University Place Office Building

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University Place Office Building
UniversityOfficeBuildPitt.jpg
University Place Building at the University of Pittsburgh
Coordinates 40°26′38.75″N79°57′23.02″W / 40.4440972°N 79.9563944°W / 40.4440972; -79.9563944 Coordinates: 40°26′38.75″N79°57′23.02″W / 40.4440972°N 79.9563944°W / 40.4440972; -79.9563944
Built1924
ArchitectEdward B. Lee and associate architect J. B. Blair
Architectural style Renaissance revival [1]
Demolished2011
Part of Schenley Farms Historic District (ID83002213 [2] )
Added to NRHPJuly 22, 1983

University Place Office Building was a 6-story building constructed in 1924 [1] [3] and had been a contributing property to the Schenley Farms National Historic District [4] [5] on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Once located at 121 University Place (originally Natalie Avenue), the building was originally the Schenley Office Physicians Building designed by architect Edward B. Lee and associate architect J. B. Blair for the Physicians Land Company. [6] Long housing offices of physicians associated with the university's medical school and medical center, the building was acquired by the university in June 1983 for $1.25 million [7] [8] and then housed a variety of university offices, including the University Center for Social and Urban Research, until its demolition in 2011. [9]

Contents

University Center for Social and Urban Research (UCSUR)

In its final years of use by the university, the University Center for Social and Urban Research (UCSUR) was housed within the University Place Office Building. Established in 1972, the UCSUR serves as a resource for researchers and educators interested in basic and applied social and behavioral sciences and serves as a hub for interdisciplinary research and collaboration. [10] Research of the UCSUR focuses on five principal areas including urban and regional analysis, survey research, qualitative data analysis, gerontology, and environmental decision support. The center also offers a graduate certificate in gerontology. [11] In early 2009 the center opened a multipurpose data center which is HIPAA and FISMA compliant. The UCSUR data center is monitored 24/7 by the UCSUR Information Technology department. The data center maintains a 99.3% up time as of the summer of 2010.

Replacement with Nordenberg Hall

Nordenberg Hall on the former site of the University Place Office Building Nordenberg Hall at Pitt.jpg
Nordenberg Hall on the former site of the University Place Office Building

University Office Place was demolished in August 2011, following the approval from the Pittsburgh Historic Review Commission, to make way for a new $59 million, 10-story, 559-bed university residence hall, named Nordenberg Hall that was designed by Mackey Mitchell Architects of St. Louis along with the Pittsburgh-based firm MacLachlan, Cornelius & Filoni Inc. [12] Nordenberg Hall, which opened for the 2013 fall semester, occupies the former footprints of 121 University Place and its former adjacent parking lot at the corner of Fifth Avenue and University Place. Former University Office Place resident UCSUR was relocated to the Gold Building (3343 Forbes Ave). [13] Nordenberg Hall includes ground floor retail space, a university pharmacy, and a second floor student wellness and counseling center. [14] [15] [16] The residence hall also contains two sound-proof music practice rooms, and on the third floor, a fitness room and an outdoor rooftop terrace. [16] [17] The residence hall features 200-square-foot (19 m2) double-occupancy rooms that are equipped with small refrigerators, microwave ovens, and flat-screen TVs. Communal social spaces, study lounges, and bathrooms were intentionally designed to encourage students to leave their rooms to interact with other students and gain a sense of connectedness. [17] The residence hall was named in honor of Mark Nordenberg, the university's previous chancellor who retired in August, 2014. [18]

In literature

University Place Office Building is the namesake and a location setting of a book published in 2007 by Louis Panesi entitled 121 University Place: A Father's Abuse / A Doctor's Love. [19]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Pittsburgh</span> American public university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

The University of Pittsburgh is a public state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The university is composed of 17 undergraduate and graduate schools and colleges at its urban Pittsburgh campus, home to the university's central administration and around 28,000 undergraduate and graduate students. The 132-acre Pittsburgh campus includes various historic buildings that are part of the Schenley Farms Historic District, most notably its 42-story Gothic revival centerpiece, the Cathedral of Learning. Pitt is a member of the Association of American Universities and is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity". It is the second-largest non-government employer in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oakland (Pittsburgh)</span> Place in Pennsylvania, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cathedral of Learning</span> United States historic place

