Look to your left at the 410-foot skyscraper featuring a diamond-patterned, dark grey aluminum facade and a flat, stepped-back roofline.
We just marveled at the U.S. Steel Tower, and now another mighty Pittsburgh metal takes center stage. This thirty-one story building beside Mellon Square is the Regional Enterprise Tower, originally famous as the Alcoa Building.
Completed in 1953, it was the first skyscraper ever built with an all-aluminum facade! The walls are an astonishing one-eighth of an inch thick. Check the image on your device to see a vintage shot of this groundbreaking metal skin shortly after it was built. It was an engineering marvel. They designed the windows to rotate a full 360 degrees to be washed from the inside. A unique heating and cooling system was hidden in the ceiling, eliminating clunky radiators and freeing up fifteen thousand square feet of extra space. If you want to see how this iconic modernist fixture has stood the test of time, check out the before and after slider in your app.
Before this metal giant stood here, the site housed pure theatrical magic. From 1903 to 1950, this was the Nixon Theater. It was a gorgeous Beaux Arts structure... a highly decorative French classical architectural style crowned with a massive dome. Opening night critics called it the world's most perfect playhouse. The interior dripped with luxury, featuring imitation marble columns capped in solid gold and walls styled like damask silk. The productions were wonderfully extravagant. A 1905 staging of Ben Hur featured four live horse-drawn chariots, while another play brought in a herd of camels, horses, goats, and fifty camel drivers!
When Alcoa bought the theater in 1950, people were outraged. Legendary actress Katharine Hepburn wrote a furious letter to the city before demolition, arguing the new skyscraper would just be another building... maybe fascinating, but not glamorous. Today, the top floors have been converted into apartments, keeping its legacy alive.
Enjoy the view of this aluminum marvel, and let's keep moving when you are ready.
