May the Garden Theater's future be as bright as the Harris'
Regarding the Post-Gazette's May 22 update from the front lines in the ongoing battle for the Garden Theater ("X-Rated Theater Buy Backed: Appeals Court OKs URA Purchase on North Side"): It can only be a comfort to know that in spite of the incredible and ever-increasing legal fees incurred by the city in waging a turf war against Garden owner George Androtsakis, the Garden may well be destined for a future that will form the spoke of a developing North Shore cultural area.
While the concept of an architecturally restored Garden Theater in the district now accurately described as "blighted" and better known for drive-by shootings may seem absurd to some, it could easily be the "seed" that promotes and prompts growth in the entire neighborhood and connects the city's athletic and planned outdoor amphitheater venues with the historic, residential Mexican War Streets and surrounding areas, which will undoubtedly benefit all of Pittsburgh's entertainment offerings, including those Downtown.
According to Tom Barnes' article, the Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority has been in the trenches with Mr. Androtsakis for some six years, but the fight will have been worth it if the Garden is renovated and retained as a historic landmark, as apparently planned.
For the naysayers, Pittsburgh had another decrepit adult theater that may have easily gone the direction of the wrecking ball swinging in the interest of development but didn't.
Conventioneers will never know that the Harris Theater on Liberty Avenue was, less than 10 years past, one of the city's last gasps in the adult theater business. Now hosting feature foreign films as globally edgy as anything in Greenwich Village, the Harris Theater is a glowing gem, nicely set into Pittsburgh's sparkling city streets.
The Garden can certainly achieve the same success, given our full support.
JACK GORDON
Sewickley
A downward spiral
As a liberal Democrat, I am sickened by the embrace of gambling by so many in the Democratic Party. Our own Mayor Tom Murphy and state Sen. Jim Ferlo are right on board Gov. Ed Rendell's slot machines and horse-racing bandwagon. Ferlo even wants riverboat casinos parked Downtown. What a betrayal of public trust by politicians who built their careers as "community" activists!
Just across the Monongahela from where I live, greedy interests, with Murphy's support, are preparing to stripmine a beautiful riverfront hillside. They hope eventually to cash in on the gambling onslaught through a slot-infested racetrack at the site.
One of the most disgusting arguments pushed by gambling interests is that Pennsylvania has no choice but to compete with surrounding states that already support slots and casino gambling. Compete for what? The right to squander their citizen's wealth on a socially damaging activity?
If the Pennsylvania Legislature caves in to Rendell's ill-advised kowtowing to gambling interests, an interstate battle will ensue as Pennsylvania, West Virginia, New York and New Jersey continually ramp up their gambling operations to compete with their neighbors. This will lead to a dreadful downhill spiral where games of chance replace real economic growth in the entire Northeast region.
And once even gambling revenues decline, will we next join the fine, family-oriented state of Nevada in endorsing and then taxing legalized prostitution? Perhaps that will be some sleazy politician's future alternative to simply raising income taxes on the wealthiest Pennsylvanians to pay for much needed public services.
E. PATRICK CURRY
Squirrel Hill
Policing morality
To the self-appointed protectors of my morals:
1. Alcohol sales in supermarkets
a) In all of my years visiting in South Florida, I have never seen any teenage drunks lying in the street in front of Publix.
b) Any real alcoholic is already making sure he has Sunday's supply on Saturday.
2. Gambling and slot machines
a) Local residents of Las Vegas do not spend all their time throwing away their hard-earned money in the casinos.
b) The compulsive gamblers are already traveling to Atlantic City, Las Vegas, Niagara Falls and other locations -- and regularly.
c) Just go to Wheeling and count the Pennsylvania license plates. Pittsburghers are taking their money there.
HARVEY HOROWITZ
Churchill
Close calls
I work along the highway surveying for a living. Every day it seems that I have a close call due to someone talking on a cell phone. I would like to see something done about it.
I'm sure most of these calls could wait. I put my boots on and go to work. I would like to make it home! I have family too.
