News Around the Neighborhood
Winter Bowling Begins this Wednesday!
Winter bowling for all interested Allegheny West neighbors, friends, and guests begins Wednesday, January 8 between 7:00 and 7:30 pm and will continue through the end of April. This is not a league, just a weekly gathering for those who can attend.
The bowling lanes are located at the Allegheny Elks Lodge, 400 Cedar Avenue, second floor. Please press the doorbell next to the front door; when the red button lights, open the door and come upstairs.
The Pittsburgh Banjo Club will be playing on the first floor from 8:00 to 11:00 pm, and the kitchen will be open for sandwiches and snacks. We look forward to seeing you there!
Tour Updates
As we welcome our 1,800 visitors to the neighborhood this weekend, be aware that some streets will be closed to traffic:
Street Closures
Beech Avenue 800 and 900 blocks
N. Lincoln Avenue 800 block
Friday, December 6th, 4:00-10:00 pm
Saturday, December 7th, 9:00 am-10:00 pm
Move your car (please!)
In addition, we ask that all cars be moved from those blocks from Friday afternoon through Saturday evening, for the safety of tour guests and guides and to enhance the ambience of the experience.
Alternate Parking
Babb Insurance is once again graciously allowing residents to use its lower parking lot at the corner of Galveston and N. Lincoln Avenues. Thank you, Babb!
Note that all cars MUST BE MOVED FROM BABB no later than Sunday morning at 10:00am, in order to accommodate Babb’s Steeler fans for the game on Sunday. Please be considerate of this request!
More updates may follow.
Renew Your Civic Council Membership Today!
Annual Membership: $5
Lifetime Membership: $50
You can find out about the different types of membership, check your eligibility to join, and pay your dues here: https://alleghenywest.org/get-involved/allegheny-west-civic-council/becoming-a-member/
Go to the bottom of the page for the PayPal link. If you are a returning member you do not have to fill out the form. You can also pay by cash, check or PayPal/Venmo during the Membership meetings or drop off cash/check at 851 Beech Avenue. (Please include an envelope with your name/address/phone if you’re paying cash!)
Members must be current on membership dues to be eligible to vote during Membership meetings. New members who pay before or at the December 10, 2024 meeting will be eligible to vote at the January 2025 meeting. If you are currently a member, paying your dues now will extend your membership and voting eligibility through December 2025.
Please email Cathy at treasurer@alleghenywest.org to check the status of your current membership.
We’re happy to have you join us!
PHLF: Fourth Avenue Historic District Walking Tour
Friday, October 18
10:00 am to 11:15 am
$20.00 per person
This tour is limited to 20 participants.
Tickets will not be available after 11:30 pm on October 17.
Click here to purchase a ticket.
The Fourth Avenue Historic District encompasses a remarkable variety of buildings. From a Greek Revival building of 1836, to cast-iron-front structures of the 1870s and 1880s, to a majestic quartet of early-20th-century skyscrapers, the district includes distinguished structures designed by more than a dozen eminent Pittsburgh architects.
The tour focuses on the portion of the District once known as “Pittsburgh’s Wall Street” for its concentration of buildings that served the financial and investment industries. We also will see how old buildings are being re-purposed for contemporary uses and explore PPG Place—the postmodernist “cathedral of commerce” that brings full circle the fascinating story of this narrow but mightily impressive street.
Zombie Party at Refucilo Winery
Zombie Party
Friday November 1st
6:00-9:00 pm
$5.00 cover, make reservation by October 26th
NEIGHBORHOOD Wine Tasting with Refucilo Winery
When you think of Allegheny West, I bet the first thing that comes to your mind isn’t snow capped mountains of the Andes, but do you know what they have in common?
Juan Lora, owner of Refucilo Winery, and the Malbec and Torrontes grapes thriving on his 5-acre vineyard at the base of the Andes Mountains. These varietal grapes are meticulously harvested by hand, transformed into award-winning wines, and transported to the intimate tasting room where specialists pair with tapas and suggest finishing with a unique malbec sorbet. Whether you’re looking for herbal, light and refreshing; plum, velvet and chocolate; or rich, ripe, tobacco and spice all of the wines at Refucilo are fermented dry and will leave you wanting more from this Pittsburgh/Argentinian winery.
PHLF: Walking Tour of Bridges and River Shores
Friday, September 20
10:00 am to 11:15 aam
$20.00 per person
This tour is limited to 20 participants.
Tickets will not be available after 11:30 pm on September 19.
Click here to purchase a ticket.
Pittsburgh is a city of bridges: hundreds of them span our waterways, valleys, and ravines. Bridges offer changing vistas on the natural and manmade features of the cityscape, and in Pittsburgh, these works of artful engineering are a source of civic pride.
This tour takes us on a loop bounded by the north and south shores of the Allegheny River and by two of the Three Sisters bridges that cross it. Taking in public art and historic buildings along with bridges and the river, this tour reveals the dynamic relationship between humans and nature that characterizes much of the Pittsburgh region.
PHLF: Walking Tour of Vandergrift
Saturday, August 24
1:00 pm to 3:00 pm
$20.00 per person
This tour is limited to 20 participants.
Tickets will not be available after 11:30 pm on August 23.
Click here to purchase a ticket.
For as long as there has been industry in the United States, there have been company towns—that is, communities built by businesses. While many of the roughly 2,000 such towns built across the country were known for their abysmal conditions, Vandergrift, stands out for its exceptional history and design.
George G. McMurtry, who was president of Apollo Iron & Steel Co. and established the town in 1895, believed that good housing and a pleasant environment would ensure his workers’ loyalty and increase their productivity. To create a plan for “something better than the best,” as McMurtry described it, he hired the famed Olmsted family of landscape designers.
Join us to learn how the layout designed by Frederick Law Olmsted’s firm responded to both the landscape and McMurtry’s goals.
This tour will include insights from local business figures and residents of the community, leading us through this unique company town and discussing efforts to revive both the economy and community spirit.
The tour will wrap up at a new local winery built in a restored church.
A Special Offer to a Pittsburgh Premiere Musical
We’re offering our Northside neighbors a discount to Front Porch Theatrical’s Bandstand! Living or working in the Northside gives you a special offer for art created in your neighborhood.
Bandstand
August 16-25
This Pittsburgh Premiere of an original new musical composed by Richard Oberacker with book and lyrics by Oberacker and Robert Taylor, is an unflinching and honest story about confronting the cost of war and finding salvation in the notes of a song.
In 1945, American soldiers return home to ticker-tape parades. Private First Class Donny Novitski, a singer and songwriter, joins forces with fellow veterans to form a unique band and compete in a national swing band competition.
Enoy this local premiere of a profound musical full of swinging songs!
OFFER: $25 tickets (offer available for first 10 tickets purchased per performance)
*PROMO CODE: Ns1945
Note – link below already reflects discount!
NED Grant Application Closing Soon
The City of Pittsburgh is currently accepting applications for the 2024 Neighborhood Economic Development Grant.
Nonprofits dedicated to economic improvement in specific City of Pittsburgh neighborhoods are invited to apply. All applications must be completed via Engage PGH. More information and the application form are available at the link below.
Applications are due Monday, August 5 at 5:00 PM