PITTSBURGH Plan to clean stone causes outcry

Critics of the proposal say the building reflects the city's steel heritage.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- As the University of Pittsburgh attempts to raise millions of dollars to clean its most recognizable building, critics are asking them to take their cleaning mitts elsewhere.
The university said last month it would try to raise $3.5 million to cleanse the 42-story Cathedral of Learning, a limestone landmark that's covered with almost 70 years' worth of soot and grime.
A number of people have stepped forward, however, to say that the grime is sublime.
"The steel heritage is exemplified by the dark and light portions of the building and to clean it just to be spanking clean is not a good reason unless it's a detriment to the stone," said E. Maxine Bruhns, director of the Nationality Rooms Program.
The Gothic Revival building houses 26 rooms, each dedicated to a specific ethnic group.
The grit and grime on the cathedral signify Pittsburgh's industrial past and it is a daily reminder of the Steel City's namesake, some anti-cleaning campaigners say.
Rain cleans it
Others contend that Mother Nature will eventually do the job for free.
"Every time it rains, the building gets a tiny bit cleaner, and I've been watching that process over the last 10 years," said Cliff Davidson, an environmental engineer at Carnegie Mellon University who has studied erosion on the cathedral for the National Park Service. "I rather like the way the cathedral looks now."
He acknowledged that it could take centuries for nature to complete the job.
University officials say the university needs to be a little more progressive.
"How long do you wait it out?" asked Al Novak, Pitt's interim vice chancellor of institutional advancement.
Anti-cleaning advocates argue that the money would be better spent illuminating the tower, which the school says is the tallest educational building in the Western Hemisphere.
The Pittsburgh History & amp; Landmarks Foundation has not taken an official position on the cathedral -- but foundation president Arthur Ziegler said, "I think the building is handsome as it is. We have a much stronger feeling that the building should be illuminated at night."
Bruhns also said she favors illumination. Two years ago, a lighting engineer said that project could be completed for about $1 million, less than a third of what it would cost to scrub the building clean.
The proposed cleaning is part of a $1 billion campus improvement project.
The question of to-clean-or-not-to-clean could be moot, university officials say, if the money is not raised to pay for the project.
The Cathedral of Learning was built between 1926 and 1937. Then-Chancellor John Bowman wanted to construct the biggest classroom building in the world as a symbol of Pittsburgh's working-class aspirations, said architecture historian Walter Kidney.
XOn the Net: Cathedral of Learning: http://www.discover.pitt.edu/tour/tour-080.html