14 pounds of sugar used in gingerbread replicas of Pittsburgh City-County Building

Building two gingerbread replicas of Pittsburgh’s City-County Building was nearly as complicated as erecting the actual building.

Hampton artist Mary Jo Dowling used original photographs, 1915 architectural drawings and a laser cutter at a Carnegie Mellon University robotics lab in Lawrenceville to construct the two scale models from 14 edible gingerbread panels.

It took 45 pounds of flour, 14 pounds of sugar, four pounds of honey and four dozen eggs for the panels and more than 14 hours to cut the windows and architectural features, including an exterior relief on Grant Street that says “City-County Building.”

The models actually say “City and County Building” because that was what the New York architectural firm of Palmer, Hornbostel & Jones originally intended. Dowling used the letter “V” instead of a “U” in county, as was common in architecture at the time. The actual building reads City-County Building and uses the letter “U.”

“They cut some corners,” Dowling said of the city. “They cut it to City-County Building to save on letters.”

Mayor Bill Peduto on Monday honored Dowling with a proclamation declaring Monday as Mary Jo Dowling Day in the city.

This is Pittsburgh’s first year of hosting the annual and popular holiday gingerbread house competition. The competition was moved from its longtime home in the PPG Place Wintergarden because of a building renovation.

City officials sought proposals from artists to create a replica of the City-County Building in honor of the city’s first year as host of the competition. Dowling’s proposal won the job. One of the models is on display in Peduto’s office. The other is on public display in the building lobby.

“Thank you for making this year special,” Peduto said. “It smells so good, too.”

Dowling, 59, owner of Frosting & Crumbs bakery in Hampton, said she tried to be as historically accurate as possible. It took her more than two weeks to finish the job just under deadline.

The smell of ginger has permeated the building lobby since Nov. 22 when several hundred gingerbread houses went on display. The display will remain until Jan. 3. The building is open to the public Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Dowling said foam blocks help support the two structures and a colored-light display in the interiors. Windows and doors are made of sugar and a special icing glues the different pieces together. A Christmas tree on the building portico is a replica of the city’s annual tree.

Dowling, who began cake decorating in 2005, is recognized by the International Cake Exploration Societé as a certified master sugar artist. She is one of less than 50 people to hold that title. She demonstrates and teaches decorating techniques at shows and sugar art events around the world.

“It was truly a fun project,” Dowling said. “It pushed the limits of technology and sugar art to its limits. Hopefully it will be enjoyed for quite a while after this. If it’s taken care of nicely it should be here for a couple more years.”