Category Archive: Pittsburgh Tribune Review
-
Take in a Lot of Art Without Setting Foot Inside Pittsburgh
By Alice T. Carter, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Monday, July 12, 2010For arts lovers, summer creates a dilemma.
During the dreary winter months, weekends in general and Sundays in particular are often spent soaking up a little culture in the area’s abundant art galleries and music halls or catching a movie or play inside a windowless darkened room.
When the sun is shining and a gentle breeze is blowing it seems almost sinful to go indoors.
There’s no need to.
With a little planning and organization, it’s possible to enjoy a day of diverse art encounters without ever going inside.
This great date offers suggestions on how to spend a Sunday. But there are lots similar opportunities to enjoy concerts, movies, theater and art on other days of the week.
If there’s simply too much packed into this one day for your tastes, you could break it into two separate Sundays — assuming the weather provides two rain-free, low humidity Sundays this summer.
In advance
Start by acquiring copies of two “Pittsburgh Art in Public Places” walking tour maps — of Oakland and Downtown — from the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council.
These are useful, fold-out maps offering directions for self-guided walking tours of outdoor art works. The Downtown booklet contains several tours, including one for the North Shore, where you’ll head today.
Free copies can be downloaded here or picked up between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mondays to Fridays at the arts council offices, second floor, 810 Penn Ave., Downtown.
Mailed copies are available at a cost of $5 for the Oakland brochure, $7 for Downtown or $10 for both. To order, call 412-394-3353.
Bach Beethoven and Brunch Classical Music Series in Shadyside's Mellon Park presents free 90-minute classical music concerts. You can buy food on site, or pack your fanciest alfresco meal and take part in the best brunch competition. Courtesy CitiParks
10:30 a.m.
Begin your Sunday of cultural treats at the Bach, Beethoven and Brunch Classical Music Series in Shadyside’s Mellon Park.
Bring a picnic basket of goodies and a blanket and settle in for a 90-minute banquet of classical music. Food also is available for purchase.
But if you’re of a competitive nature, you may want to put some effort into your brunch menu. Each week, there’s a prize for the winner of the best brunch competition.
Presented by CitiParks, this popular event runs every Sunday through Aug. 15 and is free.
Upcoming performances include Pittsburgh Guitar Trio on Sunday and Allegheny Brass Band on July 25.
Details: 412-255-2391 or here
12:30 p.m.
It’s time to satisfy your appetite for visual art.
From Mellon Park head to the Oakland area.
Armed with your trusty Oakland edition of “Pittsburgh Art in Public Places,” begin your walking tour at the memorial fountain designed by Saint-Gaudens near the entrance to Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh.
The walking tour covers a lot of ground, taking you past 26 outdoor sculptures, monuments and statues at sites on the Carnegie Mellon University campus, in Schenley Park, outside of Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall and Museum and around Schenley Plaza and the Cathedral of Learning.
The complete walk takes between 75 minutes and two hours, longer if you take rest stops or hydration breaks.
2:30 p.m.
End your tour with a rest stop in Schenley Plaza. Take a spin on the carousel. Refuel with something snacky from one of the food kiosks. Possibilities include bagels and pastries at the Bagel Factory, sushi and bubble-tea drinks from Asia Tea House, gyros and salads from Opa Gyros and pizza rolls, pretzels and vegetarian options from Milky Way.
There’s an abundance of benches or cafe-style tables and chairs throughout the park. If you’re looking for shade, head to the big tent at one end of the park.
Some of you may be willing to call it a successful day out right here.
If you’ve not yet had your fill of art, continue on.
3:30 p.m.
Now, it’s time to explore the North Shore.
Firmly grasping your map of Walking Tour 2: North Shore from “Pittsburgh Art in Public Places: Downtown Walking Tour” begin at the Alcoa Building that faces the water between Sandusky and Anderson streets.
This second tour covers 22 sculptures, architectural wonders and statues that range from the traditional — bronze statues of Art Rooney Sr. and Honus Wagner to George Sugarman’s colorful aluminum abstract sculpture. Along the way you’ll pass long-standing landmarks, such as the former Buhl Planetarium and post office buildings, now re-purposed as the Pittsburgh Children’s Museum in Allegheny Center, and get close-up views of Pittsburgh’s two humongous sports stadiums.
This tour should take between 75 minutes and two hours, depending on how fast you walk and how often you linger.
5:30 p.m.
Dine alfresco at one of the many restaurants along North Shore Drive that offers outdoor dining.
Two possibilities:
• Jerome Bettis’ Grille 36 (412-224-6287 or here) offers a view of the river from beneath the black-and-gold umbrellas in its outdoor dining area. A full menu ranges from bar food and sandwiches to a 36-ounce strip steak served with mushrooms, onions, mashed potatoes and broccoli for $44.95.
