation could be provided to the city in exchange for allow Pitt to undertake this significant improvement to the Oakland area.

3. The major construction project and most difficult aspect of this plan would be converting 5th Avenue between South Bellefield Avenue and Bigelow Blvd to a tunnel and landscaping over the top much like was done to put the underground garage beneath the Sailor's and Soldier's Memorial Lawn. Unthinkable? Actually, I'm not the first to think of this as it was proposed by Pitt decades ago. During Chancellor Litchfield's tenure, university retained architect and planner Max Abramovitz suggested that Fifth Avenue be "depressed" and decked over, "so that it would run underground". Back then, in 1956, it was estimated to cost between "$850 and $1,500 per lineal foot." If you adjust for inflation, that is $5,740.67 to $10,130.60 for approximately each 1,118 feet of this stretch of 5th Avenue for a total cost that would end up being in the range of $6-12 million. By the way Abramovitz also called for the closing of a big chunk of Forbes Avenue, Craig St, and South Bellefield Avenue with traffic diverted to Neville Street. See page 266 of Albert Roberts' Pitt: the story of the University of Pittsburgh.

Yes, my plan is still expensive, but less ambitious than Abramovitz's plan while achieving what I believe would be improvements to the campus as, if not more, breathtaking than the Peterson Events Center/Pitt Stadium site redevelopment and, potentially, close to or below the Pete's estimated $100 million price tag. A $50-$100 million or so fund raising campaign to "finish the campus" (a nod to the "finish the Cathedral" campaign of 1935) could be folded under the now $2 billion Campaign for the University of Pittsburgh that is just half-way to achieving its goal. A campaign with rousing design plans and models, sweeping visuals, and a concrete physical goal might garner greater excitement among alumni and benefactors than more esoteric fundraising concepts like endowed chairs and fellowships that, despite their nobility, are harder sell to potential donors.

Getting the city to sign off would probably be difficult. However, I believe, as did Abramovitz, it is absolutely doable especially if sold to the city as the win-win situation it could be. Again, lost parking meter income could be compensated for by payment or swaps for parking garage(s). As Pitt already controls the Cathedral lawn property along the south border of 5th Avenue as well as Clapp and Alumni Halls and the Music Building along the north side of 5th Avenue, only the Pittsburgh Athletic Association would need to be convinced the road tunneling is a good idea. Because of the major beautification this would provide the area, it could only make the Pittsburgh Athletic Association's building more valuable and add to their air of exclusivity (I'm assuming it would be impossible for Pitt to aquire the PAA's landmark historic building, that would be ideal situation). It would be hard to imagine they couldn't be eventually convinced to sign off, and this is not accounting for potential influence of university trustees or administration higher-ups among their ranks. An alternative to the underground throughway for 5th Ave would be to reroute traffic up North Bellefield and around Bigelow Blvd, but this may cause too many traffic tie-ups, additional loss of parking meter revenue, and would require the approval of more Oakland residents due to the its wider long-term disruption.

The ability to have a contiguous lawn stretching from the William Pitt Union, around the Cathedral of Learning, to Bellefield Hall and up to Clapp Hall will make for an impressive and expansive park-like campus area that includes architecturally beautiful and significant buildings. The border would be defined by these impressive buildings, forming a three-fourths quad-like design on every side except on Forbes Avenue. However, the open side on the Forbes Avenue has the Carnegie museum/library/music hall complexes just across the street, and despite the presence of Forbes Avenue, their views from the Cathedral Lawn would help minimize the impact of the remaining Forbes Avenue traffic flow on the feel of this impressively large quad. (Forbes Ave closure and rerouting has been proposed previously but faced extreme opposition of Oakland merchants and residents.).

In addition, the acquition and construction of new greenspace would allow some creative thinking for the campus...such things as constructing a reflecting pool/pond(s) and/or streams(s) on the Cathedral Lawn (perhaps between the Catheral and Heinz Chapel as suggested in original plans for the site seen above) or using the steep banks on the south side of the Cathedral Lawn to be turned into decorative waterfalls (something I've thought should be considered for the steep banks next to the Petersen Events Center on the upper campus).

