Landmark Brownsville building makes 2021 preservationist list
Courtesy of the Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh
The historic Union Station has been part of Brownsville’s downtown for decades.
Courtesy of the Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh
This mural is a longtime part of Brownsville’s downtown.
Courtesy of the Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh
Brownsville’s Union Station, a five-story brick and granite station and office building with a marble facade, was used by the Monongahela Railway as part of its passenger transport services.
Courtesy of the Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh
Brownsville’s Union Station, a five-story brick and granite station and office building with a marble facade, was used by the Monongahela Railway as part of its passenger transport services.
Courtesy of the Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh
Union Station is part of the Perennial Project in Brownsville.
By Dave Zuchowski
The historic Union Station in Brownsville recently boosted its chances for survival as a viable structure worthy of renovation and reuse.
The Young Preservationists Association of Pittsburgh added the station, built in 1929 but vacant since the early 1990s, to its 2021 List of Top Ten Structures to Be Preserved.
The association, founded in 2003 by Dan Holland, shines a spotlight on under-served historic sites in area communities and uses community engagement and education to advocate for the preservation of historic sites and structures in the Greater Pittsburgh region. Part of this effort is creating the top ten list, which the association has compiled annually since its founding. The list is one of the first things Holland initiated after he founded the association.
“Each year, we reach out to local communities for nominations of sites, and our board of directors makes its selections based on information provided such as the history of the site, its designer and possible threats to its continuing existence,” said Matthew Craig, association executive director since 2015.
“After the list comes out, usually at the end of the year, we work with the local communities and stakeholders to try to move the preservation project forward.”
Brownsville’s Union Station, a five-story brick and granite station and office building with a marble facade, was used by the Monongahela Railway as part of its passenger transport services. Brownsville councilperson Beth Bock calls its location at the entranceway to the town a cornerstone of the community.
“The building anchors the downtown area, “Bock said. “It’s one of the first things you see when you come into Brownsville from the top of the hill. I remember when it housed the Lunden Flower Shop and a beauty salon right before the building closed. It still has one of the train ticket booths in the lobby, and I believe a fallout shelter was added in the basement in the 1950s during the nuclear scare. It sure would be nice to see the lights go on inside the building once again.”
A few years ago, engineering students from the University of Pittsburgh determined that the building is structurally sound. These same students also copied all the original blueprints and digitized them for future preservation. Underscoring the building’s solid construction is the finding that construction originally called for two additional floors to the structure, but the additions were never included.
Union Station is also part of the Perennial Project in Brownsville, a revitalization organization utilizing 3D capability to transport people to buildings like Union Station when they were hustling and bustling.
Joe Baratovich, Perennial Project founder, said students from Brownsville High School have taken photographs from Union Station in the 1940s and transposed them onto a 3D laser scan.
“Now people can actually put on Oculus (headsets) and walk through the Union Station building as it was in 1940,” Baratovich said. “It’s part of the tourism thing that we’re trying to develop. It’s the one niche we have. We have a lot of tourism in town. We’re just trying to maximize our tourist capability.”
In Craig’s recollection, Union Station is the first site in Brownsville to make the association’s annual list, at least since he came on board as executive director in 2015.
“When I first went to look at the station for a lookaround, I decided it should make our list and that we should help promote it [as a structure to be preserved,” he said. “The association would like to offer its assistance in any way possible, including finding available resources. I believe it is still a viable building.”
Currently, the association has several hundred members whose goal is to raise awareness and support for historic structures. When Holland founded the association, he had been inspired by the number of young people getting involved in environmental issues, according to Craig. That’s when he decided to get them involved in historic preservation as well.
“We have no age limit to join the association and accept anyone who’s young at heart,” Craig said.
According to Brownsville Mayor Ross Swords, a 2015 study to determine the cost of renovating the station and bringing it up to code was close to $5 million.
“I am very excited to see this particular building make the list of buildings and structures we’re looking to preserve,” Swords said. “Many locals worked for the railroad out of this building. The most common thing I hear all the time is if we can help save any of the remaining structures left in the downtown, it’s always the Union Station and the Monongahela Bank. I believe we are gaining the attention of multiple elected officials throughout the Commonwealth and the general public with what we are doing in Brownsville to better our community and remove blight.”
Other area structures included in the top 10 are the Monessen Savings and Trust Bank building on 500 Donner Ave. in the city and Fifth Avenue Hotel in Monessen.
To view a video announcing YPA’s Virtual Top Ten 2021 List on Youtube, go to youtube.com/watch?v=VvsS3DhzOUY&t=22s.
Observer-Reporter staff writer Paul Paterra contributed to this story.