{"id":625,"date":"2014-05-28T02:23:00","date_gmt":"2014-05-28T02:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=625"},"modified":"2015-01-09T16:10:18","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T21:10:18","slug":"groundbreaking-ceremony-for-mellon-square","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/05\/28\/groundbreaking-ceremony-for-mellon-square\/","title":{"rendered":"Groundbreaking ceremony for Mellon Square"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\" <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Underground <\/a>
Underground Parking Garage ground-breaking, Mayor Lawrence is speaking (Nov. 8, 1953). <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
A view from above of the plot of land that would house Mellon Square (Paul Hunter\/Sun-Telegraph, August 1952) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Mellon <\/a>
Mellon Square Park under construction (Apr. 9, 1955) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Richard <\/a>
Richard Mellon, David Lawrence and George Main at the Mellon Square groundbreaking ceremony (Sept. 28, 1953) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Underground <\/a>
Underground Mellon Square Garage (January 3, 1953) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Mellon Square has anchored Pittsburgh\u2019s business district since 1955 and hid behind its aesthetic shield one of the largest parking lots in the center of the city. Props to Pittsburgh banker Richard Mellon King for conceiving an oasis in the heart of Pittsburgh\u2019s Downtown.<\/p>\n

But more than 50 years of exploitation, corrosion, and lack of maintenance made it clear: the oasis itself needed resuscitation to bring back its previous magnificence. In 2009, such a plan was developed, and in 2011, a $10 million restoration began.<\/p>\n

Today Mellon Square re-opens restored and remodeled to once again offer a safe place for Downtown workers and residents to take a break in the middle of traffic crawling on Smithfield Street, Oliver and Sixth Avenues.<\/p>\n

Walk over to Mellon Square, take a stroll on the exquisite pavement, look up and you\u2019ll feel dwarfed by giant symbols of Pittsburgh\u2019s capitalist power and glory of the past: the Regional Enterprise Tower, Oliver Building, Omni William Penn Hotel, and 525 William Penn Place. Well, maybe not \u201cglory of the past\u201d \u2014 no one would argue that these buildings still look quite as magnificent.<\/p>\n

The vision behind Mellon Square was driven by pragmatism: in the 1940s, Downtown Pittsburgh needed a garage to accommodate the needs of the growing business district and to lure Alcoa away from an idea to move its headquarters to New York.\u00a0Thus, it couldn\u2019t be\u00a0just\u00a0<\/em>a parking garage; Richard King Mellon wanted that space to capture the spirit of Pittsburgh\u2019s Renaissance. Architects from Mitchell & Ritchey designed the parking space capped by the public square, Simonds & Simonds landscaped it.<\/p>\n

When Mellon Square opened, it was deemed \u201cthe creation of an oasis of beauty and serenity above the din of the city streets.\u201d When the square was completed, Mellon gave the square to the city.<\/p>\n

A dedication marker on ground level says: \u201cMellon Square is dedicated to the memory of two brothers, Andrew W. Mellon and Richard B. Mellon, their leadership, civic spirit and philanthropy advanced immeasurably the welfare of this community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mellon Square is looking up to become Pittsburgh\u2019s Rockefeller Center, though smaller in scale and more manageable in vision \u2014 not quite as Ayn Randian, much more hospitable and less intimidating.\u00a0Just like Pittsburgh itself.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mellon Square has anchored Pittsburgh\u2019s business district since 1955 and hid behind its aesthetic shield one of the largest parking lots in the center of the city.<\/p>\n

Look at the picturesGroundbreaking ceremony for Mellon Square<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":626,"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":[948],"tags":[975,1211,972,1229,990,1166,1195,1051],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/tumblr_n68wkxY7mo1rr5swxo2_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C986&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2322,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/11\/05\/the-parade-to-end-all-parades-in-pittsburgh\/","url_meta":{"origin":625,"position":0},"title":"The parade to end all parades in Pittsburgh","date":"November 5, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"We at the Digs have witnessed some astonishing parades in our city.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/tumblr_mctxowhcmk1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C910&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2003,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/03\/01\/tension-arrests-during-pittsburghs-department-store-strike\/","url_meta":{"origin":625,"position":1},"title":"Tension, arrests during Pittsburgh\u2019s 1950s department store strike","date":"March 1, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"We found in our files several dozen photographs made during the department store strike of 1953-55.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/03\/tumblr_miyecaiG0p1rr5swxo2_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C905&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9872,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2021\/01\/31\/historical-panoramics\/","url_meta":{"origin":625,"position":2},"title":"Historical Panoramics","date":"January 31, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Post-Gazette artists and photographers have spent months digging for historic images of Pittsburgh landmarks -- Market Square, the Block House at the Point, Forbes Field and Luna Park. 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We wanted\u2026","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/LunaParkThen.jpg?fit=1200%2C489&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2135,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/01\/17\/trolleys-on-fifth-avenue-in-oakland\/","url_meta":{"origin":625,"position":3},"title":"Trolleys on Fifth Avenue in Oakland","date":"January 17, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"Streetcars figured prominently in Pittsburgh\u2019s history and carried many students to classes at the University of Pittsburgh.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/tumblr_mgq36sDIYQ1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1080%2C849&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2488,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/09\/25\/feb-27-1928-when-the-stanley-theater-opened-in\/","url_meta":{"origin":625,"position":4},"title":"Triumphant opening of Stanley Theater","date":"September 25, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"When the Stanley Theater opened in February of 1928, admission to the silent film \u201cGentlemen Prefer Blondes\u201d was 65 cents.","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/tumblr_mav86sVCRL1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C1153&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1186,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2013\/11\/25\/pittsburgh-goes-dark-prepares-for-war\/","url_meta":{"origin":625,"position":5},"title":"Pittsburgh goes dark, prepares for war","date":"November 25, 2013","format":"gallery","excerpt":"A crowd gathers on Mount Washington to watch Pittsburgh\u2019s \u201cblackout rehearsal.\u201d","rel":"","context":"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/11\/tumblr_mwoo62ri2Y1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1200%2C793&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=625"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3968,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/625\/revisions\/3968"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/626"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=625"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=625"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=625"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}