Although not architecturally uniform, the Union, Cathedral, Heinz Chapel, Alumni Hall, Clapp, Pittsburgh Athletic Association, Bellefield Hall, Mellon Institute, Board of Education Building, and the Carnegie complex will form, at least in my opinion, one of the most impressive looking campus quads in the country. By the way, it is not unusual for non-university buildings (such as the Pittsburgh Athletic Association or Board of Education Building) to be incorporated in the campus of an urban university as examples of this are everywhere at the University of Pennsylvania.

2nd Tier Acquisitions:
These acquisitions would form a new campus area north of and contiguous with the Cathedral lawn and tie together Pitt buildings in a campus setting from the Information Science Building/Music/Ruskin Hall to Alumni Hall/Clapp-Langley-Crawford complex to potential new facilities built on the UPMC owned Syria Mosque site parking lot.

4. Pitt would close and acquire Ruskin Avenue between Fifth Avenue and Bigelow Blvd. Pitt controls almost all of the properties along this street including the Clapp-Langley-Crawford complex on the west side of the street and the Music Building, Information Science Building, and Ruskin Hall (already scheduled to be converted to undergraduate dorm space) on the East side of the street. The only property on the block not owned by Pitt is the Baptist church on the far northeast corner. There is also a public parking lot of unknown ownership on the northeast corner between Crawford Hall and the Baptist Church, but if this could not be purchased, it would not be needed.

Whether this plan is undertaken or not, the rear of the Music Building and its parking lot desperately needs landscaped and spruced up. This should be done in any case, as it is a major hole in what is otherwise a relatively nice set of buildings/landscaping around Clapp-Music-Ruskin Hall.

5. Pitt would close Tennyson Avenue between Fifth Avenue and the entrance to the UMPC University Center/Holiday Inn towards Bigelow Blvd. The north part of the street towards Bigelow Blvd would be narrowed and landscaped as well. All traffic needing to go to the Holiday Inn would enter from Bigelow Blvd onto what remains of Tennyson.

6. Pitt would close Lytton Avenue between Fifth Avenue and the entrance to the UPMC University Center/Holiday Inn towards Bigelow Blvd. The north part of the street towards Bigelow Blvd would be narrowed and landscaped as well. All traffic needing to go to the Holiday Inn would enter from Bigelow Blvd onto what remains of Lytton. Again, the Pittsburgh Athletic Association would have to be convinced that it's in their best interest to close this road and in essence become part of the Pitt campus. Traffic for the Athletic club could enter from Bigelow Blvd or park by prearranged agreement with Pitt in a new garage complex built by Pitt on the UPMC-Syria Mosque parking lot site or in Sailors and Soldiers' parking garage.

7. Pitt would acquire the UPMC-owned Syria Mosque site parking lot. Since this part of campus would be changed to have a more campus feel, it is an ideal location to build additional facilities. To replace lost parking, part of the facility design could include a parking garage complex. On the proposed satellite photo mock-up of campus, buildings that geometrically match the Crawford-Langley complex could be constructed. Facilities could include new dorms, classrooms, laboratories, or space for expanding academic departments. Alternatively, it may be a good location for smaller sized athletic fields.

Ruskin Hall is being converted to undergraduate dorms, and with this plan this rather impressive existing dorm building would be located on a campus area that is also contiguous with the new Cathedral Lawn created above. This northeast campus plot will add "depth" to the contiguous campus in a manner that has never before existed at Pitt, as well as adding areas of activity adjacent to the far side of a Cathedral Lawn that is relatively sparsely populated with buildings, and, due to the new campus continuity, create the impression of an immense expanse of campus that stretches from the Towers to the Information Science Building.

3rd tier acquisitions:
These projects are not essential but would greatly add to a Pitt campus.
8. Pitt could work to acquire the Pittsburgh Board of Education Building on the corner of Forbes Avenue and Bellefield Street. This acquisition could make closing South Bellefield Ave easier. I believe I have heard rumblings that the cash-strapped Pittsburgh Public School District has at least pondered selling the building. Pitt could buy the building, and perhaps, offer to swap their administrative Craig Street building for it in order to sweeten the deal or perhaps entice the school district with the creation of student scholarship funding. Pitt's Craig building administrative offices could be moved to the Board of Education Building or it could be converted to dorms or classroom/departmental space. Filmore Street between South Bellefield Avenue and South Dithridge Street could then be closed and converted to green space or a spruced up facility entrance for Bellefield Hall and the Board of Education Building with traffic coming in from Dithridge St. The south end of the Board of Education Building could be landscaped to provide a more dramatic entrance to the east end of the campus and the new Cathedral Lawn for those approaching from the east along Forbes Ave.

