Civic Arena Opens

It is not called the Civic Arena anymore, and it does not even open anymore; but being a child of the sixties, I can remember when it was shiny and new and looked like a space ship had landed in downtown Pittsburgh. I was thirteen in 1961 when the Civic Arena opened, and one of the first events that I attended there was an Easter Sunrise Service.

Since I finished making my Easter suit at some ungodly hour Saturday night, burrowed in the walk-in closet where my mother kept our sewing machine, I was bleary-eyed but glad to be up early Sunday morning for the community service. The magnificent and unique steel lid opened slowly--panel sliding over panel--as the sun rose. The choir and all the congregation sang Easter songs to the open air.