Allen Hall - Mellon's Lab and Marie CurieStop on University of Pittsburgh Campus Walk, a free self-guided tour.This columned Greek Revival building was put up in the mid-1910s for the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research, founded by brothers Andrew W. and Richard B. Mellon to put chemistry and science to work on the problems of industry. The institute later moved to a larger home and, in 1967, merged with Carnegie Tech to form Carnegie Mellon University, your neighbor just down Forbes Avenue.Today the building is Pitt's Department of Physics and Astronomy. It's named for Alexander J. Allen, a physics professor who arrived in the 1930s and led construction of a cyclotron for producing radioactive isotopes.Look for a plaque honoring Marie Curie. It recalls her 1921 visit, when Pitt gave her an honorary degree, and the gram of radium President Warren G. Harding presented to her that year. Allen Hall is a working classroom building, so enjoy it from outside.Did you know?: Professor Allen also helped develop radar during World War II and directed construction of the Sarah Mellon Scaife Radiation Laboratory, completed in 1946.Photo op: From across O'Hara Street, frame the full columned front of the building.Accessibility: Getting here means climbing from Fifth Avenue to O'Hara Street, a steep grade on paved sidewalks. This is an exterior-only stop.Stops on this tourCathedral of Learning - A 42-Story ClassroomStephen Foster Memorial - Pittsburgh's SongwriterHeinz Memorial Chapel - The Ketchup King's TributeSoldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall - A Temple for VeteransAllen Hall - Mellon's Lab and Marie CuriePetersen Events Center - Home of the Oakland ZooSalk Hall - Where the Polio Vaccine Was BornScaife Hall - Pittsburgh, Transplant CapitalLitchfield Towers - Freshman CentralWilliam Pitt Union - A Hotel for Presidents and BallplayersHillman Library - Pitt's Big Study HallForbes Field Wall - Maz's Home RunSchenley Plaza - From Parking Lot to Front Lawn