By Tony LaRussa
TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, March 5, 2009
The city’s Historic Review Commission on Wednesday took the first formal step to protect the Old Stone Inn, a former tavern in the West End that some people believe to be the second-oldest building in Pittsburgh.
The commission voted unanimously to begin the process that would allow City Council to designate the vacant two-story building on Greentree Road as a historic structure.
“If there’s any building that deserves to be saved, this is it,” said John DeSantis, a former commission chairman who filed the nomination for historic designation last month, which prevented the building’s owner from tearing it down.
The Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation supports a historic designation for the building, whose existence likely dates back to 1793. Although the cornerstone reads 1756, historians doubt its accuracy. The oldest known building in Pittsburgh is the Fort Pitt Blockhouse, built in 1764 in what is now Point State Park.
“This is one of the oldest buildings in the city, and we believe it is definitely worth preserving,” said Anne Nelson, general counsel for the foundation.
The Historic Review and city Planning commissions will conduct public hearings and vote on whether to recommend that City Council grant historic designation. The foundation expects to provide supporting documentation and testimony during the process, which could take as long as eight months.
If the building earns landmark status, it cannot be demolished or have its exterior altered without permission from the Historic Review Commission.
“When you enter the West End, there’s a sign that reads ‘Welcome to the Historical West End,’ ” said City Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith, who represents the neighborhood. “How would it look if we didn’t protect, not only the oldest building in the neighborhood, but one of the oldest in the city?”
The building’s owner, Mario Petricca, is in the process of selling the property on which it sits to Harris Masonry, which owns the adjacent property and obtained a permit to demolish the building. Petricca and company owner Lee Harris could not be reached for comment.
DeSantis filed the nomination for historic designation after a West End psychotherapist, Art Merrell, 65, told the Tribune-Review that he believes the building is historically significant. Presidents George Washington and Ulysses S. Grant, and novelist Charles Dickens, might have been guests of the Old Stone Inn. The tavern might have played a pivotal role in the Whiskey Rebellion, a late-18th century uprising by people across Western Pennsylvania who opposed a federal excise tax on liquor.
The building is located at a bend in what was the historic Washington and Pittsburgh Turnpike, a toll road connecting Pittsburgh to Washington County and to the U.S. National Road. A 1793 accounts ledger from the tavern that was discovered at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh indicated that among its regular customers were local farmers, businessmen, generals and Indians.
Alan Green of Squirrel Hill, whose family operated a tavern out of the building through most of the 20th century, was elated by yesterday’s vote.
“The building holds a lot of fond personal memories for me,” he said. “My grandparents lived in the house, and my father was born there.”
Tony LaRussa can be reached attlarussa@tribweb.com or 412-320-7987.
