Area 0.5 acres (0.20 ha) Architect Benno Janssen | Built 1909-1911 | |
 | ||
Location 4215 5th Ave., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Architectural style Venetian High Renaissance Part of Schenley Farms Historic District (#83002213) | ||
The Pittsburgh Athletic Association is a private social club and athletic club in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA. Its clubhouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Located at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Bigelow Boulevard in the city's Oakland district, it faces three other landmark buildings: the University of Pittsburgh's Cathedral of Learning and William Pitt Union as well as the Soldiers and Sailors National Military Museum and Memorial.
The club was organized in 1908 by real estate developer Franklin Nicola. Architect Benno Janssen (1874—1964) used a Venetian Renaissance palace as a prototype for his design, perhaps Palazzo Grimani or Libreria on Piazza San Marco. He completed the structure in 1911.
The Pittsburgh Athletic Association is a nonprofit membership club chartered in 1908. It continues today to offer comprehensive athletic facilities, sports lessons, spa services, fine dining, and overnight accommodations. Some of the building's more interesting features include a pool on the third floor, full basketball and squash courts, a 16 lane bowling alley, and a room dedicated to former University of Pittsburgh football coach Johnny Majors. The club has several annual events, the most popular including an Easter brunch, a lobster dinner, and collegiate boxing events.
In film
In 2009, the film Love and Other Drugs, directed by Edward Zwick and starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Hank Azaria, filmed a scene in the Pittsburgh Athletic Association's bowling alley.
The movie filmed in the bowling alley was "She's Out of My League".