• Calico Jack’s Cantina (412-322-7380 or here) also offers a view of the water from its outdoor tables along the restaurant’s northern side. It features a casual menu of Mexican and Cajun bayou dishes.
Cinema in the Park, presented on Schenley Park's Flagstaff Hill, offers free showings of recent movies. Courtesy CitiParks
8 p.m.
Finish your day with a movie or a play under the stars.
Each Sunday and Wednesday through Aug. 29, CitiParks’ Dollar Bank Cinema in the Park offers a screening of a recent film at Flagstaff Hill in Schenley Park. Upcoming Sunday films include “Imagine That” (this Sunday), “Astro Boy” (July 25) and “Bandslam” (Aug. 1). It’s part of a larger program that offers outdoor screenings in city parks throughout Pittsburgh.
Admission is free. Screenings begin at dusk.
Details: 412-422-6426 or here.
If you prefer live entertainment and can wait a few weeks, Quantum Theatre will be performing “The Howling Miller” (July 29 to Aug. 22) outdoors in a production that utilizes the burned-out Frick Environmental Center in Squirrel Hill as a background. Set in Lapland in the post-war years, the play revolves around a troubled stranger who is a man, a myth and a stranger who is part hero, part howler.
You’ll need to adjust your dinner plans slightly as Sunday performances begin at 7 p.m., but it’s at 8 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays. Admission is $30-$45; $16 for students.
Details: 412-697-2929 or here.
-
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.”
-
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.”
-
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.
-
Grant For Shower Fix ‘A Blessing’ to West Deer Family
By Jodi Weigand
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Thursday, July 8, 2010
A new grant program for the disabled will help the Wilczynski family of West Deer transform its traditional bathtub into a walk-in shower with a bench and safety rails for family member Austin, 16, who has multiple disabilities, including cerebral palsy. The family plans to use $1,500 from the New Story Fund to make the improvements this summer. Members of the Wilczynski family: Back row, from left: Victor (Jr.) and Victor (Sr.) Front row, from left: Amanda, Austin, Bonnie and Samantha. Submitted
A new grant program for the disabled will help a West Deer family transform its traditional bathtub into a walk-in shower with a bench and safety rails.
Bonnie Wilczynski said the family’s shower is too small and a little bit scary for her son, Austin, 16, who has multiple disabilities, including cerebral palsy. He has trouble getting in and out of the tub and has slipped a couple of times, she said.
The family plans to use $1,500 from the New Story Fund to make the improvements this summer. Without the money, the most they could have done was attach a few safety rails, said Wilczynski, 49.
“Hopefully, this new shower will be large enough to move around, and it won’t be so slippery,” she said.
The Wilczynskis are among 23 Pennsylvania families to be the first to benefit from the New Story Fund, a part of New Story, a for-profit company that operates 10 schools and 17 program and services facilities across Pennsylvania for children with serious or complex disabilities. The fund, announced in February, will award up to $25,000 twice a year to Pennsylvania families, with a $1,500 maximum per family.
An affiliation with New Story is not required and grants are available to children with any type of disability, including emotional, behavioral or educational.
“The application was so easy to fill out (because) I didn’t have to have six doctors’ notes and health insurance denials,” Wilczynski said. “Anytime you try to do anything, even simple things, it’s such a hassle. … So something like this is such a blessing.”
That was the idea behind the New Story Fund, said Tara Koretz, the company’s director of development.
“Tell us your story, tell us your need, so that we can help you,” she said. “It’s not an amount of money that’s going to pay for college or buy a new home, but it’s that piece of something that gives families that little bit to be able to breathe and enjoy their family time.”
Other families received money to pay for doctor’s visits, build a safety fence and buy orthopedic shoes, Koretz said.
To get help
The New Story Fund is accepting nominations for its second round of grants through Aug. 31 at www.newstory.com/about/the-new-story-fund.php.
-
Old-Fashioned Amusement Parks Once Beckoned, Have Nearly Vanished
By Bobby Cherry and Kristina Serafini
SEWICKLEY HERALD
Thursday, July 8, 2010
A model of Pittsburgh's Luna Park is one of the attractions at the train exhibit at the Carnegie Science Center, North Side. Opened in 1905, Luna Park in Oakland was known for its performances, odd attractions and, most notably, its use of electricity. Tribune-Review Archives
For more than 100 years, American amusement parks have entertained and thrilled those looking for summertime excitement. But as cultures shifted and competition increased, the thrills, fun and family gatherings at many parks stopped, leaving only memories behind.
