Community : Development News

ArtPlace America awarded City of Asylum/Pittsburgh (COA/P) a $300,000 grant yesterday for the group's plans to build the Pittsburgh Central Northside Artway Connector.

Chosen among 54 national grants from 1,200 entrants as an exemplary plan of creative place making, the garden-to-garden Artway will connect two new COA/P projects — the Alphabet Reading Garden on Monterey Street and the Alphabet City literary center in the Garden Theater complex on North Avenue, which POP City profiled in January.

The Artway will feature a series of both temporary and permanent literary-themed installation art works.

“It’s coming from a very interesting and important coalition of funders,” says COA/P Communications Manager Elizabeth Baisley. “It’s an enormous privilege and pleasure to be receiving a grant from ArtPlace America, and we’re very excited about what it makes possible for us.”

ArtPlace America is a collaborative effort between 13 national foundations, six of the country’s biggest banks, the Domestic Policy Council and the White House Office of Management and Budget. It seeks to help facilitate the introduction of art into communities for the development of creative spaces.

The organization has awarded more than $42 million in 134 grants to 124 projects in 79 communities. Its grant to COA/P marks the first time a Pittsburgh project has received an ArtPlace America grant.

Among its many activities, COA/P renovates dilapidated houses to serve as both public works of art and residences for writers from other countries living in exile.

Writer: Matthew Wein
Source: Elizabeth Baisley

How will Pittsburgh’s next mayor ensure that public policy makes good design and planning central to the City’s growth?

That is one of several questions to be asked of Pittsburgh’s mayoral candidates at an upcoming forum to be hosted by the Design Center in Downtown Pittsburgh.

“The next mayor will provide leadership on community and economic development across the city,” says Stephen Glassman, president and ceo of the Design Center. “It is important for people interested in good design and planning to hear each candidate’s vision for Pittsburgh’s future, and equally important that our voices be heard by the candidates.”

Glassman says Pittsburgh is at an important inflection point, and with the proper visionary leadership can continue to not only expand its economic base, but provide a model for best practices to the rest of the country.

Each candidate will make the case for why he is capable of providing that leadership, as well as answer additional questions prepared by the Design Center.

Questions will also be taken from audience members, on topics ranging from blight and vacant properties, to historic preservation, riverfronts and multi-modal transportation.

Candidates Bill Peduto, A.J. Richardson, Jack Wagner, and Jake Wheatley are confirmed to participate in the forum, according to the Design Center. It will be moderated by Diana A. Bucco, vice president of The Buhl Foundation.

The Mayoral Candidates Forum on Design, Planning, and Public Policy will take place on Wednesday, May 8th, at Point Park University’s GRW Auditorium in University Center at 414 Wood Street, Downtown. It will run for 90 minutes, beginning at 6:00 p.m., with a reception to follow.

To RSVP call 412-281-0995, or e-mail design@judith-kelly.com.

And tonight, the Pittsburgh Greenspace Alliance and the League of Women Voters are hosting a mayoral forum on the importance of greenspace in the city. Candidates will be asked to discuss their plans as mayor for the expansion and integration of greenspace in Pittsburgh, including parks and trails. 

The Candidates’ Forum on Greenspace takes place at 6:00 p.m.tonight at the Heinz History Center, 1212 Smallman Street, in the Strip District. For information and to RSVP, click here.


Writer: Andrew Moore
Source: Stephen Glassman

TOWNHOUSE, a new pop-up furniture and home goods shop, is opening soon in East Liberty. The shop will feature goods from Weisshouse, The Shop in East Liberty, and Florida-based designers Industry West.

The retail collaboration is a project of partner organization Epic Development, a Pittsburgh-based economic development firm. Epic’s Michael McAllister says TOWNHOUSE will offer modern pieces—including chairs, stools, rugs and prints—currently unavailable in Pittsburgh, aimed for the city’s growing design community.

