Pitt boosts Cathedral security

Pitt began construction on a new security system for the Cathedral of Learning this summer…. Pitt began construction on a new security system for the Cathedral of Learning this summer.

As part of an ongoing investigation into campus security and ways in which it could be improved, the University’s administration decided that the possibility of someone driving a vehicle into the Cathedral was too great.

“We determined that cars should not be able to drive up to the Cathedral in the manner that they had been able to,” Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs Robert Hill said. “Access to the Cathedral presented security challenges that this system is designed to overcome.”

The security system Hill refers to is a series of remote-controlled bollards that University employees can raise and lower to grant access to the Cathedral from three locations.

Certainly something to be protected, the Cathedral is the second-tallest academic building in the world and nearing its 70th birthday.

Pitt had the bollards – which resemble small pillars – installed this summer on both sides of the Cathedral.

Near the Log Cabin on the Forbes Avenue side, bollards were installed in front of the loading dock and the entrance to a parking lot for University administrators who have offices in the Cathedral.

The bollards protecting the Fifth Avenue entrance are located opposite from Lytton Avenue.

Those permitted to park in the lot will have remote controls in their cars that can lower the bollards so that they can pull into the lot.

After the driver enters the lot, the bollards will rise back up on their own, according to Hill.

University vehicles – such as maintenance vehicles – that need access to the main entrance of the Cathedral on the Fifth Avenue side will also have remote controls.

Non-Pitt vehicles that need to make deliveries to the Cathedral loading dock will have to call ahead of time to get permission to pass through the bollards.

The bollards can be lowered at any time to provide easier access to the Cathedral for things like receptions in its common room.

“Even when [the bollards] are completed, if the University decides that they need to be down for any period of time [the University] can lower them,” Hill said.

Despite the fact that the installation process began this summer, the bollard security system is not yet fully functional.