Cultural District, Pittsburgh

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The Cultural District is a fourteen-square block area in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania bordered by the Allegheny River on the north, Tenth Street on the east, Stanwix Street on the west, and Liberty Avenue on the south..

The Cultural District features six theaters offering some 1,500 shows annually, as well as art galleries, restaurants, and retail shops. Its landmarks include: Allegheny Riverfront Park, Benedum Center, Byham Theater, Harris Theater, Heinz Hall, O'Reilly Theater, Pittsburgh High School for the Creative and Performing Arts, Three Rivers Arts Festival Gallery, and Wood Street Galleries. In 2008 it will be home to the new August Wilson Center for African American Culture.

Major arts organizations based here include: Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, Pittsburgh Dance Council, Pittsburgh Opera, Pittsburgh Public Theater, and the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

The district is the brainchild of H. J. Heinz II, and is managed by the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust. The Trust's first project was the restoration of the former Stanley Theater into the Benedum Center. It applied a holistic approach to urban redevelopment: streetscaping programs, facade restorations, new cultural facilities, public open spaces, and art projects.

Redevelopment in the district has been widely praised. Brendan Lemon of The New York Times wrote, “To describe Pittsburgh’s unconventional, un-Disneyfied remodeling of its Cultural District… is to explore how theater can help transform urban identity”.