Cathedral a different world in the dark

Andre Burton sits at a half-hidden table in the cavernous quiet of the Cathedral of Learning… Andre Burton sits at a half-hidden table in the cavernous quiet of the Cathedral of Learning Commons Room, books spread over the surface in front of him.

Other students are scattered through the room. They have ventured out of their homes, as well, seeking a quiet refuge within the stone walls. It is at 2 a.m. Sunday.

The political science and communications studies major can be found there “pretty much every night” from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. It doesn’t matter how often or late he stays, the Cathedral is open all night, every night.

By day, students, teachers and tourists pour in and out of the landmark 42-story building. They fill the stairwells and hallways and most of the offices are occupied on and off throughout the workday. It’s the University’s hub.

By night, the hallways are vacant except for half-empty trash bins. Footsteps resound rather than abound. The stair-climbers have finished their laps for the evening, and custodians go about their 11 p.m.-to-7 a.m. jobs.

Nearby, St. Paul’s Cathedral, a building of similar stature, has been locked since 7 p.m. The William Pitt Union is locked down at midnight, and Hillman Library closes two hours later.

In today’s society, where burglary, theft and fear of terrorism are prevalent, the Cathedral of Learning, the University’s signature piece of architecture, stands open and welcoming 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Brilliantly lit, it is a beacon in the Oakland night.

“Most people recognize its architectural beauty as an important work of art,” said Robert Hill, Pitt’s vice chancellor of public affairs. “I think the fact that the Cathedral has been able to avoid the fate of many buildings in being the target of vandals is a tribute to the iconic nature of the Cathedral.”

Pitt police Chief Tim Delaney said he’d also like to think the Cathedral avoids major incidents of vandalism out of respect for the building.

“The Cathedral is the epicenter of the campus,” Delaney said. “When you have something that big someone’s always in it. The key is how do you give everybody access and security at the same time?”

In the past month, The Pitt News police blotter has reported four robberies from Cathedral offices. It is the responsibility of the individual department to lock its own doors, but sometimes the occupants leave their offices open all night.

“We really don’t have damaged doors,” Delaney said. “Most thefts are opportunities in chance – the doors were left open or a backpack was left on the floor,” he said.

“Thieves are opportunists. It’s usually a person who needs a quick buck, what are they going to do, steal a pillar? They could carve their name on a desk or leave a message on a chalkboard to send a political message, but we don’t really have that,” he said.

In fact, Delaney said there haven’t been any serious incidents in the Cathedral in his entire run as chief.

Burton doesn’t see anything out of the ordinary going on as he studies, but he does see the Cathedral’s lone security guard on his rounds. Delaney said the guard is stationed at the building’s Fifth Avenue entrance, the only entrance open past 10 p.m., but moves around as necessary.

“It’s a beat or a sector in itself but the officer travels vertically,” Delaney said. “But people know the guard’s in the building somewhere.”

Campus buildings Benedum and David Lawrence halls each allow one open entrance throughout the night, but a security guard checks student IDs at the door.

According to Delaney, because the Cathedral is a historical landmark and cannot be altered, and also because it’s made of granite, wiring and security cameras are difficult to install. There are some cameras watching over the building, though.

Other minor incidents in the building listed in the blotter over the past year include obscene drawings on chalkboards and the removal of people playing laser tag.

But Burton rarely moves from his studying spot when he goes to the Cathedral.

“I just like the atmosphere here,” he said. “Nobody’s here, nobody bothers me.”

The quiet has paid off – Burton had a 4.0 G.P.A. last semester.

Just seven floors above him, four workers descend the stairwell from their office, talking, laughing and holding empty lunch bags.

“We have to do our work at night because it involves the University computer system,” one said.

They exit through the Fifth Avenue side door.

Also inhabiting the Cathedral at night are about 15 workers from facilities management. They clean the entire building seven days a week, with specifically assigned areas.

It is one woman’s job to keep the jewels of the building – the Nationality Rooms – clean every night.

In the English Nationality Room on the first floor – she always begins on the first floor – the custodian sweeps around the chairs, picking up plastic-cup lids, loose-leaf papers and gum wrappers, the daily detritus of students who sat in classroom just hours before.

She moves on to the chalkboard, wiping it down and then washing it, moving the sponge back and forth until it’s spotless and waiting for the next day’s lessons, as she has every night for the past two years.

She doesn’t see anything too out of the ordinary either.

The Nationality Rooms were an idea that was a part of the original conception of the building, all planned by Pitt’s 10th chancellor, John Gabbert Bohman.

The Cathedral was completed in 1937, funded partially from school children’s 97,000 dimes to create not only their city’s tower but the institution where many of them would one day go to learn.

Bohman wanted the Nationality Rooms to symbolize the immigrants who had believed in and built his tower. Currently, the Cathedral has 26 Nationality Rooms, and plans are in the works for eight more.

One of these rooms, the Early American, is said to be haunted, and that story comes from a reliable source.

Maxine Bruhns, director of the Nationality Rooms for 43 years, says she’s seen the imprint of a head on the pillow in the second story bedroom, which has a secret entrance.

She’s stayed overnight there on occasion with a psychic or with curious students.

Bruhns has also smelled bread baking, and she’s seen the room’s baby cradle rock when no one’s around. Most of the articles in the rooms belonged to Bruhns’ grandmother and Bruhns believes it was her grandmother’s presence she felt.

The Nationality Rooms’ matriarch takes immense pride in sharing these stories. She also loves giving tours to foreign dignitaries and explaining Chancellor Bohman’s dream of a tower that would be seen from all over the city, symbolizing the dream of higher education in southwestern Pennsylvania.

On Sept. 11, 2001, Bruhns, like a ship’s captain, stayed in the building while students were still inside. Only when Chancellor Nordenberg canceled classes did she leave.

The Cathedral today is home to peregrine falcons, a seismograph, Vermont slate floors, an organ and working fireplaces in the Commons Room.

The chancellor’s office is on the first floor; the provost’s is on the eighth. The basement is home to a theater and loading docks. The ground floor includes the post office, a coffee shop, a restaurant, a computer lab and classrooms.

Floors one through 34 host classrooms and offices. Computer maintenance for the building takes place on the seventh floor. Floors 35 and 36 are the University Honors College.

The windows between the 15th and 16th floor are almost always left open and students can climb out onto the roof, where they enjoy the privilege of a spectacular view of Oakland at night.

Delaney said he didn’t know anything about the 15th-and-a-half floor and would have to look into it.

“After 9/11, we changed the roof keys,” he said. “Students get out there and take pictures or during protests they’re hanging signs. It’s a safety issue.”

As Pittsburgh sleeps, the Cathedral elevators whir as loudly as the howling wind outside. It is 2 a.m. on a Wednesday and the Oakland streets are wet and deserted.

A man appearing to be in his late 30s wearing jeans and carrying a large backpack approaches the Fifth Avenue entrance, pushes the revolving door, and disappears into the stone and granite tower.