PITTSBURGH — UPDATE 3 p.m.
Traffic restrictions around the Frick Building in downtown Pittsburgh will remain for at least two weeks.
According to the City of Pittsburgh's website, this will be to promote public safety, existing traffic detours and adding scaffolding and safety walls around the site.
Engineers are still writing a report on the condition of the building's exterior.
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Two days after a large piece of granite fell off one of the signature buildings in Downtown Pittsburgh, the building's owners said an ordinance that requires the inspection of facades is not enforced.
The owner of the Frick Building, New Jersey-based Rugby Realty, confirmed a 1,500-pound piece of granite fell from the southwest corner of the building onto the corner of Grant Street and Forbes Avenue.
City officials said there is an ordinance in place requiring periodic inspections of facades. Rugby Realty told Channel 11 it was not aware of a city ordinance and, if there was one, the ordinance is not enforced.
Other building owners also told Channel 11 that the five-year facade inspection law is not enforced. City officials, however, said the onus is on the building owners to get a facade inspection every five years and to keep a record of the inspection on file in case the city wants to see it, if the city suspects something is wrong.
Crews put up scaffolding Tuesday morning at the corner of Grant Street and Forbes Avenue to protect pedestrians and allow for repairs. Engineers will determine if the building is structurally sound.
The city believes water infiltration caused the piece of granite to crumble and fall onto the street below overnight Saturday into Sunday. Leaders are now waiting for a full report from a structural engineer.
There are at least seven other downtown buildings that are at least 100 years old.
PREVIOUS STORY: Downtown streets could be closed for weeks after granite falls from building
At the Frick, there is still a concern that more pieces of the upper cornice could fall. In response, steel scaffolding will be built all the way to the top of the building and a wall will be built on Grant Street to capture any falling debris.
The Frick Building completed construction in 1902 and, at 20 floors high, was the tallest building ever built in the city at the time. Designed by renowned architect Daniel Burnham, it is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Cox Media Group
