Big plans for redevelopment of Hunt Armory will come at big cost - TribLIVE

Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto can already hear hockey pucks bouncing off boards at the city’s Alfred E. Hunt Field Artillery Armory in Shadyside.

The Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority is finalizing a $1 million purchase of the historic landmark on Emerson Street and is partnering with the city, Pittsburgh Parking Authority and Mosites Co. on converting it into a two-rink hockey facility, parking garage and offices.

Peduto, a well-known hockey fan, said he wants to see the project completed as soon as possible.

“There’s a lot of opportunity there that’s beyond putting down a sheet of ice,” he said. “That ice is critical because we don’t have one for city kids to learn to play the game, but the whole thing can really tie into a really nice East End attraction.”

He envisions a facility where local kids can learn to skate and play hockey. Local hockey teams have said they would use the rinks.

North of $30 million

Plans actually call for two sheets of ice — a studio rink for practice and a regulation rink for games — in the former armory drill hall, a massive 311-by-148-foot space with a 90-foot arched roof. The facility would consist of two floors with rinks on the top floor and a public parking garage on the ground, according to Dan Gilman, Peduto’s chief of staff.

He said the Pittsburgh Parking Authority would own and manage the garage and a government entity to be determined would own the recreational facility. The Mosites Co. would own and develop one end of the building for leased office space, possibly a sports medicine facility, Gilman said.

Steve Mosites Jr., president of the Mosites Co., said plans also call for a retail area, including a pro shop and cafe, community rooms and an area dedicated to building history that he dubbed the Hunt Concourse.

Emerson Street is also in line for improvements to make it more suitable for community festivals and pedestrians. Gilman said the street could be closed at times, particularly for community events and during the day for Sacred Heart Elementary School, which uses it as a playground.

The largest hurdle is cost.

“Well north of $30 million,” said Gilman.

Officials are working at lowering costs without sacrificing the project’s integrity but are still facing a funding gap of millions. The URA has received $3 million in state grants, and officials are counting on historic tax credits and local foundations and institutions to help with funding.

Gilman said the parking authority is planning a bond to help finance its portion of the facility, along with a new parking garage in Downtown.

“We all want to move as quickly as we can on this,” he said, adding that the URA should close on the building in coming weeks. “No one is dragging their feet, but it is a complex and difficult deal.”

An offer from Penguins to manage the hockey facility at cost is still open, according to Kevin Acklin, the team’s senior vice president and general counsel. Acklin previously served as Peduto’s chief of staff and chair of the URA.

A historic landmark

Pennsylvania built the armory between 1911 and 1919 for Pittsburgh’s Hampton’s Battery, First Artillery, Pennsylvania National Guard. It later became the 107th Field Artillery Regiment, part of Pennsylvania’s 28th Infantry of the Army National Guard. The building consists of three sections: administrative offices on the western end, the drill hall in the middle portion and gun sheds on the eastern end.

The military left the facility in 2013. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is designated by the city as a historic landmark.

It was named in honor of Alfred E. Hunt, who organized a local regiment to fight in the Spanish-American War, and was a co-founder of the Pittsburgh Reduction Company, which later became Alcoa.

Torrence “Tod” Hunt Jr. of Shadyside, great-grandson of the armory’s namesake, said he and his extended family regard the building with particular historic significance. He said the family’s Roy A. Hunt Foundation has donated $388,000 over the years for improvements and last fall provided $100,000 to the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation for a future disabled veterans hockey program at the redeveloped armory.

“Our family has supported that armory one way or another since about 1956,” he said. “It’s got our name on it, and we have a legacy here. We would support any effort to revitalize this building for the community and make it really an asset that the community would like.”

Ike, polo matches and Led Zep

Before the Civic Arena was built, Hunt Armory served for years as Pittsburgh’s primary auditorium space. It hosted such national luminaries as Presidents Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower and presidential candidates Thomas Dewey and Adlai Stevenson.

Billy Graham in 1952 held one of his well-known crusades in Hunt Armory. Graham described Pittsburgh as a “hard city — one without much religion,” according to a city historical nomination application.

The building has also been the site of polo matches, auto and horse shows and musical concerts. In January 1969, Led Zeppelin, on its first American tour, performed at the armory.

Retired National Guard Col. Elliott Levenson of O’Hara, the armory’s last commander, said the building also holds special historic significance for the men and women who served there. Levenson was instrumental in a push to preserve the building as a historic landmark, according to Tod Hunt.

Levenson said he supports the idea of a hockey facility, but he hopes to preserve existing plaques honoring the Hampton Battery, World War I veterans and Alfred E. Hunt.

“The armory sent people to the Mexican border, World War I, World War II, Bosnia, and I think some later to Afghanistan, so we don’t want to lose that,” he said. “I think they can come up and put something new in there without losing the old. The interior, no big deal, but it would just be nice if the plaques stay up and the façade stays up and just something to say, ‘Hey there was somebody here once.’ ”

Bob Bauder is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Bob at 412-564-3080, bbauder@tribweb.com or via Twitter .

Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review

The Hunt Armory on Emerson Street in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside neighborhood. Plans actually call for two sheets of ice — a studio rink for practice and a regulation rink for games — in the former armory drill hall, a massive 311-by-148-foot space with a 90-foot arched roof.

Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review

The exterior of the Hunt Armory is seen in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside neighborhood. The Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority is finalizing a $1 million purchase of the historic landmark on Emerson Street and is partnering with the city, Pittsburgh Parking Authority and Mosites Co. on converting it into a two-rink hockey facility, parking garage and offices.

Nate Smallwood | Tribune-Review

A plaque is seen inside of the Hunt Armory on Emerson Street in Pittsburgh’s Shadyside neighborhood. Retired National Guard Col. Elliott Levenson of O’Hara, the armory’s last commander, hopes to preserve existing plaques honoring the Hampton Battery, World War I veterans and Alfred E. Hunt.