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A group looks over the roof-top patio of the Benedum Trees Building during the annual Doors Open Pittsburgh tour downtown Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019 in Pittsburgh.
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'I’m nebby': Doors Open Pittsburgh gives people a chance to pry — and to conduct

Pam Panchak/Post-Gazette

'I’m nebby': Doors Open Pittsburgh gives people a chance to pry — and to conduct

If you thought Mozart was a child prodigy, meet Theo Da Conceicao.

The 2-year-old from Murrysville took center stage Saturday at Heinz Hall, where he could barely see over the music stand perched in front in him even after stepping onto the conductor’s platform.

But that didn’t stop the youngster from leading a Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra chamber quartet in a rousing version of Mozart’s “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.” In one hand Theo held a baton used and autographed by the late conductor Lorin Maazel.

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Theo bashfully declined to assess his performance afterwards. But his dad Stephen was a bit more effusive. “He’s a good conductor,” he said. 

Bonnie Baxter, founder of the Doors Open tour, stands in front of Eighth and Penn on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, Downtown. The building, being converted into apartments with the Sky Lounge and rooftop deck, will be one of 54 locations on the tour this year.
Diana Nelson Jones
Doors Open in 54 buildings Downtown and North Side this year

The Da Conceicaos were among those who took part Saturday in Doors Open Pittsburgh, an annual event that gives people access to typically private areas of buildings, churches, and other properties, many of them iconic, Downtown and on the North Side.

For the second time since Doors Open Pittsburgh debuted four years ago, Heinz Hall was among the 54 stops available to those who paid $6 to $17 for weekend admittance to the various attractions.

It didn’t disappoint.

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In addition to viewing the resplendent grand lobby with its 15-foot chandeliers, visitors could climb the stage to conduct the quartet, which performed the music as a community service.

Some relished the moment.

“We’re going to take it up a notch today, ladies and gentlemen. We’re going to do a little Pink Floyd,” shouted Denny Eicker, 71, of Jefferson Hills, as he approached the conductor’s platform.

But when he started waving the baton, he got “Eine Kleine Nachtmusik,” not “Another Brick in the Wall.” It didn’t seem to matter, though.

This is Red, an advertising agency and event venue, retained the arches, columns and other architectural elements of St. Michael’s Slovakian Roman Catholic Church. It is one of 20 stops on Saturday's Homestead neighborhood tour organized by Doors Open Pittsburgh.
Kimani Krienke
Doors Open tour Saturday will show off Homestead’s churches and revitalization

“I liked it. They’re good. They didn’t play what I requested, but I liked it. It was very good,” Mr. Eicker said.

He and his wife, Sheila, have participated in Doors Open Pittsburgh several times. On this outing, they visited some of the Downtown churches on the list as well as Heinz Hall.

“There’s a lot of history in here,” Mr. Eicker said.

Bob Miller, 64, of Imperial, found out when he walked into the concert hall that he could conduct. He decided to give it a shot, his arm moving back and forth like, well, a conductor as the quartet played.

“It was scary at first. But I think I kind of eased into it,” he related. “It seems simple but I had no idea what I was doing. So I couldn’t be doing anything wrong, I guess.”

He and his wife, Bonnie, took part in Doors Open Pittsburgh for the first time Saturday. Visits to Europe and New York City earlier this year gave them the impetus.

“We learned that taking a tour of a city, even your own city, is a good way to find out about things that you always drove by,” he said. “There’s gems in every city. People don’t often take the time to see the gems.”

A few blocks away, on Fourth Avenue, another of those jewels — the Benedum-Trees Building — was on display.

There was no chamber orchestra playing, but the building’s rich history served as its own soundtrack.

Completed in 1906, the 19-story building was commissioned by Pittsburgh socialite Caroline “Oline” Jones Machesney, who, according to architect Rob Pfaffmann, may have been the city’s first woman developer.

Shaped in the form of an “I”, the structure was green long before environmentally friendly green construction became vogue.

The design by architect Thomas H. Scott allowed light and air into the building, said Mr. Pfaffmann, whose firm occupies the eighth floor.

“A lot of these buildings, in some cases, were very green in terms of their design, very efficient,” he said.

In 1913, the building was purchased by Michael Late Benedum and Joe Trees, both of whom made their fortune in the oil and gas industry before steel became king in Pittsburgh.

At the time, Mr. Benedum was considered one of the 50 wealthiest Americans, with a worth of $100 million — the equivalent of $2.5 billion today. He formed the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation, which is located in the Benedum-Trees Building.

The building itself, which is undergoing a restoration, became part of the “Wall Street of Pittsburgh” — a stretch of Fourth Avenue that at one time hosted 35 national banks, 33 state banks, and 34 trust companies.

During tours Saturday, visitors could drink in the lobby’s Italian marble, considered an inexpensive building material akin to dry wall back in those days, its bronze mailbox, and its newly restored globe lighting.

They also could walk through Mr. Pfaffmann’s offices and the richly appointed Benter Foundation headquarters on the 18th floor and enjoy the views from a rooftop patio.

Among those who stopped by was Mark Labby, who said he passes the building just about every day and wanted to get a glimpse inside.

He also has come to love and value old buildings after taking a couple of architecture classes at the University of Pittsburgh

“How many of these buildings Downtown are destroyed? So the few that are left, you really do kinda want to see,” he said.

Mr. Labby, a retiree, cites one other reason for his interest.

“I’m from Pittsburgh. I’m nebby,” he said.

Mark Belko: mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.

First Published: October 5, 2019, 11:18 p.m.

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A group looks over the roof-top patio of the Benedum Trees Building during the annual Doors Open Pittsburgh tour downtown Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019 in Pittsburgh.  (Pam Panchak/Post-Gazette)
Two-year-old Theo Da Conceicao of Murrysville conducts a Pittsburgh Symphony chamber quartet at Heinz Hall Saturday as part of Doors Open Pittsburgh.  (Julie Goetz/Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra)
Mike Cornell, of Harmony, a volunteer docent for Doors Open Pittsburgh, talks about the history of the Benedum Trees Building in the lobby Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019 in Downtown Pittsburgh.  (Pam Panchak/Post-Gazette)
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