PITTSBURGH — Folks downtown had hoped they’d be able to go and see a movie in the old Bally Fitness building, but the plans to turn the old fitness club into a theater are no more.
The plan was announced back in 2019, but now the curtain is closing on it.
Nestled between the Pittsburgh Renaissance and Eateries on Sixth Street, the old building has stood vacant for years.
It was set to become a six-screen movie theater, but now, according to our partners at the Pittsburgh Business Times, the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has called off the plans.
The organization said the renovation costs have more than doubled from the prepandemic estimates and the business model is no longer feasible.
Hannah Carr and Haylee Henry, who go to school nearby, told us they would have loved to see it happen.
“There’s a dorm down the street with our friends, a lot of people from Duquesne, they would love that, they would make so much money,” Henry said.
“It really saddens me to see that this building is just empty, there’s nothing there to have anything on this street, it’s just trash,” Carr said.
It’s unclear what will become of the building now.
“Hopefully it comes of something one day,” Carr said.
“Something that would create more community more stuff for everyone to do around here, for sure,” Henry added.
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