Category Archive: Neighborhood Development
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Operation Safety Net to House Homeless on S. Side
Tuesday, July 13, 2010By Meredith Skrzypczak, Pittsburgh Post-GazetteMoving from riverbanks and alleyways into apartments with bedrooms and bathrooms will become a reality for 16 homeless individuals currently living on the streets of Allegheny County.
The move will be made possible by a federal grant awarded to a local agency last week for construction of housing on the South Side.
Operation Safety Net, which provides services such as medical treatment for the homeless, received $1.69 million for the construction of Trail Lane Apartments on Ninth Street on the South Side.
Operation Safety Net is sponsored by Pittsburgh Mercy Health System. The money is part of $14 million in funding across Pennsylvania announced last week by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan. A total of $3.3 million was given to agencies in Allegheny County to address homelessness in the area.
The apartment program will help the chronic homeless population, said Linda Sheets, program director for Operation Safety Net. These are individuals who have been living on the streets for at least one year and have some mental illness, she said.
They are often the most difficult to reach and house, but Ms. Sheets said she is expecting full occupancy in the apartments by summer of 2011. Case managers and social workers for the agency already have high-risk individuals in mind who would be good candidates for the housing.
Ms. Sheets said she is most excited about “giving each one of these individuals a chance to have a place of their own.”
Housing will be offered to the 16 individuals for as long as they choose to stay. Staff will help them look for employment and apply for disability income. Once they get a job or are approved for disability, they will be asked to pay 30 percent of their income to cover program fees, which results in a type of rent payment.
A sort of “haven” for the homeless, the apartments will be located on the third floor of a new building, with administrative and training offices on the second floor and a primary care physician and dentist office on the first.
The services provided will not be mandatory, nor are the homeless required to stay, but Ms. Sheets said she hopes the residents will take advantage of the services such as mental health care.
“When a street homeless person leaves the streets and enters into a housing unit we’re very pleased,” she said. “However, when they also want to receive the additional treatment, that keeps them from returning to the streets.”
Over a two-year period, the total cost for the apartments and associated staffing costs will be just over $2 million. Construction could begin as soon as this summer, said Mike Lindsay, housing program administrator for the Allegheny County Department of Human Services. Mercy applied for the grant in mid-2009, he said.
Ninth Street already is home to Mercy Behavioral Health facilities with a pharmacy, shopping and grocery stores nearby. The location is ideal for the 16 future apartment residents looking to become more integrated into the community, Ms. Sheets said.
Some residents in the neighborhood said the inclusion of the apartments for the homeless would be an “over-saturation,” given the existing facilities in the area.
Nancy Wells, 62, a South Side resident, said she agrees with the cause but would not support a homeless population moving onto her street.
“I feel this area is already contributing to helping people in the community,” she said.
A nearby bridge has anywhere from five to 20 people living underneath on a given day, said Ziad Khalil, owner of Zeeno’s, located just minutes from where the apartments would be built. Mr. Khalil would support any program that might lower that number even if it means homeless individuals moving into his area. He said it could bring “positive change.”
Earlier in the year, Jane Miller, director of community and government relations for Mercy Behavioral Health, conducted community meetings to gauge residents’ reactions.
“Nobody came,” she said.
Since then, there has been no opposition, Ms. Miller said, and soon-to-be neighbors of the homeless shouldn’t be worried.
“We share the world with people with mental illness,” she said. “People who are coming here are being treated.”
Dr. Jim Withers, medical director and founder of Operation Safety Net, said this is just the start of support for the homeless.
“You can get people from the streets into housing, but that’s just the beginning of the story.”
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Fundraiser Puts Lawrenceville Empty Pool to Use
By Craig Smith
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Sunday, July 11, 2010Retired Pittsburgh police officer Marty Joyce heard loud music in his Lawrenceville neighborhood Saturday afternoon and went to investigate.
The Leslie Park Pool, now empty of water, was filled with Zumba dancers who were helping to heighten awareness of a campaign to find alternative uses for the pool and to raise funds for gulf oil spill restoration efforts.
