Sign, sign, everywhere a sign
Blockin’ out the scenery, breakin’ my mind
Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign?
If you talk to someone who lived in Allegheny West forty years ago, you’re likely to hear that the neighborhood we have today is much like what was hoped for in 1980. A few years earlier Allegheny West Civic Council established a committee, Friends of Allegheny West, for the stated purpose of “developing and furthering human services and physical resources of the community with the goal of combatting community deterioration and revitalizing the area”.
What signs did the neighborhood see at the time that gave such hope? And what signs can we point to today to give us confidence that we’re being the best possible stewards of our neighborhood?
I’d like to offer three signs for your consideration.
First is the Allegheny City Stables Lofts project at 836 W North Avenue. AWCC worked for years to preserve and then to influence the development of the former municipal building. In the next few months we’ll have upwards of 50 new neighbors living in a building that was designed with input from Allegheny West Civic Council as well as the Local Historic Review Committee.
Second, as I’ve mentioned in this column before, the number of neighbors attending General Membership meetings (2nd Tuesday of each month, 7:30 pm, Emmanuel Episcopal Church) is awesome. Allegheny West Civic Council decides when and how to take a stand on an issue, when to spend money, who will be the officers and how the council operates only through voting at General Membership meetings. The way to have a voice is to be a member, attend meetings and vote.
Third, on a cold and rainy January evening a couple weeks ago, over 40 neighbors put on their coats, grabbed a beverage and attended an AWCC Mixer at Giorgio’s Pizza. The food was great, the beverages were shared and the noise level was quite high. It was a wonderful gathering of neighbors, a warm and happy winter evening in Allegheny West. (Thanks to Tim Zinn, Membership Committee Chair for planning this Mixer and those to come!)
In 1980, John Canning, then Chairman of the Friends of Allegheny West Committee, wrote, “I am convinced that the three greatest assets of Allegheny West are: the sense of community of the residents, the integrity of the AWCC and the historical significance of our neighborhood.”
Forty years later John’s assessment still rings true. We might not always share the same vision for the future of Allegheny West, but by participating and working with our neighbors we can continue to read the signs and move in the right direction.
Ann Gilligan
President, AWCC
Calvary United Methodist Church, 971 Beech Avenue
Tuesday, February 11th at 7:30 pm
- 7:30 – Guests
- Officer Burford, Pittsburgh Police
- Molly Onufer, Mayor’s Office
- Councilman Wilson’s Office
- Senator Wheatley’s Office
- Erin Tobin, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy
- 7:50 – January Membership Meeting Minutes
- 8:00 – Committee Reports
- Ways & Means
- Housing & Planning
- Friends of Allegheny West
- Membership
- Property
- By-Laws
- 8:40 – Treasurer’s Report
- 8:45 – Old Business
- 8:50 – New Business
- 9:00 – Meeting Conclusion
Submitted by Carol Gomrick
Happy New Year Allegheny West! I hope you all enjoyed a blessed holiday season. I’m back from an amazing trip in Africa. Safari in Tanzania and wine tasting in the Stellenbosch region, Capetown South Africa. Speaking of wine …
We have the dates for two wine events this year. I’m very excited about how these events are coming together. Tickets already available for sale on AWCC website for both events!
Tour & Tasting in Old Allegheny: Friday June 19th and Saturday June 20th
- (We’ve already sold 4 tickets!)
- The tour will seek food and wine sponsorship from various eateries
- If you are interested in having your home on tour, please confirm with me
- Future communications will go out about various volunteer opportunities to help pull this together
Pour & Plates – A Wine Showcase Event: Saturday September 12th
Deb Mortillaro of Dreadnought Wines will host an intimate evening in the beautiful gardens of Holmes Hall discussing personally selected wines she’s paring for each of the five courses. All in Good Taste Productions, the premier caterer in Pittsburgh, is currently working on a menu to bring guests classic dishes from the great wine regions of the world. No doubt this will be a spectacular culinary and wine experience.
- This event sold out in 2018 and I’m thrilled to offer this unique experience again.
Your feedback is needed! Tuesday, February 18th 7:00 pm | AWCC Office – Western Avenue
Please come to this meeting to discuss the tours of 2019 (Wine and Christmas). I’m seeking your feedback on what went well, what needs to improve and creative ideas to enhance the upcoming 2020 tours. If you are new to the neighborhood, please come and learn about the tours and meet your new neighbors. All are welcome.
These tours are only successful because so many contribute. Thank you for your help in 2019 and I’m looking forward to a successful 2020. CHEERS!
Submitted by Diane Caruso
Our neighborhood parklet continues to grow and improve with the help of a few neighbors and Babb Insurance company’s annual volunteer day. We will soon begin our monthly clean-ups along Western Avenue, as well as weeding and working in the parklet this spring. Please watch for notices in our e-newsletter for our first clean-up. Clean-ups always take place on Saturday mornings at 9:00 am, and fresh donuts are supplied!
Last year we added a brick walkway to the parklet with donated bricks from neighbors. This year, we plan on placing a beautiful metal sign in the garden, with another sign being placed at the corner of Allegheny and Western Avenues. We have a sign committee that has been working on the design of these signs. The signs will read “Allegheny West National Historic District.” We love our neighborhood and we need and appreciate your help in continuing to beautify our exceptional and unique community.