From the late 19th century through the mid 1950s, there were almost two dozen such parks in the Pittsburgh area. Few have survived.
Families who went to Kennywood Park packed picnic lunches, which sat undisturbed on tables as folks enjoyed the rides. Rare was the family who bought food at the park. These Ford City picnickers clean up after lunch during the fifth annual Ford City Community Picnic at Kennywood Park. About 6,000 residents of the Ford City area enjoyed a day of fun at the amusement park in June of 1956. Tribune-Review Archives
Luna Park
Opened in 1905, Luna Park in Oakland was known for its performances, odd attractions and, most notably, its use of electricity.
More than 67,000 lights illuminated the park’s attractions situated near Craig Street and what now is Baum Boulevard.
“At the time, most people had one, maybe two lights in their house if they were lucky,” said Jim Futrell, amusement park historian.
Owned by Frederick Ingersoll, an inventor who owned 38 similar parks across the country, Luna Park offered concerts, foreign landmark replicas and rides.
In 1995, Kennywood Park paid homage to Luna by re-creating the Shoot-the-Chutes ride and water fountain features in its Lost Kennywood addition.
Attractions such as Infant Incubator dazzled visitors.
A 1906 brochure for the park advertised, “Little mites of humanity, whose lives were despaired of, were taken to the incubator, where, under the care of learned physicians, and the gentle ministrations of trained nurses, the park patrons saw them grow strong and sturdy again.”
Ingersoll filed for bankruptcy in March 1908. The park closed in August 1909, nearly two years after a lion escaped, killing a visitor.
Inside Storybook Forest at Idlewild Park, Eleanor Clark, of Ligonier Township, portrays the part of the Old Woman who Lives in the Shoe. Getting a hug on their visit are Paige Ohler and her little sister Aerica of Mt. Pleasant. Idlewild Park, which opened in 1878, has to be the oldest continuing amusement park in the Pittsburgh area, if not the country. Tribune-Review Archives
White Swan Park
White Swan Park had everything from roller coasters to skee ball — but not white swans.
“Dad always wanted to put white swans on the lakes in the park,” said Bill Kleeman, son of White Swan Park owners Edward and Margaret Kleeman. The park also was owned by Margaret Kleeman’s brother, Roy Todd.
Like the rest of the park, the lakes are gone. Rides and attractions were torn down nearly 20 years ago as the park was forced to close in 1990 after state Department of Transportation officials relocated the Parkway West to the new Pittsburgh International Airport in Findlay.
The summer of 1989 would be the last for the park, which entertained locals for 34 years.
“Every time I drive past it, I look up and realize I’m driving over White Swan Park,” said Steve Mcateer, who worked most of the rides before becoming a maintenance man for the park in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
“It was a grand old thing. It was like one big family.”
Known for its Galaxy, Mad Mouse and large slide, White Swan Park entertained celebrities heading to and from the airport and children from around the West Hills.
“There was a constant flow of picnics, too,” said Mcateer of North Fayette. “There was always something going on at the park.”
West View Park, opened in 1906, was noted for its community picnics and Danceland, where the Rolling Stones appeared in 1964. Roller coasters were made out of wood and Kiddieland was a big draw for the little ones in the family. Tribune-Review Archives
West View Park
The factors that made West View Park prosper contributed to its demise.
During the beginning of its 71-year run, the park, located on Perrysville Avenue in West View, was a hot spot for community picnics. More than 100 picnics were held there the first season the park opened, according to Heinz History Center archives.
Founded by Theodore M. Harton, West View Park boasted many popular rides — most of which were built by the T.M. Harton Co. — including the Dips, the first coaster built in Pennsylvania with drops of more than 50 feet.
The park was passed down through the Harton family, and though the 1920s started off slow, by the end of the decade, the park had undergone a renovation to add a new roller coaster, the Racing Whippet, to the landscape, as well as several other new rides and renovations to existing ones.
Dancing became a popular pastime in the 1920s, and West View Park’s ballroom provided much of the financial stability during the Great Depression. During the evenings, a capacity-sized crowd often crammed into the dancing pavilion for music from local and national bands, including the Rolling Stones, who played at the center in 1964.
Perhaps the park’s most successful period arrived when George M. Harton III took control in 1945. The next year, three new rides — a miniature railroad, flying skooter and Ferris Wheel — were added. In 1947, the ballroom was renovated to include new lighting and air conditioning and reopened as Danceland in 1948.
Though dancing started losing its popularity in the 1950s, many of the couples who used to dance there were starting to bring their children to the park’s Kiddieland.
But the good times wouldn’t last forever.
In September 1965, the Pittsburgh Railways Company discontinued trolley service to the park. Then, in 1966, George Harton III died, the park was passed on to his 80-year-old mother, and it fell by the wayside.