“There used to be lots of kids here. It was always jumping,” Joyce said of the pool where he used to take his son.
Modeled after an effort at the McCarren Park Pool in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, that was closed two decades ago and reopened as a concert venue, the Lawrenceville event was part of the inaugural series being staged by the Leslie Park Pool Collective, a community group working to reuse the decommissioned pool as a multi-use event and performance space.
Proceeds from the event, called the “Spillapalooza,” benefit the Gulf Restoration Network. Organizers said they hadn’t set a dollar goal but expected to be able to send some donations to the Gulf Coast group.
The Leslie Park Pool was closed in 2003, when Pittsburgh decommissioned 16 city pools. Some are being reused, but the Leslie Park Pool has sat vacant. Estimates for needed repairs were more than $1 million.
Neighborhood residents working as the Leslie Park Pool Initiative launched an effort to “reimagine” and redevelop the pool. Last year, they held an Accordion Pool Party that attracted about 600 people and included a clean-up that pulled almost half a ton of garbage from the property.
The Spillapalooza enabled Beth Renshaw to take her second Zumba class of the day. Zumba is a fitness program inspired by Latin dance. “It’s a fabulous cause, and I love Zumba. Why wouldn’t I be here?” said Renshaw of Shadyside, who left the event to play volleyball.
There will be more fundraising for the Gulf Coast and more events to help rethink use of the empty pool, organizers said.
“This is not a one and done thing,” said Shane Freeman, who organized the grassroots group that staged yesterday’s event. It came together in a month and a half, he said.
Next up at the pool is a surf music concert on July 24.
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Historic Old Stone Tavern in Pittsburgh’s West End Awaits New Life
By Tony LaRussa
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, July 12, 2010
The Old Stone Tavern is believed to have served as a tollhouse and frontier trading post. It likely played a role in the Whiskey Rebellion, the late 18th-century uprising against a federal excise tax on liquor. Joe Appel | Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
It’s hard to see the building at the crossroads of Greentree Road and Woodville Avenue in the West End as anything but just another of the city’s many aged, vacant properties waiting for its date with a wrecking ball.
But some people are looking beyond the broken windows, peeling siding and thick ivy snaking up the sides. They see a gem.
Late last year, city officials ensured that whatever the future holds for the centuries-old building known as the Old Stone Tavern, its designation as a historic structure will prevent it from being torn down. The Historic Review Commission must give permission before an owner can alter its exterior.
Research done during the historic designation nominating process points to the likelihood that the tavern is the region’s second-oldest building, behind the Fort Pitt Blockhouse built in 1764 in what is now Point State Park.
This is the bar area of the Old Stone Tavern in the West End, which was designated a historic structure last year, protecting it from destruction. Joe Appel | Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
“It’s almost certainly the oldest commercial structure in the region,” said Michael Shealey, an architect who conducted much of the research.
The Old Stone Tavern is located at a bend in what was the historic Washington and Pittsburgh Turnpike, a toll road connecting Pittsburgh to Washington County and National Road. It is believed to have served as a tollhouse and frontier trading post and likely played a role in the Whiskey Rebellion, the late 18th-century uprising against a federal excise tax on liquor.
Despite the 1752 date chiseled into a cornerstone, evidence points to the structure’s construction in the early 1780s, Shealey said.
“We always knew it was very old, but never imagined it dated back as far as it apparently does,” said Norene Beatty, who testified at a public hearing in support of the historic designation. “Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see it restored and used as a rustic tavern like you would find in Colonial Williamsburg?”
An apparently original fireplace has been uncovered at the Old Stone Tavern at the crossroads of Greentree Road and Woodville Avenue in the West End. The structure is believed to be the second oldest in the City of Pittsburgh. Joe Appel | Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Yet even though historic designation protects the building, it does not require someone to restore it.
Historic buildings can qualify for state and federal grants and tax credits, but the best hope for restoration lies in identifying a commercial use for the property, said Arthur Ziegler, president of the Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, which supported the nomination.
“Protecting the building was an important first step,” said Ziegler.