DUKE MINARCIN
Imperial
We want to retain Schenley Farms' status as single-family neighborhood
I would like to make a few observations concerning the May 26 article "Up in Arms Again," regarding the resistance of the Schenley Farms Civic Association to the use of one of the homes in this historic district by Grandevue Study Center, an offshoot of the very conservative Roman Catholic lay group known as Opus Dei.
The Schenley Farms Historical District comprises a diverse group of mainly academic and professional people, some of whom have lived here all of their lives. The homes were built in the earliest part of the 20th century and represent an integral part of Pittsburgh's history. In opposing a group use of one of the historic homes, the community merely wishes to retain its single-family status as well as its important history and unique character. The zoning laws of this neighborhood mirror the dedication of concerned citizens to deflect multiuse housing. The article suggests the view that a group of homeowners living in a "fashionable" neighborhood are unreasonably opposed to a group of six unmarried women occupying one of the historic homes. That view is incorrect.
Basic zoning laws were written to promote and protect the integrity of a community and its property interests. When Pittsburgh's city zoning administrator, Pat Ford, denied Grandevue Study Center's request for an occupancy permit, he did so on the grounds that a variance would be required if more than three unrelated people were to live in the same home within this residential district, and that a special exception also would be required if religious assembly were contemplated.
A variance may be granted to a property if it appears that it would be an "undue hardship" for the property to be used otherwise. A special exception may be granted if there is no adverse effect to the surrounding neighborhood, considering street congestion, noise, parking, the impact on adjoining property values and, in general, if it doesn't detract from the health, safety, morals and general welfare of the community. The granting of either a variance or a special exception is a matter of grace, or favor, and not one of right.
Loren and Sally Siegel's past attempt to turn the home at 4301 Bigelow Blvd. into a bed-and-breakfast was denied by the Pittsburgh Zoning Board of Adjustment, the Court of Common Pleas and the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court. It did not "die without being approved" as stated in the article. In the present matter, the neighbors have real concerns about group gatherings, traffic, noise and additional parking for these gatherings in a neighborhood with a parking situation already out of control.
GREGORY E. SNOW
President
Schenley Farms Civic Association
Oakland
Our real concerns
In May 26 article "Up in Arms Again" Jan Ackerman wrote that the Schenley Farms neighborhood is opposed to 4301 Bigelow being acquired by Grandevue Study Center Inc. This is true. But the implication that the neighborhood is opposed because Grandevue is "an arm of Opus Dei," a Catholic institution, is not true.
The house is in Schenley Farms, developed shortly after 1900. Schenley Farms was designated a historic district in 1982. The neighborhood needed protection. It has been repeatedly threatened by development. It is a single-family neighborhood surrounded by Oakland institutions. Commercial use of the property could make a lot of money for developers.
The Siegels, Sally, a Realtor, and husband Loren, bought 4301 Bigelow for $53,000 in September 1976. They tried to develop the property as a hotel. The proposed "bed-and-breakfast" use was rejected repeatedly, to the appeals court level. And now, Grandevue wants to develop the property as a boarding house or apartments. It's possible the group could rent rooms to as many as eight unrelated people who would work or study in Pittsburgh. A family that has offered to buy the house was present at the hearing.
Grandevue has affiliated itself with a quasi-monastic group, Opus Dei. But Grandevue is a private corporation, whose board members present at the hearing were a Realtor and Mary Roque, director. Grandevue stated that its proposed use would not be tax-exempt.
Questions of the Pittsburgh Zoning Board of Adjustment about Grandevue's purpose were not answered clearly. But it was clear that neither Opus Dei nor the Catholic Church owns or controls Grandevue.
These important facts were revealed at the hearing but were not reported by the Post Gazette.
We live in Schenley Farms. We bought our home with the assurance that the neighborhood would be protected. We don't want to see it destroyed for the profit of developers, religious or secular.
HARRY BLAIR and MARY SORRELLS
Oakland
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