“The family grew increasingly detached from the park,” said Jim Futrell, amusement park historian.
Without improvements to the park, people began turning to Kennywood Park to host picnics.
West View Park was dealt a major blow on Oct. 3, 1973, when a fire destroyed Danceland. The park closed before the 1978 season.
Alameda Park in Butler County was once an amusement park that opened in 1901. The building at far right in this drawing housed the carousel and is the only original building remaining. Tribune-Review Archives
At one time, train service to amusement parks in the area was common as entire communities or schools spent the day at the park after arriving there by rail. A special train carried more than 1,700 Ford City picnickers to Kennywood Park for an annual community picnic day in 1958. People waited at the railroad station at the corner of Third Avenue and Ford Street at the present site of the town's clock tower to board the train. Tribune-Review Archives
The Steel Phantom coaster at Kennywood Park in West Mifflin makes its way through a corkscrew on Monday, Sept. 4, 2000, the last day of its existence. As time passes, visitors expect more and more -- and bigger, faster and more thrill filled coasters. Parks throughout the country compete to offer riders the latest in coaster technology. AP Photo | Gene J. Puskar
More parks
Many amusement parks opened in the late 19th and early 20th centuries in the Pittsburgh region:
1878 — Idlewild Park, Somerset
1897 — Calhoun Park, Lincoln Place
1898 — Kennywood Park, West Mifflin
1901 — Maple Grove Park, Pittsburgh
1901 — Eldora Park, Eldora
1901 — Alameda Park, Butler
1901– Homestead Park, Homestead
1902 — Oakwood Amusement Park, Crafton
1903 — Southern Park, Carrick
1903 — Oakford Park, Jeannette
1904 — Interurban Park, Pittsburgh
1905 — Luna Park, Oakland
1906 — West View Park, West View
1906 — Dreamland, Pittsburgh
1906 — Coney Island, Neville Island
1906 — Dream City, Wilkinsburg
1924 — Rainbow Gardens, White Oak
1927 — Burkes Glen Park, Monroeville
1927 — Harmarville Park, Blawnox
1928 — Mapleview Park, Canonsburg
1955 — White Swan Park, Findlay
Source: Tribune-Review News Service research
An era that has passedThe turn of the last century “was the time when trolley companies were expanding and opening parks at the ending of the line to generate traffic on evenings and weekends,” said Jim Futrell, author of “Amusement Parks of Pennsylvania” and historian for the National Amusement Park Historical Association in Lombard, Ill.
“They were a much different animal than what parks are today,” he said. “They offered picnics, dances and maybe a roller coaster. It was a much different type of environment than what you see today.”
The number of parks in the region — about two dozen opened between 1878 and 1955 — was uncommon for its size, Futrell said.
“It was a testament to the topography and the industrialized nature of the region that so many parks existed,” Futrell said.
In 1906 alone, four parks opened: West View Park, now a plaza that houses Giant Eagle; Dreamland in Pittsburgh; Coney Island in Neville Island; and Dream City in Wilkinsburg.
White Swan Park — opened in 1955. Situated on the Moon-Findlay border, it was designed as a roadside stop along the Parkway West to the then-Greater Pittsburgh International Airport.
“At the time, people would travel from miles and miles away to drive on the parkway,” said Bill Kleeman of Sewickley, whose parents, Edward and Margaret Kleeman, and uncle, Roy Todd, owned White Swan.
When trolley companies merged into larger entities, many owned multiple amusement parks, such as the Pittsburgh Railways Company that at one time owned Calhoun Park in Lincoln Place, Oakwood in Crafton, Southern Park in Carrick and Kennywood Park in West Mifflin.
The trolley company sold the parks to the Henninger family, who eventually sold or closed three of the four parks. Kennywood opened in 1898 and is among one of the few old-fashioned amusement parks to remain open.
Few records exist from many of the parks in the region, including Coney Island, a short-lived park that opened on Neville Island on June 27, 1907. The park featured a 50-foot boardwalk, shoot-the-chutes ride and a 1,000-foot beach.
The Great Depression threatened the local amusement park industry, leaving a handful of parks, including Kennywood, Idlewild Park and West View, Futrell said.
As time passed, visitors expected more and more, he said.
“The industry was maturing, and people wanted more thrill rides,” Futrell said. “Smaller parks didn’t have space or funds for thrill rides.”
Today, the family-owned amusement park is an anachronism. The region’s last — Kennywood and its sister parks Idlewild Park and Sandcastle Waterpark — were sold in 2007 by longtime owners the Henninger and McSwigan families to Spain-based Parques Reunidos.
-
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.”
-
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.”