Diana Poliziani of Crafton Heights, whose family has owned businesses in the West End for 50 years, hopes the building is “put to good use.”
“I think the business district is going to explode in the next couple of years, and a historic building like that should be part of what happens,” she said.
John DiSantis, a former Historic Review Commission member who nominated the building for historic designation, said its preservation is important to the fabric of the community.
“When you’re talking about something this old, it really doesn’t matter how long it takes before something is done with it,” he said. “The key to me is that what exists now has been preserved.”
Lee Harris bought the old tavern last year, intending to tear it down to expand the adjacent masonry business started by his father.
“I knew it was one of the oldest buildings in the neighborhood, but I didn’t really know it had such historic significance,” he said.
Harris said that although people who pushed for the historic designation “were well-meaning,” it made doing business during a sour economy that much more difficult.
“I bought the place because I needed more space,” he said. “Now that I can’t tear it down, it’s really not much use to me.”
Harris didn’t fight the historic designation, took steps to keep the building from deteriorating further, and provided access to those interested in studying the structure. He estimates it would cost $250,000 to $500,000 to restore the tavern’s exterior and refurbish its interior, depending on the scope of the work.
He said he would consider selling the tavern and surrounding property, including the buildings he uses for his business, for a fair price and the cost of relocating if someone presented a development proposal.
Coming up with possible uses for the Old Stone Tavern is part of a master plan being developed with a $150,000 state grant extended to the nonprofit West End Partnership for Development.
“We’d love to see that area developed, so we can tie both sides of the West End together,” said Lou Bucci, the organization’s chairman. “Unfortunately, our organization doesn’t have the kind of money needed to take on a project like that. We’re hoping that as things improve economically, one of the foundations or a private developer will show some interest. We’d certainly do what we can to support them.”
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Children’s Museum Has Plans to Beautify Unsightly Underpasses
By Bill Zlatos
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, July 12, 2010
Underpass Artwork: The Norfolk & Southern Railroad underpass at Federal Street on the North Side has been proposed to be a public space gallery featuring murals and other artwork. Philip G. Pavely | Tribune-Review
Visitors from Downtown to the North Side must now pass through a dark maze of cold, concrete underpasses. But the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh will soon inject it with a bit of brightness.
The museum is working with Norfolk & Southern Railroad and other groups to convert the railroad’s underpass on Federal Street near the post office into an outdoor art gallery. Work will start this fall and be finished in about a year.
“The underpasses have long been a blighted barrier between the neighborhoods of the North Side and the amenities of the North Shore,” said Mark Fatla, executive director of the Northside Leadership Conference.
The conference is working with the Urban Redevelopment Authority on another project to improve underpasses on Anderson and Sandusky streets. That involves new sidewalks, curbs and crosswalks.
The gallery project involves cleaning and painting the Federal Street underpass, and installing lights and a metal mesh where works of art can be hung. The new color of the bridge and its columns has not been determined.
“These railroad bridges and underpasses kind of contribute to that sense of inaccessibility and remoteness,” said Christopher Seifert, deputy director of the Children’s Museum. “The idea is to celebrate that entry, celebrate the bridges. We’ll use art to enhance the neighborhood spirit.”
The underpass gallery is part of the Charm Bracelet Project, which has encouraged two dozen North Side groups to work together. Among the Charm’s activities is free kayaking lessons on Lake Elizabeth with Venture Outdoors.
The cost of the gallery is estimated at $300,000. The main contributors are The Heinz Endowments, NRG Energy Co., the Grable Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
“We imagine an individual artist with a regional or national reputation could do a one-person show,” Seifert said. “We could have a curated show from a half dozen artists or art from kids.”
Representatives from North Side groups will curate and coordinate the gallery project.
Fatla said some North Side residents hope that the underpass projects will draw visitors to their neighborhoods.
“I don’t think it will bring tons of customers to the near-North Shore neighborhoods,” he said. Rather, he continued, “If you buy a house here, you have a lovely pleasant walk to the ballpark, the riverfront trail or Downtown. It improves the value of living here.”
