Aldi allowed to demolish old building

The Aldi supermarket chain has been given the go-ahead to demolish a historic building on East Carson Street despite opposition from local preservationists, who walked out in protest during a meeting Wednesday.

The approval from the city Historic Review Commission was a change from last month, when it denied Aldi's demolition request. The commission instead had asked that Aldi consider moving the late 19th-century building -- at 2628 E. Carson St. -- to the edge of the property or elsewhere to accommodate a better layout for the discount supermarket.

But Aldi returned to the commission Wednesday with reports from Brace Engineering and TKA Architects that emphasized the historic building was structurally compromised and could not be safely relocated.

Burns & Scalo, the owner of the property, also told commission members it would cost most than $1 million to renovate and move the structure.

Several residents have championed the building as the only example of its kind on the easternmost part of the Carson Street historic district.

Yet still others have dismissed the structure as unremarkable and out of step with the current architecture across the street -- the SouthSide Works retail/housing complex.

The commission last month had approved the conceptual design of the proposed new store. Since that meeting, the city's Law Department determined that the panel had the right to amend that motion to deal with demolition, and the board reopened the motion at Wednesday's meeting.

Commission members Michael Stern and Joe Serrao abstained from the demolition vote because their architecture firms have done work for Burns & Scalo.

Earlier in the meeting, architect Gerald Morosco led a walk-out of about five people, declaring their opposition over the process. He said the building was renovated in 1992. He also said he would be able to write an architectural report and have an engineering assessment done refuting the reports presented by Aldi representatives.

Mr. Morosco said he was concerned that the city, in wanting this Aldi store to go through, is manipulating the commission.

The project goes before the Zoning Board of Adjustment in September.

Diana Nelson Jones: djones@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1626. Read her blog City Walkabout at http://blogs.sites.post-gazette.com

First published on August 5, 2010 at 12:00 am