The COVID-19 pandemic has kept many people indoors, but it can’t stop Doors Open Pittsburgh from giving participants a behind-the-scenes look at how city buildings are used and what happens inside them.
Instead of the 50 places open last year, the self-guided tours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Oct. 3 will stop at 22 sites, 10 of them first-time participants. They include the EVEN Hotel, built on the fifth and sixth floors of the former Kaufmann’s department store Downtown, and Terminal 21, a First Avenue building of 205 loft apartments. Other first-timers are the Drury Plaza Hotel, the Clark Building’s jewelers and the Pittsburgh River Rescue boathouse.
This is Doors Open’s fifth year and it will look different than all the others.
Founder and CEO Bonnie Baxter said masks will be required and social distancing guidelines will ensure that visitors are not clustered in large groups. Each building will have a limit on the number of people who can be inside at one time, she said, and that will vary depending on size. For instance, 25 people can safely tour the David Lawrence Convention Center at once, but only six at at a time will be allowed inside the Benedum Trees building.
“People can pick which buildings to go to in order to avoid a crowd,” she said. If multiple people are waiting at one site, visitors can move on and return to that site later. Visitors generally spend about 10 minutes at each spot.
“This is a way to connect people at a time when people are feeling disconnected,” Ms. Baxter said.
Tickets are $12 per person, $10 for seniors 65 and older and $5 for children ages 5-17. They’re available online only at doorsopenpgh.org. Note that some buildings have limited hours. The website also includes upcoming specialty tours.
Matthew Shollar, a partner of the EVEN Hotel, said Doors Open visitors will enter on Forbes Avenue and see the hotel’s 7,000- and 4,000-square-foot atriums. The hotel’s focus on fitness and wellness is apparent in the large gym at the center of its lobby and in the guest rooms, each of which has yoga mats, pilates balls and other fitness equipment.
“We have created a unique space Downtown with a nod to the original Kaufmann’s,” he said. “It’s a wonderful building with a storied history, and it’s exciting for us to be part of that story.”
Another first-time participant, the Pittsburgh Jewelry District in the Clark Building, will have information stations to teach visitors how diamonds and other gemstones get from the mine to the showcase. The district’s 15 businesses include manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, custom designers and repair and repurposing specialists.
“We cover the full ecosystem” of the gem business, said Girish Jain, owner of Universal Diamonds. “Many of the owners have been here for generations. I am second-generation. And we all work together. We’re like a big family.”
Terminal 21, once called the Try Street Terminal, started as a shipping and manufacturing warehouse. It now features 205 loft apartments, about half of which are occupied. Terminal 21 opened in February and had moved in 70 tenants when the pandemic hit, said property manager Clarence Mendiola.
The apartments range in size from studios to two-bedroom units and are designed to accentuate the building’s industrial origins, with concrete floors and exposed piping and ductwork. Rents start at $1,104 for a studio and top out at $2,400 for a two-bedroom apartment.
“Visitors will be able to see amenity spaces,” Mr. Mendiola said. “We have a speakeasy lounge with a hip vibe, and there is a duckpin bowling alley and an arcade with ping pong and pool tables.
Ms. Baxter approached the owners of Terminal 21 about being on the Doors Open tour.
“She was outspoken about how being on the tour can expose our building to people, so we are excited to be part of it,” he said.
Ms. Baxter founded Doors Open Pittsburgh in 2016 with 32 Downtown stops. She expanded to the North Side and the Strip District in subsequent years, and had planned to include 25 buildings in Oakland this year. The pandemic nixed that plan.
Doors Open also holds specialty tours. Two held before the pandemic hit featured Black churches and sites on the Underground Railroad. A walking tour in early August showed off two antique skyscrapers, the Koppers and Oliver buildings.
Ms. Baxter said her volunteer guides and participants are eager to resume in-person tours.
“I did a survey to see if people would come out for the annual event and 85% said they want to come back,” she said. “People are anxious to get out and experience things. I’m grateful to the people [representing buildings] who said yes.”
Diana Nelson Jones: djones@post-gazette.com
First Published: September 21, 2020, 11:00 a.m.