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Carnegie Catholic Church May Get $7.1M Renewal
By Jeffrey Widmer
TRIBUNE-REVIEW NEWS SERVICE
Thursday, July 8, 2010The old St. Luke’s Church in Carnegie might gain new life.
The Carnegie planning commission last month approved plans to renovate the red brick church at Third Street and Third Avenue. It closed after being ravaged by flooding caused by Hurricane Ivan in September 2004.
It would reopen as the official center of the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish, though council must approve the plans.
According to information provided by the Rev. David Poecking in St. Luke’s June 13 bulletin, the parish hopes to have a final draft before the end of July.
The church estimates that the project will cost about $7.1 million; about $500,000 of that has been paid for, according to Poecking.
The parish has $3.4 million more for the project, leaving $3.2 million to be covered through a combination of further insurance payouts from the 2004 flood, the sale of Seton Hall in Carnegie and St. Ignatius in Scott, and a fund-raising campaign, Poecking said.
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YMCA Posts Big Plans for the Hill
By Adam Brandolph
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Friday, July 9, 2010A day after community officials announced they had struck a deal to bring a grocery store to the Hill District, residents on Thursday were pleased to hear that the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh plans to break ground on a nearby facility this fall.
“I think it’s a very good thing for the community,” said Franklin A. Reed, 75, a longtime Hill District resident. “This is something we very much need.”
The $11 million project includes both the renovation of the YMCA’s facility on Centre Avenue and construction of the Thelma Lovett Family YMCA, a 43,000-square-foot facility that will offer recreation, family support services, youth programs and activities for senior citizens. The new center, named after the lifelong Hill District activist, will include an indoor track, a gymnasium, aquatics center with a four-lane pool, a wellness center, multipurpose and senior space, a teen room and a computer lab.
“The new facility will provide the Hill District neighborhoods with a vital, family-centered hub for social, physical and developmental activity, as well as continue the revitalization of the Centre Avenue corridor,” Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said in a written statement. “With a new arena, library, and soon to be YMCA and grocery store, we are rebuilding the Hill District and providing jobs and opportunities to its residents.”
The city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority yesterday approved selling 18 lots to the nonprofit for $237,500.
Richard J. Perallo, vice president of facilities and construction for the YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh, said construction of the center should take about 15 months. Fundraising for the project has been ongoing, with about $13 million raised, said Bill Jones, the YMCA’s senior vice president and chief financial officer.
“Organizations like the YMCA provide critical care and physical health resources to families, children and residents of the Hill District,” City Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle, whose district includes the Hill, said in a written statement. “These public private partnerships help form the solid foundation of support to our community. When we all work together, we are all better for it.”
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Pittsburgh Taking Steps to Fix Crumbling Stairways
By Margaret Harding
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Tiffany Eberhardt recently fell through the broken city steps at the top of Oltman Street in Chartiers City, injuring her wrist and knee. James Knox | Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Tiffany Eberhardt’s trip to visit her grandmother recently took on a new meaning.
Eberhardt, 33, of Jefferson Hills broke her wrist and tore knee ligaments after falling through city-owned suspended concrete stairs in Pittsburgh’s Chartiers City neighborhood in April.
“I love the fact that they’re here,” Eberhardt said about the steps. “They just need to be fixed.”
The city’s 311 response line has logged more than 600 complaints about the city’s 555 stairways since the hot line’s inception in 2006, officials said.
About 96 percent of complaints are marked “completed,” but that doesn’t mean stairs were repaired, said Wendy Urbanic, hot line coordinator. Steps are fixed when “time and funds permit,” she said.
Crews inspect steps when a complaint arises, Public Works Director Rob Kaczorowski said, but “we won’t maintain the steps unless we get a request.”
The stairway off Oltman Street that Eberhardt fell through is missing steps and plagued by a loose railing and wobbly steps, Eberhardt said.
“As long as you know the steps that aren’t there, you think you’d be OK,” said Eberhardt, who undergoes weekly physical therapy since falling.
Public Works closed the stairway.
