BNY Mellon Center is the second tallest skyscraper

Skyscraper

A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...

 in downtown Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania

The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...

. Located at 500 Grant Street, it was completed in 1982-1983 and originally built to be the world headquarters of the Dravo Corporation (now Carmeuse

Carmeuse

Carmeuse is a Belgian mining company which produces lime and limestone. The Carmeuse Group has production facilities in Europe, North America and Africa. Its head office is located in Louvain-la-Neuve and the company Chief Executive Officer is Rodolphe Collinet...

 Corporation). Since its inception, the building housed the global headquarters of the Mellon Financial Corporation, until the company merged with Bank of New York

Bank of New York

The Bank of New York was a global financial services company established in 1784 by the American Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. It existed until its merger with the Mellon Financial Corporation on July 2, 2007...

 in 2007. The building now serves as one of the major offices for The Bank of New York Mellon. The building was named One Mellon Center until 2008, when it was renamed as part of a branding initiative by The Bank of New York Mellon.

Prominent features of the building include its eight-sided design, mansard roof

Mansard roof

A mansard or mansard roof is a four-sided gambrel-style hip roof characterized by two slopes on each of its sides with the lower slope at a steeper angle than the upper that is punctured by dormer windows. The roof creates an additional floor of habitable space, such as a garret...

 and rooftop heliport

Heliport

A heliport is a small airport suitable only for use by helicopters. Heliports typically contain one or more helipads and may have limited facilities such as fuel, lighting, a windsock, or even hangars...

. BNY Mellon Center is the 195th tallest skyscraper in the world (see List of skyscrapers). It is the building with the highest taxable property value in Allegheny County, surpassing the larger U.S. Steel Tower

U.S. Steel Tower

U.S. Steel Tower, also known as the Steel Building , is the tallest skyscraper in Pittsburgh, the fourth tallest building in Pennsylvania, and the 37th tallest in the United States. Completed in 1970, the tower has 64 floors to and has of leasable space. Its original name was the U.S. Steel...

. On clear days, it is possible to spot the building from as far as 50 miles away, usually from the top of Chestnut Ridge.

History

In March 2010, installation began on a new rooftop sign that will replace the old Mellon signage with the company's new triangular logo and the new brand name "BNY Mellon". The effort is expected to last until the end of 2010.

On Monday, March 29, 2010, at approximately 4:30 p.m., a maintenance worker committed suicide by intentionally falling from the roof. The worker that died, from the North Side region of the city, was a 10-year employee of the building's maintenance contractor.

Popular Culture

The skyscraper features prominently in the 1983 film Flashdance

Flashdance

Another song used in the film, "Maniac", was also nominated for an Academy Award. It was written by Michael Sembello and Dennis Matkosky, and was inspired by the 1980 horror film Maniac. The lyrics about a killer on the loose were rewritten so that it could be used in Flashdance...

(while still under construction), the 1998 Michael Keaton

Michael Keaton

Michael John Douglas , better known by the stage name Michael Keaton, is an American actor known for his early comedic roles, most notably his performance as the title character of Tim Burton's Beetlejuice . Keaton is also famous for his dramatic portrayal of Bruce Wayne/Batman in Tim Burton's...

 film Desperate Measures (serving as part of the "hospital"), as well as cameos in Sudden Death

Sudden Death (film)

Sudden Death is a 1995 American action film starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Powers Boothe. The film's story was written by Karen Elise Baldwin, the wife of then-Penguins owner Howard Baldwin. It also features Dorian Harewood and Raymond J. Barry, and is directed by Peter Hyams. It has been...

, Striking Distance

Striking Distance

Striking Distance is a 1993 thriller starring Bruce Willis, Sarah Jessica Parker, Dennis Farina, and Tom Sizemore as Pittsburgh Police officers pursuing a serial killer. It was directed by Rowdy Herrington and written by Herrington and Marty Kaplan...

and the 2010 rap video Black and yellow

Black and Yellow

"Black and Yellow" is a song by American rapper Wiz Khalifa from his debut studio album, Rolling Papers. It was released on September 14, 2010 as the lead single from the album. The song was written by Wiz Khalifa, and StarGate, and it was produced by StarGate. It was released as a CD single in...