Thursday, September 16, 2010

Farewell to the Civic Arena


Many in Pittsburgh are horrified at the thought of the destruction of the first home of the Penguins. While this is understandable, to an extent, allowing this structure to stand really defeats the purpose of building the Consol Energy Center in the first place. As a life long resident of Pittsburgh, I've noticed that we aren't exactly progressive thinkers. One of the most frustrating things about the city I love the most is that people tend to be overly emotional about the past. It seems that there are people that feel like the Steelers of the 1970s accomplished the most glorious acheivements in the history of humanity, the steel mills will fiiire back up any day now, and that there's just no room in this tahn for good ideas. Today's vote to demolish the Igloo is bittersweet. Many of the best moments of my life happened at this building, and I was often lucky enough to have been there when it went down. My support of the demolition isn't done out of some disrespect for the legacy of this building. I do believe it was a modern marvel in its heyday. The reason this is a good idea goes hand in hand with the potential development of the areas shown above. There's a lot of room there. For anyone that is familiar with Pittsburgh's North Side, the areas near Heinz Field and PNC Park are quite beautiful. This is a far cry from what it was in the Three Rivers Stadium days. Development similar to that is crucial for the Downtown and Hill District. Currently, there are very few places to go in this area to spend money and have a good time (parking taxes excluded). With any luck, people with way more money, clout, and brains than me will make sure to have some nice, new destinations for people to extend the great times they will have at the Consol Energy Center and more importantly spend money in the city!! With these words, I say my formal goodbyes to the Civic Arena. You have served us well and we will miss you. Now be a good building and join your brother Three Rivers Stadium...

2 comments:

  1. Agreed. One stroll around the Arena District in C-bus is all you need to realize the value of the Civic Arena going down. Just imagine cool beers on the patio on a warm spring day before a playoff game...only a few years away.

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  2. Absolutely. It's the greatest thing that can be done for the Civic Arena's legacy...don't let it impede the progress of hockey and the hockey atmosphere that it has helped build.

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