PHLF, in cooperation with the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh and MACS, will be offering 3 special guided tours (March 14th, April 4th, April 25th from 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm) of the MuseumLab Building to people who are especially interested in hearing how the former Allegheny Regional Library has been transformed. To make a reservation, please visit phlf.org/event/museumlab-transformation-free-guided-walking-tours/.
Submitted by Mary Callison
Plans are underway for planting trees in our neighborhood this Fall. We will be working with Tree Vitalize and the City Forester Lisa Ceoffe on this project. In 2016, a Neighborhood Rejuvenation Plan was developed by Pashek Associates in response to issues voiced by the neighborhood. One concern voiced was the condition of our trees. I am using the section on trees in this report as a guide for this project.
Neighbors have volunteered to help contact property owners to explain the plan and ask them to fill out the application for a tree in front of their property. If you would like to help with this part of the project or later in the Fall with the planting, contact me at (412) 323-5951 or email callismar@gmail.com. The deadline for submitting a request for the 2020 Fall Planting is March 13th at 4:00 pm.
It’s not too late to sign up for the Tree Tender Training on February 22nd, 9:00 am – 4:00 pm. Contact joe@treepittsburgh.org or call (412) 781-8733 x 204. You need to pre-register for the class. Call me if you have difficulty registering.
Bowling has begun. 🎳 It takes place at the Elks Lodge on Wednesdays at 7:00 pm. It’s a bargain at $2.50/game, and that includes bowling ball and shoes. Food and beverages are of course available, also at prices not seen at many establishments! Hope to see you this winter on Wednesdays at the Elks Lodge, 400 Cedar Avenue.
Also, we had our first Allegheny West Mixer of 2020 on January 24th, and it was a success. Keep an eye out for news about upcoming mixers on the Allegheny West Facebook page!
Submitted by AWCC Bylaws Committee
Change Article VII Section 6, adding the text in bold, to
- Standing committee Chairman shall select from between two and ten members for their committees within 45 days following their election. No member of Council may chair more than one standing committee at a time. No officer may chair any standing committee except for the Corresponding Secretary who is ex-officio chair of the Communications Committee. All standing committees except for the Executive Committee are open to everyone to participate in discussion and all Civic Council members in good standing present are eligible to vote on any motion from the committee.
This amendment was presented in writing at the January 2020 membership meeting and will be published in the Allegheny West Gazette and voted on at the February meeting. If approved by two thirds of the members present will take effect immediately.
Corresponding Secretary is still an officer of the Council and is directed to be chair of the Communications Committee.
Historically, all committees except for the Executive Committee have been open to everyone.
Happy New Year 2020!
20/20: denoting vision of normal sharpness
20/20 Hindsight: the full knowledge and complete understanding that one has about an event only after it has happened
Congratulations and thank you to everyone who contributed to a successful Christmas House Tour and, like always, it seems like everyone contributed. A special thank you to Annette Trunzo and Carol Gomrick they both worked very hard to manage all the pieces of the tour puzzle. They assembled a great team. If you volunteered or went on the tour, you saw the results of everyone’s hard work. We’ll get a breakdown of the financial results of the tour at the membership meeting this month.
Another item on the agenda at this month’s membership meeting is a presentation from Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy on the Allegheny Commons North Promenade Project. PPC will be asking for a Letter of Support for the Historic Review Commission, which will require membership approval.
Andrew Reichert will also be attending the membership meeting to provide an update on the Stables Building development project.
It is heartening to see that the number of people attending the General Membership meetings increased month-to-month last year, particularly in December. In 2019 we had a surge of new members, also mostly occurring towards the end of the year. An interesting and positive twist – many new members are neighborhood businesses.
It will be challenging to keep the enthusiasm level as high as it was at the end of last year but I’m hopeful we can. I look forward to seeing new members and members who started attending meetings again continue to stay involved this year. There is a lot going on in our officially smallest neighborhood in Pittsburgh.
AWCC currently has 4 standing and 2 ad hoc committees, listed with their chairs below:
- Property: Michael Shealey
- Housing & Planning: Robin Zoufalik
- Ways & Means: John DeSantis
- Friends of Allegheny West: Diane Caruso
- By-Laws (ad hoc): Bob Malakoff
- WANID (ad hoc): Ann Gilligan
The Committee Chairs will be writing brief columns to appear in this and subsequent Gazettes to describe what they are doing, who they’d like to have on their committees and how to join. I encourage all members, long-time and newly joined, to volunteer on one of these committees.
Do you see a need for neighborhood volunteer work that doesn’t fit one of the current committees? Let me know how you want to contribute and I promise I’ll do whatever I can to help make it happen!
Wishing everyone health, peace and prosperity in the New Year.
Ann Gilligan
President, AWCC
Calvary United Methodist Church, 971 Beech Avenue
Tuesday, January 14th at 7:30 pm
- 7:30 – Guests
- Officer Burford, Pittsburgh Police
- Molly Onufer, Mayor’s Office
- Councilman Wilson’s Office
- Senator Wheatley’s Office
- 7:50 – November & December Membership Meeting Minutes
- 8:00 – Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy: Allegheny Commons North
- 8:20 – Treasurer’s Report
- 8:30 – Committee Reports
- Ways & Means
- Housing & Planning
- Friends of Allegheny West
- Membership
- By-Laws
- 8:50 – New Business
- Allegheny Historic Preservation Society, Tiffany Concert Series
- Andrew Reichert, Stables Building Progress Report
- 9:20 – Meeting Conclusion
