A $1.1 million settlement was reached Thursday granting the Pittsburgh Urban Redevelopment Authority acquisition of the Garden Theater, the city's last remaining adult cinema, according to a Pittsburgh Tribune-Review story.
The deal brings an end to a decade-long fight by city officials to close the theater as part of a neighborhood redevelopment plan. It follows a State Supreme Court ruling that the city had a right to seize the property via eminent domain, rejecting opposing arguments by the Garden's owner, George Androtsakis, that doing so would be a violation of his First Amendment rights.
State Senator Jim Ferlo, a member of the URA board, was quoted in the article as referring to this turn of events as "a great day for the city of Pittsburgh."
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