by the "Mosque Avenger"
The Fall of a Building; the Rise of a Movement
August 27th, 2001, marks the 10th anniversary of the destruction of the Shriners' Syria Mosque in Pittsburgh. The parking lot now occupying its former space serves to remind us of awaiting disaster should we permit the triumph of capitalist values to pre-empt the other needs and desires that define a healthy community.
Somewhat surprisingly, the campaign to save the Mosque brought forth an unforeseen transformation. For the first time, preservationist values spread beyond the efforts of a few notable individuals and seeped into the broader population. After all, a "people's hall" was under attack. Here was a venue that latterly had hosted African-American artists excluded by the apartheid-like access that characterized many Downtown theaters. But it was not just a ghetto stage: Bob Dylan and the Hawks played it on the 1966 tour that revolutionized rock and roll, and the Pittsburgh Symphony first sunk roots there. While the Shriners, the Masloff administration, and others in the power structure remained deaf to proposals for adaptive re-use, an organized response by people from all walks was laying the groundwork for an ongoing preservation movement that continued on after the fall of the Mosque. The founding of Preservation Pittsburgh and the designation of Oakland's magnificent core as an historic district were two of the immediate results of this new-found energy. Though efforts to save the Mosque ultimately failed, it's safe to say that in the years since, concern for the beauty and integrity of Pittsburgh has reached near-critical mass.
Unfortunately, this heightened consciousness around urban livability hasn't always translated into consistent and principled policy by our economic and political leadership. Lord & Taylor's Taliban-like demolition of Mellon Bank's sublime interior and the Lawrence Paint Company's passing represent only two of the most notorious crimes against the built environment. The defeat of Mayor Murphy's Fifth and Forbes plan, and the historic designation for St. Nicholas Church, are among the best examples of citizen action safeguarding our city's uniqueness in the face of the power structure's shortsightedness.
The past decade has also witnessed new challenges to the preservation movement and its allies. Corporate America has now normalized and systematized the fronting of candidates from Murphy to Bush who insure that a combination of regressive taxation and pin-striped welfare guarantee a shrinking public budget that many depend upon for both the bread and the roses of daily life. Then, feigning shock and urgency, the political class proclaims that we're out of money for stadiums and schools. Big business happily steps in as "good corporate neighbor" to resolve the crises they so craftily engineered. The price for this intervention is not unlike that paid to the IMF or World Bank by poor nations desperately seeking funds. Project choice, design and development decisions go to the lender. Guatemalan farms that only yesterday fed local people become private property shipping export crops, and monies that previously maintained quality city pools now line the pockets of local sports magnates. Civic Arena now becomes Mellon....er, excuse us, Citizens Financial Group Arena?
Mayor Murphy and the Sports and Exhibition Authority have shown neither vigilance or spine in the ever-unfolding stadiums fiasco. From conspiring against our vote barring public funding to ceding control over naming rights, the Murphy administration has run roughshod over the rest of us on behalf of developers. Even Murphy's supporters had hoped that his recent rejection by a majority of voters would temper the Mayor's generosity to friends in high places. But, as if to add insult to injury, he's now supporting a Heinz plan to plaster their corporate logo across an already-hideous stadium. Ketchup-colored keystones blare out that resistance is futile. Nothing outside of a life as consuming unit matters.
The challenge to preservationists is how to respond in new and creative ways to this ominous and ubiquitous threat. From historic buildings, to beautiful viewscapes, to the mental environment, we must begin reclaiming our public spaces and private fascinations. From Seattle to Genoa, people worldwide are rising up and seeking an authentic, non-corporate-sponsored meaning to their lives. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette editorial for July 5th, "Soft Drinks, Hard Choices," noted with resignation that the corporate colonization of our culture was "inescapable." The legacy of the Syria Mosque battle fortunately suggests a much less dismal alternative to this defeatism. People from all walks can awaken and mobilize to resist the toxic consumerization of our culture and our planet. Smoking and fur-wearing were once considered fashionable. Are there markers on our DNA that program us to drive SUVs, take our children to theme parks, or shill for the Gap? Change is underway. Listen closely and you can hear a young Bob Dylan echoing from the Mosque that "something is happening here but you don't know what it is, do you, Mr. Jones?"
The Mosque Avenger
