Good afternoon and welcome to the pre-agenda interview for Wednesday, March 11, 2026 for the Historic Review Commission.

The Public Art Committee and the Civic Design Committee, we're going to take the Historic Review Commission first.

If the clerk will please read the title of the bills.

Bill 131, resolution appointing Catherine Blavelt as a member of the Historic Review Commission for a term to expire January 1st, 2029.

Bill 132, resolution appointing Kay Chase Patterson as a member of the Historic Review Commission.

For a term to expire January 1, 2027.

Bill 133, resolution appointing Luna Froonsgard as a member of the Historic Review Commission for a term to expire January 1, 2029.

And Bill 134, resolution appointing Martha Eisler as a member of the Historic Review Commission for a term to expire January 1, 2028.

Bill 147, resolution appointing Emily Stigge as a member of the Public Art Committee of the Public Art and Civic Design Commission for a term concurrent with that of the mayor.

Bill 148, resolution appointing James Hill as a member of the Civic Design Committee of the Public Art and Civic Design Commission.

Four term concurrent with that of the mayor.

And Bill 150, resolution appointing Kendall Solar as a member of the Civic Design Committee of the Public Art and Civic Design Commission for a time concurrent with that of the mayor.

Thank you.

For the record, we are currently joined by Councilman Schrosberger, although I suspect other members will uh trickle in shortly.

With that, what I would like to do is open it up to our nominees.

If you would please introduce yourself, tell us who you are, tell us why you're willing or want or wanting to serve on this important commission.

Um, and then we'll turn it over to members for questions, and we were also joined by Councilman Warwick.

So we'll start with Mr.

Paterson.

Uh thank you, Council President.

My name is Chase Patterson, and I'm honored to be considered for appointment to the Pis Pittsburgh Historic Review Commission.

I am a lifelong Pittsburger, uh having never lived anywhere else, and I'm proud of it.

Uh my understanding of neighborhoods and the importance of place began early in my life.

I grew up in Beachview where my mother still lives today, and my uncles and aunts lived uh when they were very young as well.

And some of my earliest memories of community and place um come from places like John's Drugstore, the Neighborhood Foodland, St.

Catherine's, and the Carnegie Library.

Uh those places were more than buildings for me and more than storefronts.

They were anchors for our daily life.

Uh places where my family gathered and the spirit of our community was felt.

And so watching Beachview evolve over the years has taught me that neighborhoods change.

But the physical spaces within them carry the memory of the people who built and sustained them.

And so that's a lessons that I've that I've learned in my career, and for nearly a decade serving as a CEO of the Urban Academy in Larmer, I first stepped into leadership there, and many of my advisors encouraged us to tear down our school building.

But what I understood then was something that I've learned, and that is that place and preservation and the future are all intertwined.

And so I believe that the bones of buildings carry the stories of neighborhoods.

And my experience has shaped my perspective deeply.

And so I believe that historic buildings and historic places are not obstacles to progress.

They're opportunities to connect the past to the future.

And so when preserved thoughtfully, they provide cultural continuity, identity, and the dignity that communities need and deserve.

So if confirmed, which I hope to be, I would approach this role with humility, thoughtful judgment, and deep respect for the neighborhoods whose stories are written all across the history of Pittsburgh.

This is a city that has always reinvented itself, and the work of this commission helps to ensure that as we grow, we do not lose sight of where we've come from.

So thank you all for your consideration.

I look forward to your questions, and I would be honored to serve.

Thank you, members of the council.

My name is Catherine Blavelt, and I'm honored to be considered for appointment for the Historic Review Commission.

I am a librarian with 10 years of professional experience in Rare Books Special Collections and Research Services.

Before that, I spent two years managing the Rare Books and Special Collections Department, re-establishing public access to the collection and directing the conservation lab at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh Main Branch.

Prior to Pittsburgh, I spent six years at the New York Public Library's Stephen A.

Schwartzman building where I worked in both the General Research Division and the Art and Architecture Division.

I hold a Master's of Library and Information Science with a certificate in special collections from the University of Illinois Urban Champaign.

Throughout my career, I've been I have been drawn to architectural history.

At the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, the first display I curated for Local History Day was on Pittsburgh's architecture.

I went on to curate an exhibit spotlighting Elise McCurr, Pittsburgh's first female architect whose only surviving building in the city, St.

Paul Episcopal Church in the Hill District, is recognized as a historic landmark.

I also champion the digitization of the Home Monthly, a Pittsburgh magazine from the 1890s, edited by Willie Cather, whose April 1898 issue profiles McCure and features her design for a children's hospital at the Marshall Sea Poor Farm near Bridgeville, Pennsylvania.

That building has since been demolished, but the complete run of the Home Monthly is now being digitally preserved and made publicly accessible, ensuring that the record of McCurr's work lives on.

I was also responsible for the care of the Old Stone Tavern Ledger, a document from the 1790s that was instrumental instrumental in securing the building's historical landmark designation.

At C at NYPL, I staff the art and architecture reference desk, helping researchers locate records and historical documentation.

And at CMU, I have access to the architecture archives, which hold the papers of architects like Ben O'Jansen and Henry Hornbossel.

Preserving architectural history has been a thread running through my entire career.

My connection to this work is also personal.