Schenley Farms Historic District

The Pittsburgh Athletic Association is a private social club and athletic club in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Its clubhouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.Located at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard in the city's Oakland district, it faces three other landmark buildings: the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning and William Pitt Union (formerly The Schenley Hotel) as well as the Soldiers and Sailors National Military Museum and Memorial. The latter, as well as the nearby Twentieth Century Club, being designed by noted architect, Benno Janssen. The club was organized in 1908 by real estate developer Franklin Nicola. Architect Benno Janssen (1874—1964) used a Venetian Renaissance palace as a prototype for his design, perhaps Palazzo Grimani or Libreria on Piazza San Marco. The structure was completed in 1911. Prior to that, the club operated out of the Farmer's Bank Building (now razed), downtown at Forbes St (then Diamond) and Smithfield. The Pittsburgh Athletic Association is a nonprofit membership club chartered in 1908, operating to 2017.It offered comprehensive athletic facilities, sports lessons, spa services, fine dining, and overnight accommodations. Some of the building's more interesting features include a pool on the third floor, full basketball and squash courts, a 16 lane bowling alley, and a room dedicated to former University of Pittsburgh football coach Johnny Majors. The club had several annual events, the most popular including an Easter brunch, a lobster dinner, and collegiate boxing events. From 1916 to 1920, the PAA fielded an elite amateur ice hockey team featuring such Canadian stars as Herb Drury and brothers Joe and Larry McCormick. The team won the championship of the short-lived National Amateur Hockey League in 1918. When the Olympic Games first included ice hockey in 1920, four of the eleven players on the silver medal-winning U.S. team came from the PAA squad.The clubhouse is currently undergoing a complete renovation and restoration after which the club will be housed in a smaller space incorporating athletics, lap pool, and fine dining. It is slated to reopen in 2020.

Syria Mosque was a 3,700-seat performance venue located in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Constructed in 1911 and dedicated on October 26, 1916, the building was originally built as a "mystical" shrine for the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (the Shriners) and designed by Huehl, Schmidt & Holmes architectural firm of Chicago. It was recognized as one of the best examples of "exotic revival architecture". Located at 4400 Bigelow Boulevard, it held numerous events over the years, mainly highlighted by concerts of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and numerous internationally recognized music performers, as well as political rallies and speeches. Despite community efforts to have Syria Mosque designated a historic landmark, the building was demolished August 27, 1991. The Medinah Temple in Chicago (constructed one year after this building by the same firm) is a similar building still in existence (though now converted to retail space).

The William Pitt Union, built in 1898 as the Hotel Schenley, is the student union building of the University of Pittsburgh main campus, and is a Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark. Designed by Pittsburgh-based architects Rutan & Russell in the Beaux-Arts style of architecture, the Schenley Hotel catered to local and visiting well-to-do people. The University of Pittsburgh acquired the property in 1956.

USS Pittsburgh (CA-72), originally named USS Albany (CA-72), was a Baltimore-class heavy cruiser of the US Navy and the third ship to bear the name. She was laid down on the 3 February 1943 by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corporation's Fore River Shipyard at Quincy, Massachusetts, launched on 22 February 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Cornelius D. Scully, wife of the Mayor of Pittsburgh and commissioned in Boston, Massachusetts on 10 October 1944, with Capt. John Edward Gingrich in command.

Alumni Hall at the University of Pittsburgh is a Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark that was formerly known as the Masonic Temple in Pittsburgh. Constructed in 1914-1915, it was designed by renowned architect Benno Janssen of Janssen & Abbot Architects. Other buildings in Pittsburgh's Oakland Cultural District designed by Janssen include the Pittsburgh Athletic Association, Mellon Institute, and Pitt's Eberly Hall (which was known as Alumni Hall prior to 1998). The building's design is that of a classical temple with a well-defined base, midsection and ornamental terra cotta pediment, topped with a clay tile roof. The structure is steel, clad primarily in limestone with terra cotta details. The rear elevation is brick.

