In the fondly remembered old days, East Liberty was a shopping district
surpassed only by downtown itself. Then came the urban planning of the
1960s, which made a pedestrian mall out of the main street and slowly killed
off the businesses one by one. Today, with traffic running on Penn Avenue
again and some national chains moving into the central business district,
East Liberty looks poised for a modest revival.
East Liberty prospered in the Art Deco era, and you can see the evidence
of that prosperity in the storefronts that line Penn Avenue, the main shopping
street.
Daniel Burnham's Highland Building is a classically proper skyscraper whose
clean lines are livened up by just exactly the right amount of ornamentation.
Motor Square Garden was built as a city market. After enduring many changes
along the way--car dealer (thus the name), arena, expensive shopping arcade--it
seems to have found its calling as the headquarters of the local AAA motor
club.
East Liberty Presbyterian Church, by Ralph Adams Cram, dominates the skyline
from every angle. It was built with Mellon money; per square foot, it may
be the most expensive church ever built in America. Locals know it as the
Mellon Fire Escape.
The tower of East Liberty Presbyterian is a masterpiece itself: thick with
Gothic ornamentation, but harmonized perfectly, so that the whole effect
is never sabotaged by the parts. With its multiple steps upward, it succeeds
in what every Gothic spire attempts: it lures our eyes closer and closer
to Heaven--which in this case is also closer and closer to the Cross.
