Pittsburgh City Council seeking to preserve Albright United Methodist Church

A Pittsburgh city councilwoman is attempting to circumvent a recent state appellate court decision that stripped a vacant Methodist church of its historical status and protection from demolition and redevelopment.

Councilwoman Deb Gross of Highland Park on Tuesday resubmitted legislation for a vote that would once again designate Albright United Methodist Church as historic.

Commonwealth Court in June upheld an Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas ruling that found Pittsburgh City Council failed to vote on the historic designation.

Gross said council members thought it had been approved under a section of the city code allowing a historic designation to take effect if members take no action for 120 days. Commonwealth Court cited another section of the city code that said approving the historic designation over a property owner’s objection required a “yes” vote by two-thirds of the nine council members.

“We were all confident in the section of the code that said it was a positive recommendation, but the courts dashed our hopes,” Gross said. “We’ll bring it to a vote and see if we can get it past the courts.”

The building’s owner, the Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, wants to sell the property and for several years has fought the historic status designation, which preservationists and the building’s former congregation supported. A spokeswoman for the conference referred questions to attorneys, who did not respond to a message seeking comment.

The congregation left the 112-year-old building in 2013 because of water damage, and the conference assumed ownership when the congregation could no longer afford its upkeep. The conference reached an agreement with a developer with plans to demolish the building and replace it with a one-story retail building.

Gross said she’s received dozens of emails from constituents and others urging the city to preserve the building at the edge of Bloomfield and Shadyside.

“I think it really shows how important it is to save places that mean Pittsburgh to us,” Gross said.

She said council would likely schedule a vote for September after members return from an annual August break. Historic structures in Pittsburgh require approval of council before they can be demolished.

Preservationists have argued that the building was among the few surviving examples of architect Chancey Hodgdon’s work and that the church has notable stained-glass windows manufactured on what is now Pittsburgh’s North Side, along with an unusual layout that swaps a wide center aisle for two aisles up either side of pews.

Bob Bauder is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Bob at 412-765-2312, bbauder@tribweb.com or via Twitter @bobbauder.