Since 2005, the city has received 17 steps-related claims, Solicitor Dan Regan said. Of those, the city paid on one — $240 to someone whose eyeglasses broke during a fall down steps that were being repaired, Regan said. Three lawsuits are pending against the city for stair-related issues, Regan said. The lawsuits were filed after claims were denied, he said.
Eberhardt said she didn’t file a claim, but plans to sue for compensation for her injuries.
Kaczorowski blamed part of the problem on crew size — he has no more than four people devoted to step repairs. In past years, he said, maintenance workers in each of Public Works’ six divisions repaired steps.
“We’re in the process of training people in the maintenance division to go back to the old way,” Kaczorowski said.
Public Works averages about 50 repairs a year, said Robert Vavro, construction supervisor.
The cost of minor step repair comes from Public Works’ budget, but the city allocates $100,000 for major repairs or new stairways, Kaczorowski said. That money goes toward wall and fence maintenance.
Despite the hot line complaints, Bob Regan, a research professor at the University of Pittsburgh, said most steps are in acceptable shape.
“I would say 90 percent of them are in quite good condition,” said Regan, who counted about 742 sets of steps, including “jumper walks” — stairways with platforms — and authored “The Steps of Pittsburgh: Portrait of a City” in 2004.
Still, Bob Amend, 43, who lives next to the Oltman Street steps, would like the stairway removed. Eberhardt is the second person he helped after a spill.
“They’re cracking all the way down,” Amend said. “You get one or two people using them. They’re looking around, and the next thing you know they’re in the hole.”
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Fight On to Keep Brick Street in Regent Square
By Alyssa Karas
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Signs posted along Macon Avenue in Regent Square detail the residents' fight to keep their brick roads from being paved over by the water company. Andrew Russell | Tribune-Review
The clusters of bright orange cones on Macon Avenue in Regent Square alert motorists and pedestrians of giant holes in the yellow-brick road.
But the cones are warning signs of a battle brewing between Swissvale residents and a water company.
When Wilkinsburg-Penn Joint Water Authority replaces the water line in the 1400 block of Macon Avenue, the company intends to remove the bricks then pave the street with asphalt. But many residents are adamant that the brick street be restored, and plan to protest the water authority’s decision at the council meeting at 7 p.m. today.
“It will be a fight (with water authority officials) if it has to be,” said Swissvale Borough Council President David Petrarca. “(Residents) want brick. They do not want asphalt. It’s always that way.”
Much of the debate centers on cost. Petrarca said water authority officials put an estimated $270,000 price tag on the project. This includes removing the brick, replacing the main water line and all lateral lines to homes, putting down a new base then paving with asphalt.
The water authority did not provide an estimate for replacing the bricks on the nearly 100-year-old streets, Petrarca said. Brick would be more expensive in the short-run but require less maintenance over time, borough officials said. Water authority Manager Anthony Russo Jr. declined to comment.
The water authority may run into some legal roadblocks. According to Swissvale Solicitor Bob McTiernan, the borough has an ordinance that states materials used to replace a street surface must be of the same covering and the same grade as the originals.
Residents and council members said the bricks keep property values up, make the streets safer and add to the neighborhood’s charm.
“I love this neighborhood,” said resident Ann Walston, 62. “One of the most beautiful things about it is the streets and the trees.”
The issue began after a water main break on June 22 caused sinkholes to cave in. When at least one sinkhole was patched with asphalt, residents took notice, Webber said. Residents began organizing meetings and writing letters to council members and the mayor.
Other communities are facing similar problems. In Aspinwall, Borough Manager Ed Warchol has grappled with what to do about a worn-out brick road for more than a year.
“The problem is the expense,” Warchol said. “It’s astronomical. It keeps the quaintness of everything, but I don’t have the money.” However, it’s important to keep in mind what the community wants, he said.
Arthur Ziegler, president of Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation, said the Regent Square streets could qualify for landmark status. A structure must be at least 50 years old and designed with distinction, Ziegler said.
“I just hope they find a way to keep these bricks that contribute to the uniqueness of this marvelous neighborhood,” he said.