R. Caliguiri; Pittsburgh Mayor, 56

Richard S. Caliguiri, credited with helping transform Pittsburgh from a sickly steel town into a vital corporate center during 11 years as mayor, died Friday, the day he was to have met with doctors to discuss a heart transplant to combat a rare, incurable disease. He was 56.

The popular mayor was stricken at home by a heart attack and died at a hospital.

City Council President Sophie Masloff, 70, was sworn in as the 54th mayor of Pittsburgh shortly after Caliguiri died.

Caliguiri, serving his third term as mayor of this city of 400,000, suffered from cardiac amyloidosis, which deposits dangerous amounts of protein in the heart, kidneys and other major organs.

Received Pacemaker

Doctors inserted a pacemaker to stabilize an irregular heartbeat in December and were considering a transplant. A meeting had been planned Friday “to discuss the timing” of a possible transplant, Dr. Joel Weinberg said at a news conference.

Caliguiri, a Democrat, grew up in a working-class neighborhood. He worked for 15 years in the city parks department, eventually as director.

In 1971, he won a City Council seat as an independent, defeating endorsed Democratic candidates in this overwhelmingly Democratic city. As council president in 1977, he took over as interim mayor when then-Mayor Pete Flaherty joined President Jimmy Carter’s Administration.

Caliguiri ran for Flaherty’s empty post in November, 1977, and was sworn in the following April as the 53rd mayor of Pittsburgh.

Election Landslides

He won reelection twice by landslides during a period in which the steel industry decayed and the region lost more than 75,000 jobs and had unemployment rates as high as 19%.

Former Mayor David Lawrence initiated a Renaissance I program in the 1950s to clean up the air and water and refurbish downtown. Caliguiri, noted for his low-key style and partnerships with the private sector, thought that more was needed to prevent stagnation.

He launched Renaissance II, an ambitious program to attract more diverse businesses and industry. At the same time, he pumped millions of dollars into the city’s colorful neighborhoods in an effort to stop flight to the suburbs.

He is also credited with keeping the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball team in town and helping Pittsburgh earn an award as the nation’s most-livable city.

Kept It Quiet

Caliguiri became aware that he was ill in March, 1987, when he became dizzy while playing golf. However, he said nothing publicly until Oct. 2, when the Pittsburgh Press confronted him with medical evidence.

“If a conflict should ever arise between my public responsibilities and my personal health, I will be the first to know it and the first to act on it,” he said. “This city is too important to me--I have dedicated my life to it--to do otherwise.”