Faced with arguments about the mundane nature of a former gay bar and its unremarkable role as an outreach center during the HIV/AIDS crisis, the Pittsburgh City Planning Commission voted against historic designation of Donny’s Place in Polish Hill.
The bar operated between 1972 and 2022, serving as a queer bar and an outreach center during the spread of HIV/AIDS. Named after the owner Donald Thinnes, who died last year, the bar has suffered from fire damage and Thinnes’ estate does not want the building to be historically designated, according to Jonathan Kamin, a lawyer who represents developer Laurel Communities. Kamin said the developer entered into a sale agreement with the Thinnes estate and that it was the wish of the late bar owner to turn the area into a residential neighborhood. If the development goes forward, it would also be in line with the city’s push for the creation of transit oriented development in the area.
Dade Lemanski, a local historian involved with the nomination, noted that while there may have been numerous gay bars in the city, many have since disappeared or redeveloped. With that reduction, Lemanski argued that Donny’s Place is still standing in its charred state and should be preserved.
Last year, Polish Hill resident Elizabeth Anderson began this process by filing a historic nomination for the two story brick commercial building in an area where Laurel Communities wants to build 19 townhouses.
She noted on Tuesday that she is only seeking a historic designation for the building and the immediate surrounding area.
“What we’re asking is [for Laurel Communities] to build around it,” Anderson said, adding that if the designation occurred it would be the first of its kind in Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania designation for a “queer and trans” space.
But Kamin argued that the bar doesn’t fit the standards of becoming a historical site.
“We have a number of folks here who were actually part of Donny’s Place and have a history with Donny’s Place that would like to testify as to why what you heard from Lizzie [Anderson] and [Matthew Cotter] is not in fact the true story of what happened on Donny’s place,” Kamin said. Cotter is a co applicant in the historic nomination.
Like a prosecutor making their case, Kamin called people who knew Thinnes through personal and business relationships. Each person he called supported Kamin’s argument that Donny’s Place wasn’t unique or special in any way that would cause it to be elevated to historic status.
Citing an online petition in support of the historic designation, Kamin said, “Donny’s Place has been in deterioration for at least the last decade and not once did anybody think about getting this [historically] declared until they became aware that the development was in fact moving forward. And this is a way to use this process as a subterfuge to stop the development by going ahead and putting this burden on the estate and heirs of Donny.”
Kamin called Thomas Yargo, executor of Thinnes’ estate and stated lifelong friend, who told the commission that this designation is against the wishes of the estate.
Yargo said that the estate consists of 34 parcels that Thinnes amassed over his lifetime before he entered into a 2019 sales agreement with Laurel Communities.
“Donny’s was one of many that participated during the AIDS crisis in getting individuals to enroll in a men’s study. They would do onsite testing. But that was straight and gay bars alike across the city of Pittsburgh,” Yargo said
There was “nothing specifically significant, with all due respect, about the man or the site,” Yargo said.
Kamin called several other intimates of Thinnes’ who came to the same conclusion about the unremarkable nature of Donny’s Place’s role dealing with the AIDS crisis across the city.
“I think it would be better to remember him for his dream, not the facade of this building,” said Chuck Honse, who said he was a close friend of Thinnes.
Jerry Morosco, an architect focused on preservation, said that there’s nothing noteworthy about the old bar.
“Nothing warrants its preservation. It’s a ubiquitous commercial building from early 20th century,” Morosco said.
Several Polish Hill residents called into the meeting to voice their support for the historic designation.
Penny Cuda, a Lawrenceville resident, called Donny’s Place “a crucial part of Pittsburgh LGBTQ history that we should aim to preserve. … “Nominating this building would absolutely align with the city’s larger plans of preserving community character and valuing community ownership.”
Weighing the various arguments, Commission Chair LaShawn Burton-Faulk said, “ I’m having a personal struggle with this request. This building is a wounded survivor. It’s definitely ravaged, a shell of its former self.”
But ultimately Burton-Faulk said that if Thinnes was against the designation, “we’re fighting the legend, is how I feel.”
Commissioner Philip Wu also noted, “This building is a reminder of resilience. The owners of the estate didn’t want to preserve the building. The property is still under that ownership with this agreement to sell to Laurel Communities.”
Wu worried that if the commission voted to recommend historic designation to City Council, the development plans would be abandoned and leave the area undeveloped.
“From a planning perspective, the city would like to combat blight wherever possible,” Wu said. “And the building will get worse over time.”
The commission members who were present all voted against the historic designation.
The issue will now go before the City Council where a final decision will be made within 120 days, according to the commission.
Eric Jankiewicz is PublicSource’s economic development reporter and can be reached at ericj@publicsource.org or on Twitter @ericjankiewicz.
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