The Pittsburgh Athletic Association was the place where Mister Rogers swam laps to stay fit and was, in its heyday, a playground for the affluent. The building resembling a 16th-century Venetian Renaissance Palace was designed by architect Benno Janssen, who trained in Paris. The 110-year-old building’s exterior features athletes, decorative medallions and wrestlers. Its lobby, dining, and meeting and reception rooms are in the process of being restored. The remaining space will become offices.

The renovation adhered to the high standards set by the U.S. Secretary of the Interior while also pushing the boundaries with added new features: a grand new entry stiar, an outdoor coffee terrace on the Fifth Avenue side, a larger terrace on Bigelow Street side, and a penthouse addition. The main lobby was modeled after a Renaissance Drawing Room, complete with marble lobby features, a gilded coffered ceiling with medallions and rosettes, and an intricately carved marble fireplace; all of which have been painstakingly restored to their original brilliance. New LED building lighting installed on the first and third levels illuminates the creamy exterior and the building's flowery cornice, making it glow at night.