The storefront will also serve as an experimental street-level coworking lounge for members of The Beauty Shoppe, a partner in TOWNHOUSE.

McAllister says the store is committed to high design and quality at a low cost, with the majority of items priced under $200.

And since the project is a pop-up, TOWNHOUSE will close just eight months later, in December.

This is not the first time Epic has brought together members of Pittsburgh’s creative community. Last year, the firm launched Tapped, a pop-up beer garden event series that activates empty lots with local food, beer, and music. McAllister says Epic plans to continue Tapped in 2013.

TOWNHOUSE opens Friday, May 3rd, and is located at 6016 Penn Avenue, in East Liberty. It will be open Tuesday through Saturday, and by appointment Sundays and Mondays.


Writer: Andrew Moore
Source: Michael McAllister

The initiative to get Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) rolling between Downtown and Oakland has been given another boost with a grant from the Rockefeller Foundation. The grant will support research, communications, and community outreach efforts to engage and educate the public on the benefits of BRT.

GetTherePGH, a BRT Stakeholders Advisory Committee, facilitated by Sustainable Pittsburgh, welcomed last week’s announcement as well the opportunity to continue working with the community to raise awareness about the BRT project.

Though specifics of the grant are yet to be determined, Sustainable Pittsburgh’s Court Gould says the Rockefeller Foundation has shown an interest in enabling citizens to have a voice in determining what BRT projects should look like, let alone whether they should be implemented at all.

BRT is a form of bus transit that operates similarly to a rail system—though less expensive to implement—with dedicated stations, route priority, and platform fare collection, among other efficiency measures.

The Rockefeller Foundation has awarded $1.2 million to be split among four cities: Nashville, Boston, Chicago, and Pittsburgh. The funding initiative is part of the foundation’s Transform Cities effort.

“Rockefeller having competitively identified Pittsburgh in the echelon of the other three is a significant validation of several years of concerted effort here to study the benefits of Bus Rapid Transit,” Gould says.

Pittsburgh’s BRT effort is an outgrowth of recommendations from the Port Authority of Allegheny County’s 2009 Transit Development Planning Process, a comprehensive review of the agency’s entire system.  BRT served as a key component of serving Downtown to Oakland, and to the East End, Gould says.

The Bravo Group, a public relations firm, has been selected to lead the outreach effort in Pittsburgh.


Writer: Andrew Moore
Source: Court Gould

With the  Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group (PCRG) celebrating 25 years at its upcoming Community Development Summit, the organization is currently seeking nominations for the awards ceremony portion of that event.

Categories include the Community Development Awards and the Neighborhood Leader Award in Memory of Bob O'Connor.

Community Development Awards are given to projects or programs that create a positive, lasting impact on the physical, social, or cultural fabric of a community, says Katie Hale, PCRG’s Neighborhood Policy Manager.

Recent winners include the Gardens of Millvale, a borough-wide greening initiative that includes land acquisition for community gardens, education outreach, and the engagement of over 300 volunteers.

Hale says the Gardens of Millvale has become “one of the most thriving community garden efforts in the region.”

Another recent Community Development winner is the Green+Screen streetscape beautification initiative of the Penn Avenue Arts District. A project of the Bloomfield Garfield Corporation, Green+Screen engages designers to use sustainable materials to “screen” the view of empty lots or parking lots.

And the Neighborhood Leader Award, given in memory of Bob O’Connor, recognizes an individual who exemplifies the late mayor’s dedication to neighborhood improvement.

The deadline for nominations is Friday, April 19th, and the awards ceremony will be held on May 21st.

The Community Development Summit will take places May 21-22nd, at the Omni William Penn Hotel, in Downtown Pittsburgh. The summit will include four mobile workshops, highlighting revitalization efforts in Pittsburgh neighborhoods, as well as several keynote speakers and networking events.


