In 1957, construction of the new State Office Building in Pittsburgh was deemed complete. Flash forward 50 years, and that very building has been developed into River Vue luxury apartments. Coincidentally, Millcraft began in 1957. Over the years, our property management team has received kind words from former State Office employees, sharing stories and reminiscing on the great view.
Check out the full 1957 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article below. A big thank you to Mike Embrescia of BOMA Pittsburgh for sharing with us!
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In establishing its first “branch capitol,” the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania could not have chosen a more appropriate spot than the Gateway Center site of the new Pittsburgh State Office Building.
Rising 210 feet above the very ground where Pittsburgh came into being, colorfully encased in a sheath of blue, it stands completed today at the corner of Liberty Avenue and the Boulevard of the Allies.
Overlooks Point Park
At that location it overlooks the 36-acre Point State Park, now being developed by the Commonwealth as a symbol of Pittsburgh’s significant history and its renaissance of the past decade.
It is part of the adjacent Gateway Center, the first large scale commercial blight clearance – redevelopment project to be undertaken not only in Pittsburgh but in the nation.
Dominating the skyline with its contrasting blueness it offers a warm welcome to all who approach the Golden Triangle from the north and west, via the Point where the Ohio, Allegheny and Monongahela Rivers join.
Signs of Progress
This is the place surrounded by signs of progress that the State has chosen to consolidate and improve the efficiency of its expanding business operations in Western Pennsylvania.
Approximately 2,000 employees of 50 to 60 state agencies are bing moved with their typewriters and desks into the new 16-story structure. These agencies have been scattered among some 20 separate Downtown locations, at a cost to the State of about $300,000 in yearly rental fees.
The total cost of the building totaled slightly under $8,500,000 including $1,041,143 for purchase of the site from the Equitable Life Assurance Society of New York, developer of Gateway Center.
Owner Is General Authority
Technically the building’s owner is the General State Authority, an independent agency which was in charge of construction. The GSA will lease the quarters to the Commonwealth for a period of 30 years.
On a low bid of $3,830,000 less than the State’s original estimates, the Navarro Corporation of Pittsburgh executed the general construction contract.
The other prime contractor ere the E.C. Ernst Company, electrical work; Limbach Company, air-conditioning and ventilation; Steel city Piping Company, plumbing, and the Otis Elevator Company. The latter installed five steady, automatically-operated passenger elevators, on private elevator and on freight elevator.
The building is of contemporary, rectangular “slabtype” design, produced by the Pittsburgh architectural firm of Phillips B. Bown and Lewis J. Altenhof.
Enclosing the structural framework of 2,170 tons of steel, erected in four months by the American Bridge Company, are more than 1,550 “skin” units, each consisting of a royal blue aluminum panel and rotating window.
For color harmony, white Vermont marble was used to inclose the two-story base of the building and one side of the vertical elevator shaft. Some ten different varieties of marble were used inside the structure.
All inside walls are movable partitions, so each agency and office can adjust the space to suit its own need.s The interior has a total of $225,000 square feet of floor space.
