{"id":493,"date":"2014-07-07T10:01:00","date_gmt":"2014-07-07T10:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=493"},"modified":"2015-01-09T16:14:47","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T21:14:47","slug":"the-t-j-keenan-building","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/07\/07\/the-t-j-keenan-building\/","title":{"rendered":"The T.J. Keenan Building"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Worker <\/a>
Worker doing renovations on the roof of the Keenan Building, 1970, Post-Gazette photo. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Post-Gazette <\/a>
Post-Gazette photo, date unknown. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Colonels <\/a>
Colonels Plaza, 1974. (Harry Coughanour\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

For utilitarian dwellers, business people and visitors to Pittsburgh\u2019s modern Downtown the 18-story Keenan Building on Liberty Avenue may be associated with the 7-Eleven store that is located on its ground floor. You know the intersection of Liberty and Seventh Street, right? And you would, for sure, recognize the landmark\u2026 Yeees? Let\u2019s just hope you looked up at least once. If not, you should, because you are missing out on the artistry behind the building and a cool story.<\/p>\n

The Keenan skyscraper is one of the oldest among Golden Triangle buildings.<\/p>\n

Constructed in 1907 at a cost of\u00a0 $2 million, it was the tallest building in Pittsburgh and the shiniest. The dome was \u2018crowned\u2019 by the eagle and a series of portraits. The \u2018penthouse\u2019 once served as lavish living quarters for Col. Thomas J. Keenan, Jr., the owner of the building AND one-time owner of The Pittsburgh Press.\u00a0 In those days, as you can imagine, conceiving such a structure was a statement, building it was an accomplishment. Photographs and sketches of Pittsburgh\u2019s \u201cskyscraper with the golden dome\u201d appeared in newspapers and magazines worldwide. In those days, it was Pittsburgh\u2019s counterpart of the Steel Tower in the 1970s and the Fifth Avenue Place branded by Highmark today.<\/p>\n

In the early 1950s, the Keenan building housed state offices, commercial firms and a restaurant.<\/p>\n

In the 1960s, the building changed ownership several times. Each and every one of the new owners had undertaken what they called a major rehabilitation campaign \u201cto restore the Keenan Building to its old-time splendor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those promises brought cheer to advocacy groups protecting Pittsburgh\u2019s historic buildings and landmarks at the time. In their view, the Keenan Building deserved a special consideration because of its uniqueness. \u201cThe only other important skyscraper n this country, the Spreckels-Call Building on Market Street in San Francisco, was completely ruined by injudicious \u2018rehabilitation\u2019 some years ago and that makes the Keenan Building all the more important,\u201d Vice President Trump of the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation told the Post-Gazette in 1969.<\/p>\n

Today, the dome is golden no more. New domed skyscrapers, shinier and taller, sprung around the country and around the world. And the Keenan Building carries a far less personalized and far less intriguing name \u2014 Midtown Towers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Keenan skyscraper is one of the oldest among Golden Triangle buildings.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesThe T.J. Keenan Building<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":494,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[945],"tags":[972,1208,1057,1029,1225],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/07\/tumblr_n87j9jkFhE1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C1834&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1832,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/05\/01\/pittsburghs-liberty-avenue\/","url_meta":{"origin":493,"position":0},"title":"Pittsburgh\u2019s Liberty Avenue","date":"May 1, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"In Amsterdam, it\u2019s called De Wallen. In London, it used to be King\u2019s Cross. 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