Writer: Andrew Moore
Source: Katie Hale

Though the number of candidates continues to change, one thing is for sure: Pittsburgh will elect a new mayor on November 5th. And so a local community group is asking, how will that new mayor work with individual neighborhoods to continue revitalization throughout the city?

Next Thursday, April 11th, the Pittsburgh Community Reinvestment Group (PCRG) is hosting a mayoral forum to ask that question and more. Each candidate will explain how they plan to support, equitably and transparently, the revitalization of neighborhoods and catalyze investment in them.

“A lot of Pittsburgh’s rebirth over the past several years really came out of the work that’s been going on in neighborhoods and the leadership there,” says PCRG’s Chris Sandvig.

Sandvig says it’s important for neighborhood leaders to know how each candidate’s mayoral decisions would impact their communities, in terms of federal funding, the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA), Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, and more.

“The next mayor has a huge impact on whether we continue our rebirth as a city, and our position nationally and internationally,” Sandvig says.  “Everything we see from both a national and local perspective, neighborhoods are really where it’s at in the future for a city's vitality, and also their competitiveness.”

PCRG is a coalition of community-based organizations that advocates for strong, healthy neighborhoods in Allegheny County.

State Representative Jake Wheatley, City Councilman Bill Peduto, and former State Auditor General Jack Wagner will be in attendance, according Sandvig. The three candidates are seeking the Democratic nomination for mayor. The event will not be a debate.

The event, co-sponsored by the Design Center, is free and open to the public. It will be held at the Union Project, 801 North Negley Avenue, on April 11th at 6:00 p.m.  To RSVP by Friday, April 5th, contact csandvig@pcrg.org.


Writer: Andrew Moore
Source: Chris Sandvig

Throughout April a transparent box truck will visit each of Pittsburgh’s 90 neighborhoods to conduct mini “talk shows,” an effort to gather the ideas and opinions of city residents on public art and urban design.

The project is called TALKPGH, a mobile public art project through the Department of City Planning. Local artist Jon Rubin—of The Waffle Shop and Conflict Kitchen—is facilitating these conversations, along with his film crew and City staff.

Information gathered through this process will aid in the development of ARTPGH and DESIGNPGH, components of PLANPGH, the City’s first ever comprehensive plan for growth over the next 25 years.

Morton Brown, the City's Public Art Manager, says the point of TALKPGH is to reach residents that wouldn't usually attend planning meetings, by creating an event that is novel and engaging.

The talk shows—conducted in the truck bed—will be recorded and will air as a web series this summer on the TALKPGH website. A compilation of the talk shows will also be presented in a public format, though details are yet to be determined.

Project leaders hope the experience will encourage residents to become more involved with the PLANPGH process, and to attend its upcoming community meetings.

TALKPGH is looking for community liaisons, interviewees, and suggested film locations for each of the city’s 90 neighborhoods. Residents can sign up at the project’s website, or by calling 408-800-3176.

Additionally, there will be six “open house” meetings for ARTPGH and  DESIGNPGH. For planning purposes, the city has been divided into six study areas. Upcoming meetings will be held in each of the six study areas, and include Monday, April 22nd (drop in anytime from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m.), The Kaufman Center, 1825 Centre Avenue; and Tuesday, April 23rd (drop in anytime from 4:00 to 7:00 p.m.), Schenley Ice Rink, 10341 Overlook Drive. 

For a full list of community meetings, visit the PLANPGH website.

Writer: Andrew Moore
Source: Morton Brown

Although Tameka Reed comes from a long line of seamstresses, she learned to sew in her middle school home economics class. So when she learned that many area schools had dropped sewing from their curriculum, she decided to open a business that would help the craft continue to thrive.

Reed’s recently opened Urban Stitches shop is a sewing lounge that she hopes will inspire crafters of all ages to pick up needle and thread for the first time, as well as provide a supportive, social environment for more advanced sewers.