Schenley Quadrangle is a cluster of University of Pittsburgh ("Pitt") residence halls that is a Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation Historic Landmark and are contributing properties to the Schenley Farms National Historic District in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The five residence halls are the former historic Schenley Apartments, designed by Henry Hornbostel with collaboration from Rutan & Russell and Eric Fisher Wood, for developer Franklin Nicola; they were built between 1922 and 1924 at a cost of more than $4.5 million ($71.6 million in 2021 dollars). Originally, the Schenley Apartments were home of Pittsburgh's well-to-do (including for a time their architect Henry Hornbostel) and consisted of 1,113 rooms in 238 apartments across the five buildings. The University acquired them in December 1955 at a cost of $3 million ($30.3 million in 2021 dollars), renovating them into residence halls for another $1 million ($9.97 million in 2021 dollars). By 1957-1958, 101 female students had moved into 20 apartments in Building F (now called Brackenridge Hall).Today, Schenley Quadrangle consists of five Pitt residence halls: Amos Hall, Brackenridge Hall, Bruce Hall, Holland Hall, and McCormick Hall. Previously a vehicle drop-off area and parking lot, the courtyard between these buildings was converted to a public open space with landscaping and exterior furniture in 2018; a raised platform was built for performances or other events. The renovation cost $5 million, with another $5 million spent on the parking garage beneath it.

The Pittsburgh Quantum Institute (PQI) is a multidisciplinary research institute that focuses on quantum sciences and engineering in the Pittsburgh region. It is a research-intensive cluster. The Pittsburgh Quantum Institute (PQI) was founded in 2012 with the mission “to help unify and promote quantum science and engineering in Pittsburgh”. With financial support from the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh, PQI provides leadership throughout Pittsburgh in areas that impact the “second quantum revolution”. PQI members have faculty appointments from Duquesne University, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Pittsburgh in physics, chemistry, and engineering disciplines. The Pittsburgh Quantum Institute currently consists of 100 professors and their groups, a number that keeps growing every year with faculty appointments in the various departments of the member institutions. PQI sponsors and organizes research seminars, panel discussions, public lectures, and outreach activities, and a signature event (PQI20XX in April) that brings in a dozen plenary speakers and a public lecture. PQI supports graduate students with research and travel awards, and sponsors two well-attended poster sessions per year. The PQI website (www.pqi.org) highlights research and researchers, hosts multiple videos, and provides a regular feed of information relevant to the PQI community. PQI also coordinates with other important centers and facilities (Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center, Petersen Institute for Nanoscience and Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University Nanofabrication Facility, and the Center for Research Computing).

The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) 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 28,391 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, a selective group of major research universities in North America, and is classified as an R1 University, meaning that it engages in a very high level of research activity. Pitt was the third-largest recipient of federally sponsored health research funding among U.S. universities in 2018 and it is a major recipient of research funding from the National Institutes of Health. According to the National Science Foundation, Pitt spent $1.0 billion on research and development in 2018, ranking it 14th in the nation. It is the second-largest non-government employer in the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. The university also operates four undergraduate branch campuses in Western Pennsylvania, located in Bradford, Greensburg, Johnstown, and Titusville. The campus is situated adjacent to the flagship medical facilities of its closely affiliated University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) and its flagship hospital, UPMC Presbyterian, as well as the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, Schenley Park, and Carnegie Mellon University. Pitt traces its roots to the Pittsburgh Academy founded by Hugh Henry Brackenridge in 1787. While the city was still on the edge of the American frontier at the time, Pittsburgh's rapid growth meant that a proper university was soon needed, and Pitt's charter was altered in 1819 to confer university status on it as the Western University of Pennsylvania. After surviving two devastating fires and several relocations, the university moved to its current location in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood, and by act of the state legislature was renamed the University of Pittsburgh in 1908. Pitt was a private institution until 1966, when it became part of the Commonwealth System of Higher Education. Pitt has produced eight Rhodes Scholars, ten Marshall Scholars, and 297 Fulbright Scholars. Past and present faculty and alumni at Pitt include six Nobel laureates, three Pulitzer Prize winners, three Academy Award winners, various members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, seven United States senators, three United States cabinet officials, and five U.S. state governors. In athletics, Pitt competes in Division I of the NCAA as the Pittsburgh Panthers, primarily as members of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Pitt athletes have received a total of five Olympic medals.

