Smithfield Street church in Downtown Pittsburgh looking for community partners to save building

The leadership at a century-old Downtown church is working with a local architect to find partners to help keep the congregation in the building amid rising costs. 

Smithfield United Church of Christ’s congregation is facing decades of deferred repairs, estimated to cost over $10 million, without the budget to afford it. 

Rob Pfaffmann, a Pittsburgh architect who often works in preservation, offered to work pro bono for the church to devise plans to pull in community partners who can use their own resources to repair and modernize the church, which has many empty spaces unused by the congregation. 

It’s not easy to find partners, and Pfaffmann recognizes it’s a hard sell. 

“If I’m a developer, if I’m the city … you name it, why should I care and why should I get involved in a building that has huge, millions and millions of dollars of liabilities? Why would I want to take that on?” he said. “But somebody’s got to take it on, right? So, the church has to find partners and find solutions that get people feeling comfortable with it.”

In October, Pfaffmann and church leadership pitched hypothetical plans to around a dozen possible community partners from a variety of backgrounds, including real estate and nonprofits.

The church has briefed both the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Economic & Industrial Development Corp. on the congregation’s desire to preserve the building.

“At this time, the URA and PEIDC do not have a formal role,” URA communications manager Dana Bohince said. “Our staff plan to continue to engage with the church to identify if and how we can serve a role in a potential development effort.”

Potential solutions extend beyond the church itself: Heirs of William Penn gave the congregation a land lease in 1787 that stretches from Smithfield Street to Montour Way and Strawberry Way to Sixth Avenue. 

Smithfield Street cuts through the heart of Downtown and used to be a prominent shopping district. In December, PublicSource and Pittsburgh Magazine examined local efforts underway to revitalize the corridor.

The church’s leadership is hoping to be part of a larger effort to reinvigorate the street.

The land not used by the church, also known as the Smithfield Building, is leased, providing about half of the congregation’s $400,000 annual budget. As a part of the lease terms, McKnight Realty Partners owns the building until the end of its lease with the church in 2068. 

The building once housed the iconic F.W. Woolworth Co. and Stouffer’s Restaurant. 

McKnight Realty now has several tenants in the Smithfield Building: The Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh has a Downtown branch right next to the church, a Brooks Brothers clothing store is set up on the corner of Smithfield Street and Sixth Avenue, and McKnight has two stories of office space above the Brooks Brothers. 

The Carnegie Library invested funds in adding space to its branch.

“Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh remains committed to the successful future of the Smithfield Street corridor,” manager of communications Suzanne Thinnes said in an email. “Our recent $5.3 million investment added 68% more space to our Downtown branch, ensuring that the space is accessible, comfortable and meets the needs of the community. The church has been a valued neighbor and a key community asset. 

“We’re enthusiastically open to working together with all of our neighbors for a sustainably healthy future.”

One plan Pfaffmann and the congregation pitched included the design for five additional stories on the Smithfield Building — as opposed to the church itself — to create residential space, a solar array, and a rooftop community space.

Using any of the land lease space outside of the church requires getting those occupying the space on board with potential plans, and using empty space inside the church building would require repairing the building.

An estimated $12 million is required to repair the church’s exterior, install life safety features such as sprinklers and make the building accessible, according to numbers Pfaffmann provided during the October meeting. 

That meeting was to gauge reactions, and Pfaffmann did not expect to solidify partnerships immediately.

Izzy Rudolph, president and CEO of McKnight Realty, declined to comment specifically on the potential of a partnership.

“I wish them well in this endeavor. We’re obviously always happy to keep this conversation going with them,” Rudolph said.

Pfaffmann is pitching holistic solutions. With Downtown revitalization making headlines, he’s arguing that the church could play a vital role in its Downtown. As a part of his work developing potential plans for the church, he mapped out nearby areas in Downtown to better understand what is missing that the church could provide.

He argues that third spaces — locations outside work and home that people can go to — are needed in any healthy neighborhood. 

For example, teens who spend time Downtown after school may need a place to wait like a teen center, something that could be set up in the empty spaces within the church.

A boys and girls club was one of many suggestions Pfaffmann made to potential community partners in the October meeting for ways to use empty space in the church building. Other suggestions included various social services to continue the church’s mission of giving back to the community Downtown.

There’s no set timeline for when any of these plans could come to fruition, but Pfaffmann estimates it could take five to 10 years. An ideal 2025 would mean funding for stabilizing the building and having a series of workshop meetings to develop ideas, he said.

For John Axtell, co-chair of the church’s building committee, the challenge of deferred repairs opens the doors to something greater. 

“This is an enormous issue, an enormous burden for the church, and the church has dealt with it by avoiding addressing it for decades,” he said. “But it’s an enormous opportunity, too, and it’s an opportunity for more than just the church. It’s an opportunity for all of Downtown to have this resource available for some new and innovative use.”

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