Rennovation of this building as a residence hall may be ideal as it would eliminate a potenially dead corner of the campus. With School Board building as a residence hall, you'd have a residence hall at this southeast corner, the Ruskin Hall notheast corner (with Bellefield Hall partly serving as a student rec/athletic center for the lower campus and east end dorms), and of course Schenley Quad and Towers behind the Union to the west. In this setup, the Cathedral would be the logical center of activity with foot traffic crossing all over thus preventing dead spaces.

9. As mentioned above, the Public parking lot on the corner of Ruskin Avenue and the Bigelow Blvd could be acquired and converted to a parking garage or other facility such as a dorm. In the campus mock-up, I placed a dorm that fit stylistically with Ruskin Hall in that location with a landscaped front lawn forming a small quad with the north end of Ruskin Hall, the rear of the Information Science building and the back of Crawford Hall. This would further expand the 2nd Tier northeast campus and by adding more dorm space there and thus increasing its role as a location of campus activity.

10. If Pitt could acquire the "Zelda's-Original Hot Dog-Boomerang/Hemmingway's" commercial site, my suggestion would be first to tear down those buildings and replace it with landscaped green space/parklet to serve as a dramatic entrance to Pitt's campus for those traveling east on Forbes Avenue. This entrance/parklet would provide a beautified entrance up to the west side of the Towers lobby and Schenley Quad area. Currently, a defining university entrance for those approaching from the West along Forbes Ave, a major route to the university, is sorely lacking. Alternatively, a new dorm complex could be built on that site that would preserve street level retail locations but still provide a scaled down Pitt campus entrance. The feasibility of Pitt to acquire this property is unknown, but may be better with the rumored closing of the Original at that location. In addition, improved landscaping around the Towers lobby, Schenley Quadrangle and the rear and side of the Union could be improved (much like what was done in quad between Posvar Hall and Hillman Library).

11. Pitt has previously inquired into closing North Bouquet St., but was prevented from doing so by the Frick School. Perhaps the Frick could be somehow encouraged to change their mind. Closing this street could add green-space and connectivity to the middle campus around Benedum and the School of Public health and facilitate pedestrian traffic moving between the upper and lower campuses. It would add to the beautifying of O'Hara (see below). Alternatively, though probably improbable, acquiring the Frick School would be even better (see below in "Unlikely").

Improvements to be done with the city:
These projects can be done without acquisitions but some may be hard to convince the city to allow Pitt to undertake the projects.
12. Pedestrian bridges could be placed at intersections to easy foot traffic from the Cathedral Lawn central campus area to Hillman Library/Posvar Hall across Forbes Avenue and to the Middle Campus across 5th Avenue. At Forbes Avenue and Schenley Drive a bridge should be placed to facilitate foot traffic to Hillman Library and Posvar Hall and also to Schenley Plaza. A pedestrian bridge from the corner of Tower C across 5th Avenue to North Bouquet/School of Public Health would facilitate traffic to the middle/upper campus/medical complex. A pedestrian bridge over Bigelow Blvd (because of rerouted traffic) on O'Hara Street between the Syria Mosque lot (site of perhaps a new Pitt building) and the rear of Sailors and Soldiers would aid foot traffic to the O'Hara Street middle campus over redirected auto traffic along Bigelow Blvd. These bridges should not be proposed until after the desired street closings of Bigelow, Bellefield and 5th Avenue have been accomplished because pedestrian bridges were offered as an alternative by those opposing the closing of Bigelow Blvd in the mid-1990s.

