Homecoming: William Pitt Union home to varied history

Once a cow pasture owned by Mary Schenley in the 1800s, the William Pitt Union started as a hotel and slowly became the center of student life through a long journey that started just before the turn of the twentieth century.

Franklin Nicola constructed the Schenley Hotel, which opened in 1898. It become the first skyscraper hotel in Pittsburgh, towering 11 stories high. 

Over the years, it hosted large-scale events, including “The Meal of Millionaires,” which celebrated U.S. Steel becoming the nation’s first billion-dollar company. The hotel was also the venue for the wedding of famous singer Lillian Russell. The Veterans of Foreign Wars, an organization for war veterans chartered by the U.S. government, was also founded at the hotel in 1914.

Because the hotel was such a hotspot for large-scale events in Pittsburgh, many former presidents stepped within its walls, including Woodrow Wilson, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and Dwight Eisenhower, who stayed the night along with first lady Eleanor Roosevelt.

The University of Pittsburgh purchased the Schenley Park Hotel, renamed in 1954, for nearly $2 million to be used as a dormitory in 1956. The hotel’s top floor was demolished; the 10th floor now serves as a carpenter’s office that is not open to students. The building was transformed into the student union in the 1960s to accommodate the University’s continued growth.

“Administration and student leaders alike voiced elation over the dramatic increase in facilities available for student activities and undergraduate housing,” said a University of Pittsburgh press release from February 15, 1956. 

In the same article, Dean of Men Theodore Biddle described the purchase as, “a great step forward. It’s a simply tremendous thing.” 

By 1983, renovations were in order to fix up the building, which by that time was already 85 years old.

“There was no student union on campus when the University purchased it,” said current building manager Chris Chergi, who has been working at the Union for 40 years. “The upper floors were used as men and women’s dormitories. As student population and campus grew, we needed a facility, and with the event rooms that were already in place, it seemed like the right fit.”

Most of the floors were gutted in the $13.9 million renovations that took place thirty years ago. Only a few rooms today, including an office on the fourth floor that is now home to The Pitt News, remain the same.

Nearly 115 years after it first opened as the Schenley Hotel, the building has become the hub of many student organizations, including Rainbow Alliance, Black Action Society and the Greek Life Office. The Union is also home to a number of student services, such as the Office of Career Development and Placement Assistance and the Office of Residence Life.

Over the past decade, other renovations have been made to the Union. In 2006, a lounge was added to the bottom floor of the Union. It would be dubbed “Nordy’s Place” the following year. 

Chergi recalled its former title as the “rec center.” It housed 15 pool tables, along with four pingpong tables where the commuter lounge is now located. She also noted the addition of the non-alcoholic bar, created in the interest of late-night programming.

The Assembly Room on the main floor, along with the eatery on the bottom floor, have also undergone recent renovations.

“The only real challenges that come about are when we are dealing with the main floor, because we have to maintain the integrity,” Chergi said.

Chergi’s favorite room, which has maintained much of its historical significance, is the Lower Lounge. She appreciates the room for its charm and history, recalling that past visitors likely “played bridge [and] had high tea. I can visualize that back in the day.”

The William Pitt Union is considered a historical landmark by the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation. A plaque denoting this was granted to the Union in 1984 and can now be found by the Fifth Avenue entrance to the building.

The Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation is an educational program that takes surveys from people around the area to decide what buildings should be considered historic landmarks in Pittsburgh. The buildings chosen must be at least 50 years old and have some historical significance. The plaques granted to selected buildings aim to preserve historic sites so future generations can learn about Pittsburgh history.

“The idea is to preserve sites,” Al Tannler, architectural historian of the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation since 2005, said. “We want people to look at actual buildings.”

Many might wonder what’s next for the Union. According to Chergi, there will be more renovations to the third floor this year. It is to become the wellness floor, which will include dance studios and another study room. She said that the University has conducted projects in the Union annually, and if they are not renovating, they are often planning for upgrades.

“I’ve been to a lot of student unions around the country,” Chergi added. “There are a lot of modern buildings, but I like the history here. It would be nice if students embraced history in the Union and on campus [because] our buildings have a lot of charm.”