Judge denies restraining order on Civic Arena demolition
A federal judge today denied Preservation Pittsburgh’s request for a temporary restraining order on the demolition of the Civic Arena.
U.S. District Judge David Cercone said the group failed to show that the interior demolition work planned to start in about a week would cause any irreparable harm to the structure’s historic features before he rules in September on whether to halt the demolition.
Andrea Ferster, the attorney for the group, argued that some of the arena’s interior features have historic value and, in particular, removal of any of the motors or other equipment for the retractable roof would constitute irreparable harm. The group isn’t adverse to some interior demolition since that would be necessary to remodel the building for new uses, but “there’s a big difference between that and interior demolition that’s preparatory to exterior demolition.”
Samuel Braver, an attorney representing the Sports & Exhibition Authority, said none of the interior work would harm any of the features that Preservation Pittsburgh claims are historic, and the group can’t arbitrarily add features to the list in an effort to stop the authority’s project.
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