13. It has been rumored before, but never happened, but Pitt should push the city for a Forbes Avenue beautification. This could be achieved by narrowing Forbes to widen and better landscape along the existing sidewalks. This may necessitate the removal of Forbes Avenue street parking so the provision of additional parking garage spaces may be needed. The elimination of street parking may make it difficult to get the Forbes Ave merchants to get on-board, but sidewalk tree planting/beautification of Forbes should be undertaken even if widening isn't an option.

14. The other street that could really benefit from removing parking and widening the sidewalk is O'Hara Street in the middle campus. Generally a pleasant street lined by Pitt and UPMC controlled properties on both sides, eliminating parking and widening and landscaping the sidewalk (trees on both sides of the sidewalk) would vastly improve this street. In addition, O'Hara could be helped by bricking the street over similar to University Drive behind Chevron Science Center to provide more of a campus feel. Attention to making Thaw (last remaining acropolis building) and Allen Halls, more of a centerpiece of the middle campus could be considered. Allen (former Mellon Institute) and Thaw Hall were former centerpieces of campus life and are an important tie to the past of a university that, in my opinion, inadequately conveys its rich and storied 200+ year history (see Thaw Hall photos above). My thoughts on improving this sense and pride in Pitt history will have to wait for another web page.

15. University Place street between O'Hara St. and 5th avenue could be narrowed or landscaped to improve the campus feel of the middle campus area as well. Perhaps a more difficult improvement location to get approved, due to the proximity of the Frick Middle School, is the north portion of Thackeray Street between O'Hara and 5th Ave that could be landscaped following street parking elimination and sidewalk widening since this part of the street is sandwiched between Benedum Hall on the west side and Thackeray Hall/Gardner Steel Conference Center on the east side.

Unlikely but Cool:
An improbable but cool thing to do would be to close South Bouquet between Sennott Street and Roberto Clemente Drive to facilitate contiguous space between Bouquet Gardens and Forbes Quad/Law School. Re-routed traffic patterns may be problematic here, but it would be neat to do.

Another unlikely acquistion, but a cool one, would be if the university could acquire the Frick Middle School and property. Pitt could offer to build the Frick School a new off-site state-of-the-art facility. With the previously revealed desire to relocate Schenley High School, perhaps Pitt could convince the school district to integrate the Frick school into Schenley's facilities if it helps finance the major renovations needed at Schenley High. If the Frick school could be acquired, its front schoolyard could be relandscaped to provide more of a campus feel. The rear of the school the faces Benedum Hall could also be spruced up to aid in the feel of campus continuity. For Pitt, the Frick School could serve multiple purposes, from dorm/recreation center/laboratories, class rooms, etc.

Current Street Map

Altered Street Map (Green is Pitt Campus...notice how the large contiguous space stretching between Tower C and the Information Science Building (IS) compares to the map above that is broken up by streets.)

Stand on the current Cathedral Lawn, walk around Clapp/Langley/Crawford complex and Ruskin Hall, and look across to the Union and the Cathedral and try to imagine the campus coming together. It would be awesome and it should be awesome. Other than financial considerations, is there a reason it shouldn't happen, a reason Pitt doesn't deserve it? There were times when people asked "why not?" instead of "why?" and "how?" instead of "how in the world?" Chancellor Bowman "tall building" plan was scoffed at, and perhaps at the time, seemed even more impossible than a plan like this. Those people, despite endless naysayers and critics, brought Pitt unthinkable things like the Cathedral of Learning, and ensured their legacy forever. At a period of unprecedented progress and fundraising for the university, is or will there be a better time to finish what was begun 100 years ago and create the proper setting for Pitt's precious jewels?

contact the author of this page at crazypaco@gmail.com

last updated 8/20/2007.


Current view of Thaw Hall angled from its west end along O'Hara Street.	The east facade of Thaw Hall (left) depicted in the photos above is now obstructed by the Space Research Coordination Center that was added to the east end of the building in the 1960s.

	Altered photo from the 5th Ave & Bigelow Blvd. portal looking at Heinz Chapel (left), the Cathedral (middle), Alumni Hall (right) and Clapp Hall (far right). One large contiguous lawn connects all four buildings.
Altered photo of how the view from the ground level/basement of the Cathedral of Learning towards the William Pitt Union might look if Bigelow Blvd was closed and landscaped over.