A History of Pittsburgh and the Cultural Trust

Established in the eighteenth century at the confluence of three rivers, Pittsburgh in the nineteenth century became the industrial giant of the world, producing steel, iron, aluminum, and glass. This industry, however, created the image of a "smoky city," or what writer James Parton once described as "Hell with the lid off."

But by the 1960s, Pittsburgh earned a special place in the history of urban development by remaking itself through public-private partnerships into a city with clean air, clean water, grand public spaces and architecturally significant office buildings - what our city proudly calls Renaissance I and II.

Today, Pittsburgh's downtown Cultural District is a fourteen square block area in the forefront of the City's third Renaissance effort.

Despite Renaissance I and II, Pittsburgh, by the 1980s - like so many American cities in the so-called rust-belt - had suffered a significant downturn: industry declined, mills were closed, corporations downsized and relocated or were acquired. Downtown storefronts were vacant and the streets virtually empty at night.

During this difficult time a group of leaders - motivated by the vision of one man, the late Jack Heinz - banded together to pursue a dream - a dream to keep the city and its quality of life alive by transforming a derelict area of downtown, that was once considered the theater district of Pittsburgh, into an arts district once again.

As an arts lover himself and chairman of the H.J. Heinz Company, Jack Heinz gathered his band of dreamers - soon to include his son, Senator John Heinz - to create an urban cultural district that could contribute to the vitality of downtown.

Jack Heinz began with Heinz Hall, a new home for the Pittsburgh Symphony, and as Heinz Hall breathed new life into downtown, The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust was formed in 1984 as both an arts agency and a real estate and economic development catalyst - to realize Jack Heinz' fuller vision of a cultural district.

The Trust's first project was the restoration of the former Stanley Theater into the Benedum Center for the Performing Arts. This $43 million project was completed in 1987, and at that time the Trust's Board of Trustees began to focus on the creation of a downtown Cultural District Development Plan.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust's plan for development was a holistic approach that has included streetscaping programs, facade restorations, new cultural facilities, and public open spaces and art projects.

The end result encompasses a complete transformation of Pittsburgh's Downtown; from a "red light" district with only two cultural facilities - Heinz Hall and the Convention Center - to a vibrant animated area with over fourteen cultural facilities, public parks and plazas, and new and proposed commercial development.