I was researching an article for The Globe this week on “abandoned” places on Point Park’s campus. To be completely honest, I was really struggling with finding a focal point for my story. After some digging I found out there was a lot of history surrounding the Pittsburgh Playhouse in Oakland . Point Park is moving its Playhouse to a newly constructed structure downtown, so the current location will soon be abandoned.
The building had previously housed a German Social Club that is now the Rauh Theater, the Tree of Life Synagogue that is now the Rockwell Theater, and a residential home. Point Park connected the separate facilities into one building with a lot of character. As I wandered through the maze of rooms backstage with Producing Director Kim Martin, I was amazed at the mix of props, costumes, and remnants of the past that decorated every turn and the stories of how it came to be.
The most striking area was the abandoned kitchen and dining room of an alluring hot-spot decades earlier, The Pittsburgh Playhouse Restaurant. Many of the photos here feature the Playhouse in its current state. Martin told me that even after so many years, she still stumbles across new rooms she had never noticed before. It is surely a place lost in time, and hopefully will be preserved despite Point Park’s decision to move downtown.
These photos were taken with a Nikon D3200. Keep an eye out for my published article that will be posted within the next week here and in The Globe.
Walkaway Words 