For most of its 48-year life on the edge of the Hill District, Mellon Arena -- originally named the Civic Arena -- has had a split personality.

For many, it has been a place to go for fun and excitement, whether the Pittsburgh Penguins were competing, the Ice Capades were performing or Bruce Springsteen was playing.

At the same time, the steel dome was a roadblock between the Hill and Downtown, a symbol of urban renewal so poorly executed that it has been considered almost single-handedly responsible for killing a city neighborhood that was rich in history.

Now, as its useful life as a multipurpose arena comes to an end, a Downtown architect is trying to drum up support to preserve it. Rob Pfaffmann, who in 2003 lost a bid to have the building designated as a city historic structure, argues that the arena's unique, roof-opening design is worth saving. He proposes removing the arena's ramps and seating, but keeping its foundation and unusual silver, half-melon lid. Under Mr. Pfaffmann's design, the roof would remain open most of the time, with the capacity to close when desired, allowing space for construction of a 120-room hotel or similar building inside, along with park space, an ice-skating rink and other public uses.

This pie-in-the-sky plan does not rate serious consideration.

First of all, Mr. Pfaffmann and his supporters have neither developers nor financing lined up for this or any other reuse of the arena, so their ideas are merely theoretical.

Pursuing them would produce real harm by placing significant constraints on the development of the plot that surrounds the arena and, at least from the vantage point of the Hill District, a large steel shell -- albeit smaller when fully opened -- would remain standing between the neighborhood and Downtown.

Beyond that, the argument that the arena must be retained because it is an icon on par with the Seattle Space Needle or the St. Louis Arch is weakened because its promoters aren't really preserving it as much as reworking it into something completely different and new, on the inside and the outside. The advocates may extol the arena's unique steel dome, but their plan requires the dome to remain retracted almost all the time. That's not historic preservation.

The proponents argue that the arena shouldn't be torn down until there are detailed plans on how the space will be utilized, and in that they have a point, but not a dispute. The Pittsburgh Penguins have an option with the Pittsburgh Sports & Exhibition Authority to develop the land under and around the arena, and those plans include demolition, but they can't carry them out without a public process.

The team eventually will present a master plan for the arena site, subject to approval by the city planning commission, with all of the hearings and public votes that process requires. The SEA last month hired a firm to help in the planning by evaluating proposals from the authority's point of view, which should include getting the most money for the best possible use when it sells the land.

The Hill District's proximity to Downtown and its prime location on the route to burgeoning Oakland makes it ripe for new life, without Mellon Arena.

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