Steelers paying $1M to revive sculpture that graced former Manchester Bridge
An ornate bronze sculpture that used to adorn the south end of the former Manchester Bridge will be installed on the North Shore.
It was in storage for more than a decade.
“It's great to see it come back,” Pittsburgh Stadium Authority member Jay Anderko said.
The Stadium Authority OK'd the Steelers' plans Tuesday to install the 13-by-37-foot sculpture near Stage AE, at North Shore Drive and Art Rooney Avenue. The Steelers will cover the project's $1 million cost, said Mark Hart, the team's director of planning and development.
The sculpture features statues of frontiersman Christopher Gist and Seneca leader Guyasuta kneeling on either side of the city's coat of arms. It will be placed on a stone base with a background of rust-colored Cor-ten steel, project manger Heidi Edwards said.
Edwards said the team is completing design work. She expects the foundation to be installed between May and August. She wasn't sure when the project would be done.
The city placed the sculpture above the southern portal of the Manchester Bridge two years after the span opened in 1915. Built for $1 million, the bridge crossed the Allegheny River, linking the North Shore and the Point.
When the bridge was demolished in 1970, the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation acquired the sculpture, along with another one over the north portal that featured a coal miner and a millworker.
The foundation acquired many architectural artifacts in the 1960s and '70s as urban renewal projects resulted in the demolition of aging buildings and structures, the foundation's Karamagi Rujumba said. The Manchester Bridge sculptures are the largest that remain, he said.
The sculptures became part of a garden display outside the foundation's former headquarters at the North Side's old Allegheny Post Office in 1973, Rujumba said. The foundation later gave the building to the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh, which removed the garden to make way for expansion in the early 2000s.
The sculptures have been stored at Heinz Field.
They almost came out of hiding in 2008, but the city-county Sports & Exhibition Authority placed a moratorium on installing public art or memorials in North Shore Riverfront Park, which runs from the Carnegie Science Center to the Ninth Street Bridge. At the time, the park had three memorials, a public art sculpture and two memorials planned — including one honoring the late Fred Rogers, which opened in 2009 and includes a Manchester Bridge pier.
“We are very excited to see that the Steelers are continuing the tradition of preserving this important part of our history, and that the team is bringing this sculpture back to life and back into public view,” Rujumba said.
Rujumba said the sculpture from the bridge's north portal will remain in storage.
Tom Fontaine is a staff writer for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-320-7847 or tfontaine@tribweb.com.
