Despite the efforts of two preservation groups, the city's Historic Review Commission was not convinced that Mellon Arena deserves historic designation. That doesn't mean that a crane with a wrecking ball can now proceed up Centre Avenue.
What it does mean, if the planning commission and City Council eventually concur, is that the public may soon be able to extract from the arena debate any arguments about historic significance.
That would be a major step toward helping Pittsburgh decide what kind of civic center it wants for the future -- the flying-saucer-style arena acclaimed by Preservation Pittsburgh and Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, or a more modern center like the one proposed for Fifth Avenue by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The hockey team, of course, wants the kind of profit-generating facility that would keep it competitive in Pittsburgh -- a factor worth weighing. More significant, perhaps, is whether the building that opened as the Civic Arena in 1961 will need a major overhaul in the next 10 years, regardless of whether an NHL franchise takes a third of its event-days.
Its retractable dome, an oft-cited feature by defenders, is never opened, and the building is far less flexible than are contemporary arenas for tear-downs and set-ups between shows. In the long run, the public and its purse may be better served by replacement than by repair.
That course, if coupled with demolition of the old arena, would create the opportunity to grow a residential neighborhood near Downtown. It's a chance to fan the successful Crawford Square development down the hill toward Bigelow Boulevard.
But we are weeks, maybe months, from the end of the historic-designation push. What this first critical rejection -- a 4-3 vote by the Historic Review Commission -- says is that, despite a certain amount of nostalgia, not every Pittsburgher agrees that the building is significant and not everyone will want it to be saved.
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