At her Monroeville facility Reed offers weekly classes for adults and youth, in addition to open studio hours for independent work. Her Introduction to Sewing class allows newcomers to use sewing machines for the first time, and complete a series of small projects.

"Learning the basics is a good thing to get you out of catastrophies," Reed says, "and I've had several wardrobe disasters over the years that sewing came in handy for."

Additional workshops include dressmaking, children’s wear, alterations, and contemporary quilting, as well as men’s fashion. Classes range from $35 to $150 for single-day and multiple-day workshops.

Reed says her fashion sewing classes are geared for working women wanting to make or amend career clothing that is hip and contemporary.

Reed hopes Urban Stitches can introduce sewing to new audiences—especially within Pittsburgh’s vibrant maker community—as a creative, useful skill. "Things are finally starting to trend back toward things made by hand, and crafting, and things that you can make and put your own personal little stamp on," she says.

In addition to Urban Stitches, Reed teaches sewing at Westinghouse High School in Homewood through the YWCA's After School Program.

Urban Stitches is located at 3948 Monroeville Blvd, Suite 1 in the Presidential Village Plaza, Monroeville.


Writer: Andrew Moore
Source: Tameka Reed

City of Asylum/Pittsburgh has found a new home for its planned literary center Alphabet City. The non-profit announced Monday it would open the center—which will contain a bookstore, café and performance space—in the Northside’s prominent Garden Theater block on North Avenue.

COA/P co-founder Henry Reese says the new location will allow for heightened activity and greater accessibility to a broader community.

“By building Alphabet City in the heart of Allegheny City Central’s redevelopment commercial district, rather than in the residential interior, we are able to grow beyond our original plans,” he said in a statement.

Allegheny City Central is the new, rebranded name of the Central Northside neighborhood.

The center was originally planned for a triple lot in the Mexican War Streets, but that location—which required zoning board approval—was challenged by two neighbors. The proposal was rejected by an Allegheny County judge last November.

Alphabet City will be located in three redeveloped storefronts of the former Masonic Temple. Reese says the historic structure’s façade will not be altered, but the interior will reflect COA/P’s informal, salon-style events with a “living-room-feel.” It will have a 150-person capacity.

The project architects are Loysen + Kreuthmeier, who designed the nearby Allegheny branch of the Carnegie Library. The design will incorporate artwork made from more than 1,000 hand-written alphabets in 62 writing systems, collected from Northsiders and residents from around the world.

Since 2004, COA/P has provided sanctuary to literary writers exiled and under threat of persecution. Its mission also includes transforming blighted properties and energizing public spaces through public art with text-based components.

Reese says the new location meets COA/P’s goal to be an important change agent in the community.

“Helping make sure that the Garden Theater complex becomes redeveloped is really important to our community, and being a part of that is really gratifying to us,” he says.

Writer: Andrew Moore
Source: Henry Reese

The Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership (PDP) released its annual report yesterday during its membership meeting highlighting achievements of the past year and its goals for 2013.

Guest speakers—including County Executive Rich Fitzgerald and Mayor Luke Ravenstahl—acknowledged the progress Downtown has made in recent years, and emphasized the need to attract young and new residents to the region.

Market Square was heralded for its continued role in drawing visitors and residents to Downtown. Along with the seasonal Market Square Farmers Market, numerous concerts, and services in partnership with the Carnegie Library, 85 additional events occurred in the square during 2012.

“It’s truly become a town square for Pittsburgh,” said Thomas Harrington, board chairman of the PDP.

The report acknowledges the completion of the North Shore Connector, a milestone for improving connections between the North Shore and Downtown. According to the report, the PDP led efforts to develop a model for sponsorship solicitation that led to the expansion of the free fare zone to the new North Shore stations.

Also in 2012, a 332 percent increase was seen in volunteer assistance for various projects Downtown; the Peoples Gas Holiday Market was introduced to Market Square; seven Sidewalk Activation projects were approved, representing $341,441 in total new investment, as well as six Façade Improvement Projects, totaling $400,484 in new investment.

