1970s and 1980s
1984
1986
1987
1990
1992
1998
1999
A section of Liberty Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh becomes a red-light district, hosting venues like burlesque houses, strip bars, and peep show theaters.
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust is founded by H.J. “Jack” Heinz II to create a national model for urban revitalization through the arts.
Carol R. Brown is named the Trust’s first President & CEO.
The Trust faithfully restores the former 2,800-seat Stanley Theater, which is renamed The Benedum Center for the Performing Arts.
The Trust purchases the former 1,300seat Gayety Theater. Following renovations, the Fulton Theater reopens in 1991 and is later renamed the Byham Theater in 1995.
The Trust opens Wood Street Galleries, its first visual arts endeavor.
The Trust’s District Plan includes the creation of Allegheny Riverfront Park, a two-tiered linear promenade located alongside the Allegheny River. The Trust commissioned a first-time collaboration between artist Ann Hamilton and landscape architect Michael Van Valkenburgh to create the park.
The Agnes R. Katz Plaza is unveiled, featuring a 25-foot bronze fountain by sculptor, Louise Bourgouis, and the design of renowned architects, Dan Kiley and Michael Graves.
BUILDING A
LEGACY
1987 The Trust launches an ambitious plan to transform the downtown Pittsburgh Cultural District into a worldclass arts and entertainment destination.
In the 1970s, amid a backdrop of closing steel mills and struggling communities, a section of Liberty Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh emerged as the hub for the city’s sex industry. Quickly catching on as a red-light district, this stretch of downtown became home to strip bars, XXX theaters, and adult-themed shops. As the district grew, so too did an undercurrent of vice and crime—effectively erasing this section of downtown from the daily footprint of many Pittsburghers.
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2 0 1 9
R E P O R T
T O
T H E
C O M M U N I T Y
1995 The Trust purchases and refurbishes a former XXX theater, and reopens it as the Harris Theater, screening independent and foreign films.
1999
1999
Artists Robert Wilson and Richard Gluckman are selected by the Trust for a series of public art projects in the Cultural District.
TREK Development Group, in cooperation with the Trust, establishes 900 Penn Avenue as one of the Cultural District’s first residential loft-style developments.
The story of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust began as a vision of what could be—held in the minds of a hopeful few. It was in 1984 that Jack Heinz and his “band of dreamers” committed to rewriting the city’s narrative. Together, they aspired to show how the arts could serve as a catalyst for economic, commercial, and residential development, all while enriching the quality of life for residents and visitors alike. Rather than abandoning the seediest part of downtown, Heinz and his “dreamers”—like-minded private citizens and public leaders—set their sights on transforming and revitalizing the district, while retaining the historically significant elements already there. The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust was founded in 1984, and from there, Jack Heinz set out to appoint the organization’s first president and chief executive officer. He sought a leader with great vision, a passion for the arts, and the fearlessness needed to help the fledgling organization pursue its lofty aspirations. Heinz found such a leader in Carol Brown, who was named President and CEO in 1986.
