Little Known Dam System which protected Turtle Creek valley at one time. Now sits abandoned due to failure to maintain it properly

If you travel over the Tri Boro Expressway Bridge  PA 130 which runs next to the Westinghouse Bridge and  carefully stop your car and look over you can see the giant walls which where once lowered to protect the Turtle Creek Valley from flooding after the flood of 1936  and others caused devastating damage.
to the Westinghouse Electric plant and other facility





But enough was enough and the Corp of Engineers built the gates but left it to local authority to maintain them.
How ever by late 80's because the turtle creek basin was not properly maintained the gates where abandoned after it would have cost millions to make them work properly .





You can change the name and purpose of a building but ghosts still follow it seems at the Pitt Student Union Building and Cathedral of learning.

I first heard the  tragic story of a ballerina when I was helping at an exhibit the Pittsburgh  Mineral and Lapidary Society I belonged to was holding in the grand hall of the Pitt Student Union Building  across from the main Cathedral of Learning Building and at one time was known as The Schenley Park Hotel which saw many a famous guest in its day.







Including Diamond Jim Brady and Lillian Russel as well as Presidents and holly wood celebritys.

But it also has a sad story of a ballerina .

as shown in a excerpt  from Wikipedia


Legends


The Tansky Family Lounge in the William Pitt Union formerly served as the Schenley Hotel's lobby
A ghostly legend passed down among students begins with the story of a visit by the Russian National Ballet where it took up accommodations in the historic Schenley Hotel prior to opening its tour of the United States in Pittsburgh. The prima ballerina, tired from travel, decided to rest before the premiere performance, drifted off, and slept through her curtain call and the whole of the performance. The companies director, either so incensed by her missing the premiere, or so impressed by the stage presence of her understudy, decided to replace the prima ballerina with the young upstart for the remainder of the tour. The ballerina was so distraught that she took her own life that night, ashamed and humiliated that she would be replaced by the young understudy. It is now said if you were to ever take a nap or fall asleep for whatever reason in the Tansky Family Lounge, also known as the Red Room, you will always wake up just in time for whatever exam, class, meeting, appointment, etc. you may have missed. The Prima Ballerina haunts the room to make sure you never succumb to her same fate.[16]
Another tale tells of a ghost haunting the Lillian Russell Room, room 437 within the offices of The Pitt News, in the area of Lillian Russell's former residence when the union served as the Schenley Hotel.[17]
A notable infamous incident at the Schenley Hotel occurred on July 12, 1950, when a hotel night guard went on a shooting spree that resulted in the deaths of two men and the wounding of another.[


Is there anything to the story and legend yes there have been apparitions reported in the Red and other rooms of the Student union but is it students pulling pranks or real paranormal activity ?

Then there is the case of ghosts who have followed  their former class rooms to the cathedral of learning  at Pitt.
An imposing multi story building  built in 1927




 Which as it was being built the local nationality's where asked if they would help in the location and donation of class rooms from around the world which would be part of the Cathedrals
and many different nationality arranged to have the class rooms imported to America and they are now viewable  in the cathedral of Learning  . Except in some rooms its seems the former students and teachers came with them as some are said to be haunted.
as apparitions and strange things have gone on in the rooms.Particularly the Early American Colonial class room



Ghost or not many of the rooms are simple to spectacular like the Ukrainian room 

The Ukrainian room
SO if your ever in Oakland be sure to check them out and Pitt is not the only haunted place also The Pittsburgh Playhouse is haunted as well which I will talk about in a future article.