In 2013 the Paris to Pittsburgh program will be expanded with a new $350,000 grant from the Colcom Foundation, and a renovated Mellon Square will reopen to the public.  In May, the PDP’s second annual State of Downtown Pittsburgh report will be released.

This weekend, the PDP will kick-off its new public art initiative with the nine free performances throughout the weekend by the Zany Umbrella Circus, as well as workshops and a mini-museum in Market Square.  

Also this weekend, Sisters of the Lattice—who bill themselves as "willfully conjoined techno-mystics"—are inviting audiences to a screening of their new film and to meditate in one of 10 individual saunas on Liberty Avenue.

“This is all about making Downtown Pittsburgh a unique and interesting place for people to come and visit, or stumble upon ...” said Jeremy Waldrup, PDP president and CEO.

Writer: Andrew Moore

Thanks to a new series of Sprout Fund projects, life in Pittsburgh will get more connected.

Connect Your City (CYC) is a series of 14 unique projects aimed at building connections between Pittsburgh’s many neighborhoods and across generations, cultures, and communities. CYC grew out of a recent Social innovation eXchange (SiX) event, a partnership between Pop City, the Sprout Fund, and the Pittsburgh Foundation, among others. 

Projects include the Friend-Field Postcard from Felipe Casteblanco and James Southard which will be the largest group portrait taken in Pittsburgh of residents of Garfield, Friendship, and Bloomfield. The postcard will then be mailed across neighborhoods. And Song for Pittsburgh, from Jennifer Myers, will place six singers in six different neighborhoods performing the same song at the exact same time. The one-day performance will take place on April 21^st.

An RFP was announced at the event last November. Of 30 applicants, 14 projects were recently awarded $1,000 grants.

Next Wednesday, March 20^th, grantees will present 90 second pitches of their projects at a happy hour event at the Shadow Lounge, 5972 Baum Blvd in East Liberty, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

The happy hour will be one of the final events to be held at the Shadow Lounge’s current space, which will close in the coming weeks.


Writer: Andrew Moore
Source: Sandra Hartkopf

The Pittsburgh Public Market is moving to a new location in the Strip District and will double in size to nearly 25,000 square feet.

The market's new home, at 2401 Penn Avenue—directly across the street from Mullaney's Harp and Fiddle—is at the fringe of the Strip District's busy retail core. Cindy Cassell, of Neighbors in the Strip, believes the market will help draw pedestrian traffic into new areas, as well as build connections with Lower Lawrenceville.

Other nearby businesses have begun to enliven the street, including restaurants like Bar Marco and Savoy.

The building will be air-conditioned, and will feature new infrastructure for food preparation. Cassell says a commercial kitchen is also in the works, and expects it to be operational within a year of opening.

Although the building is currently a nondescript cement structure, Cassell says NITS, which operates the market, is planning to add new doors and windows among other facade improvements. Aesthetic changes, including murals, are also under consideration.

The market will leave its current location in the Pennsylvania Fruit Auction & Sales terminal this summer. Disruptions to the historic building are planned as part of The Buncher Co.'s riverfront development.

Writer: Andrew Moore
Source: Cindy Cassell

Ola's Herb Shop is not located in a busy retail district, and that's fine with owner Ola Obasi.

On a sleepy corner in Morningside, Obasi's shop is a multi-use space that is dedicated to enhancing the personal wellness of all members of the community. It's a center for herbal medicine, energy work, and lifestyle coaching, but also the production facility for Obasi's all-natural product line, Nourishing Botanicals.

And Obasi's husband, Eric Biesecker, also teaches Capoeira Angola, the Afro-Brazilian martial art and fight dance, at the shop.  While the neighborhood's commercial district might be quiet, this particular storefront (typically open by appointment only) is filled with a holistic, healing energy.

