Judge denies emergency petition to suspend demolition plan for Shadyside church

PITTSBURGH — There’s no word yet on demolition going forward in Shadyside.

But according to a Tuesday filing in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, Judge Alan Hertzberg has denied a filing by the East Liberty Valley Historical Society and a group of neighborhood residents lead by architect Rob Pfaffmann petitioning the court for an emergency stay on demolishing the former Shady Avenue Presbyterian Church at 241 Shady Ave., a former church dating to early in the 20th century.

It’s a church property owned by the Lardo family of Icon Building and Development that neighbors what is now a fully cleared site where the former Shady Hill Center will soon be replaced by the new Meridian mixed-use project by Echo Realty.