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Highland Building

Coordinates: 40°27′36″N 79°55′29″W / 40.46000°N 79.92472°W / 40.46000; -79.92472
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Highland Building
Highland Building is located in Pittsburgh
Highland Building
Highland Building is located in Pennsylvania
Highland Building
Highland Building is located in the United States
Highland Building
Location121 S. Highland Ave, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Coordinates40°27′36″N 79°55′29″W / 40.46000°N 79.92472°W / 40.46000; -79.92472
Area0.2 acres (0.081 ha)
Built1909
ArchitectBurnham, D.H., Co.
Architectural styleChicago
NRHP reference No.91001123 [1]
Added to NRHPSeptember 06, 1991

The Highland Building is a thirteen-story building which is located in the East Liberty neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

History and architectural features

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Construction on the building was completed in 1909, with Daniel Burnham being the principal designer.[2][3] It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991.[1]

Henry Clay Frick originally commissioned the building.[2] Following the Chicago school of architecture style, the building features a granite base and terracotta exterior.[2]

Beginning sometime around the 1960s, the building gradually fell into disrepair coinciding with the decline of East Liberty. A classical ornament on the roof was replaced with substandard material, allowing water to enter the basement. Over time, the interior essentially was destroyed.[2]

The Highland Building subsequently experienced twenty years of complete dormancy during the latter part of the twentieth century and early twenty-first century. With assistance from the state of Pennsylvania and the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh, a new renovation effort was launched in 2012 to restore the exterior and reconstruct the interior of the Highland Building, attach it to the adjacent three-story Wallace Building and convert the entire complex into one hundred and twenty-seven apartments. The project, now completed, is described as, "Walnut on Highland" and is mostly leased. Recently, the last of the retail space in the Wallace Building was filled by a Mexican Restaurant.[4][5]

References

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  1. ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. March 13, 2009.
  2. ^ a b c d John Conti (4 September 2011). "Decaying landmark in East Liberty may get new life". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved 22 March 2013.
  3. ^ Tannler, Albert M. "D. H. Burnham & Company in Pittsburgh". Pittsburgh History & LAndmarks Foundation. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  4. ^ "Food".
  5. ^ Diana Nelson Jones (23 April 2012). "Highland Building project in East Liberty keeps up the momentum". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 22 March 2013.