Now, thanks to businesses like Obasi's and the dedication of many other community members, Morningside itself is poised for an awakening.

A new commercial structure has been built next to the neighborhood’s Rite Aid. The pharmacy itself has been renovated, as has the Morningside Market, which benefitted from the URA’s façade renovation program.

And the long-awaited Bulldog Pub & Grill—named for the neighborhood's youth football team—is expected to open on March 15th, at 1818 Morningside Avenue (just in time for St. Patrick's Day). The restaurant is a project of Morningside native Terry Golden.

Grant Ervin, Executive Director of the Morningside Area Community Council, says there has been a need for family-friendly community gathering spaces.

“There’s a big opportunity for that type of third place in the neighborhood,” he says. Ervin expects the Bulldog Pub—whose renovations are making the space even more inviting—to succeed in filling that role.

Ervin says Morningside’s lower rents have allowed entrepreneurs to develop their companies without the burden of excessive overheads. “It’s a good place if you’re looking to open a business,” he says.

 
Writer: Andrew Moore
Source: Ola Obasi; Grant Ervin

The Hollywood Theater in Dormont has given itself an ultimatum: Go Digital or Go Dark.

The title of its recently launched Indiegogo crowd-funding campaign is a serious one. Managing Director Chad Hunter says that there is no hard date set, but if the one-screen, 300-seat theater can't raise enough funds to transition to from 35mm film to a digital format, the Hollywood will close for good.

Hunter says it's increasingly difficult for independent cinemas to screen certain releases, with restrictions on use of DVD's, and the rarity of many film prints.

"The writing is on the wall," he says. "We can't operate effectively when these walls keep coming up from the studios."

The theater needs to raise $75,000 to make the film-to-digital conversion. The campaign began with $5,000 in seed money from last September's Pittsburgh Day of Giving.  The Indiegogo campaign has so far raised $6,622 as of press time, with 24 days to go.

The Hollywood Theater originally opened in 1933 and is one of few remaining single-screen movie houses in the Pittsburgh area. It has opened and closed several times in the past decade, but was reopened in May 2010 by the non-profit Friends of the Hollywood Theater (FOHT). The organization's long-term goal is to purchase the theater from its current owners.

And the Hollywood isn't alone in this scramble to transition. Theaters around the country are making the expensive switch—or closing up shop—including The Guthrie, in nearby Grove City, PA.

This Saturday, March 2nd, The Living Dead Festival will host a sold-out fundraiser at the Hollywood, featuring a meet-and-greet with cast members from the 1968 film by George A. Romero. The film will be screened in 35mm, with all proceeds going toward the Indiegogo campaign.

 
Writer: Andrew Moore
Source: Chad Hunter

There's still time to direct the course of Pittsburgh's transportation projects for the next 25 years. Residents have until the end of the day Thursday to rank a slew of proposed projects and to provide detailed feedback on specific improvements.

Last November, a series of Prioritization Workshops were held for a list of proposed projects. An online interactive map was then created based on those presentations.

Those projects appear on the map, color coded according to the type of improvement they represent, with categories such as intersection, bike/ped, and transit. Users are able to identify specific projects, rank its importance and priority level, as well as provide comments about each improvement.

MOVEEPGH is one of twelve components that comprises PLANPGH, the City's first ever comprehensive 25-year plan.

Project ideas were generated not only from MOVEPGH community forums, but also from existing planning documents developed by community organizations.

Each project was evaluated for various levels of effectiveness, and run through the Southwest Pennsylvania Commission’s Regional Travel Demand model.

Through prior efforts, five Community Goals were developed to measure the effectiveness of each proposed project. Those include options for enhanced mobility; supporting a diverse economy through sustainable infrastructure spending; safe, accessible, and healthy environments; projects that that support community and strengthen neighborhoods; and connections to natural and cultural destinations.

Writer: Andrew Moore
Source: Noor Ismail