The Cathedral of Learning is a 42-story skyscraper that serves as the centerpiece of the University of Pittsburgh's (Pitt) main campus in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Standing at 535 feet (163 m), the 42-story Late Gothic Revival Cathedral is the tallest educational building in the Western Hemisphere and the second-tallest university building in the world, after the main building of Moscow State University. It is also the second-tallest gothic-styled building in the world, after the Woolworth Building in Manhattan. The Cathedral of Learning was commissioned in 1921 and ground was broken in 1926 under general contractor Stone & Webster. The first class was held in the building in 1931 and its exterior finished in October 1934, prior to its formal dedication in June 1937. It is a Pittsburgh landmark listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mark Nordenberg</span>

Mark A. Nordenberg is the chancellor emeritus of the University of Pittsburgh and chair of the university's Institute of Politics. A professor of law and university administrator, Nordenberg served as the seventeenth Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh from 1996 to 2014. Nordenberg served as the Dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law between 1985 and 1993 and other various administrative positions before becoming interim Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh in 1995, a position which became permanent the following year. He became known as Nordy to many Pitt students, who voted to name a recreation center and arcade in the William Pitt Union as Nordy's Place, and is also the namesake of the university's endowed Nordenberg Scholarships and the Nordenberg Hall dormitory on the university's campus.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Litchfield Towers</span> Complex of residence halls at the University of Pittsburghs main campus

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References

  1. 1 2 Emporis:UPOB [ dead link ]
  2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  3. "Browse Record". Ryan.library.cmu.edu. Retrieved 2011-10-11.
  4. https://gis.penndot.gov/CRGISAttachments/SiteResource/H050656_01H.pdf
  5. "University Times". Archived from the original on 2009-06-28. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  6. "Browse Record". Archived from the original on 2007-06-10. Retrieved 2008-02-18.
  7. http://www2.county.allegheny.pa.us/RealEstate/History.asp?CurrBloLot=0027R00059000000& [ dead link ]
  8. "Pitt Buys Building, Sells Another". The Pittsburgh Press. 1983-06-16. Retrieved 2010-02-01.
  9. "UCSUR (@PittCSUR) - University of Pittsburgh Research Center".
  10. "UCSUR (@PittCSUR) - University of Pittsburgh Research Center".
  11. "UCSUR (@PittCSUR) - University of Pittsburgh Research Center".
  12. Fennell, Kathleen (August 19, 2013). "Welcome Back: New dorm completed, students move in". Pittsburgh, PA. Retrieved August 20, 2013.
  13. Hart, Peter; Barlow, Kimberly K. (2011-09-01). "What's New: Places". University Times. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh. Retrieved 2011-10-10.
  14. Schackner, Bill (2011-10-04). "10-story freshman dorm tops Pitt's building plan". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pittsburgh, PA. Retrieved 2011-10-11.
  15. "Pitt gets approval to raze building for dorm". The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 2010-12-02. Retrieved 2011-02-09.
  16. 1 2 Riely, Kaitlynn (August 16, 2013). "Pitt's new Nordenberg Hall aims to prevent isolation". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
  17. 1 2 Erdley, Debra (August 16, 2013). "Hall phones in new University of Pittsburgh dormitory recall earlier era". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved August 19, 2013.
  18. Erdley, Debra (2012-10-26). "Pitt trustees honor Chancellor Nordenberg with scholarship fund". Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. Retrieved 2012-10-26.
  19. Panesi, Louis (2007). 121 University Place: A Father's Abuse / A Doctor's Love- The Powerful Story of a Tortured Boy Who Prevailed With The Help of a Very Special Doctor. Pineville, NC: Pass It on Publishing. ISBN   978-0-9792166-0-2.
Preceded by University of Pittsburgh Buildings
University Place Office Building

Constructed: 1924
Succeeded by