University Place Office Building was a 6-story building constructed in 1924 and had been a contributing property to the Schenley Farms National Historic District 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. 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 and then housed a variety of university offices, including the University Center for Social and Urban Research, until its demolition in 2011.

Friday Nite Improvs, or Friday Night Improvs (FNI), was a long-running weekly improvisational comedy show staged on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The show functioned as an improv jam, performed by improv actors who don't normally work together. FNI was unique in that, in addition to the audience's providing improv suggestions, the performers are all pulled from volunteers in the audience. FNI ended in 2014. A student improv group, Ruckus, has succeeded FNI as a resident improv group on the University of Pittsburgh's campus. Friday Nite Improvs was the longest-running theatrical/comedic production in the city of Pittsburgh. The show regularly featured actors from every improv group in Pittsburgh, and alumni have gone on to act, write, and produce for television and film. Readers of the Pittsburgh City Paper ranked Friday Nite Improvs as the 3rd best place to see comedy in Pittsburgh in the 2004 "Best of Pittsburgh" survey behind the professional stand-up clubs The Improv and The Funnybone.College Prowler ranked Friday Nite Improvs as the ninth best thing about Pitt.

Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum (or often simply Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall) is a National Register of Historic Places landmark in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. It is the largest memorial in the United States dedicated solely to honoring all branches of military veterans and service personnel. It was conceived by the Grand Army of the Republic in the 1890s as a way for Pittsburgh and Allegheny County to honor the dwindling ranks of its American Civil War veterans; it was built on what had served as the army mustering ground during the Civil War. The Memorial today represents all branches of the service and honors both career and citizen soldiers who have served the United States throughout its history. Architect Henry Hornbostel designed the memorial in 1907. Dedicated in 1910, the building is in the Beaux-Arts style and is heroic in scale. It is located in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh at 4141 Fifth Avenue (although the walkway leading to its main entrance is signed as "Matthew Ridgway Blvd." in honor of the World War II and Korean War hero who called Pittsburgh home) and adjacent to the University of Pittsburgh campus and its Cathedral of Learning. The building is set back from Fifth Avenue, featuring expansive and well-kept lawns dotted with large cannons and other war implements. Side streets flanking the building are Bigelow Boulevard and University Place; directly behind is O'Hara Street. The Memorial houses rare and one-of-a-kind exhibits that span the eras from the Civil War to the present day conflicts. Since 1963 it has operated the "Hall of Valor" to honor individual veterans from the region who went above and beyond the call of duty. Today the hall has over 600 honorees among them are Medal of Honor, The Kearny Cross, Distinguished Service Cross, Navy Cross, Air Force Cross, Silver Star and Distinguished Flying Cross winners. The building houses an auditorium seating 2,500, a banquet hall, and meeting rooms, in addition to its museum. The expansive lawn of the memorial sits on top of an underground parking garage operated under a long-term lease by the University of Pittsburgh. It has served as host for many city, civic, university, and business events including the April 25, 1978 Gulf Oil Corporation shareholders meeting.

WPTS-FM is a non-commercial radio station owned by the University of Pittsburgh, and offers a mix of student-run programming, ranging from music programming to news and sports coverage. The station operates at 92.1 MHz with an ERP of 16 watts, and is licensed to Pittsburgh. Its transmitter is located on the top of the university's Cathedral of Learning in Pittsburgh.