News Around the Neighborhood
Bike Plan Upcoming Meetings
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But before the Bike Plan can be finished, we need to hear from you! Throughout the month of October, we are looking for input from residents, business owners, commuters and, really, everyone who interacts with Pittsburgh’s streets. Follow the link below to tell us how to better connect you to the places you need to go. Through this link you can also get more information about a series of public meetings where you can hear more about the City’s priorities, processes and plan.Website
pittsburghpa.gov/domi/bikeplan.html
Public Meetings
Allentown Senior Center
631 East Warrington Avenue October 10th 6:00 to 7:30 pm
Manchester Citizen Corporation
1319 Allegheny Avenue October 15th 6:00 to 7:30 pm
East Liberty Presbyterian Church
116 South Highland Avenue October 16th 6:00 to 7:30 pm
Note for Neighbors: Parking on Saturday
The Alleys, Axles and Ales tour will be held this Saturday, September 29th. Jaguar cars begin rolling in at 8:00 on Brighton Road. Cars ‘n Coffee cars will arrive on 800 N Lincoln Avenue at 9:00. The Alleys, Axles and Ales tour will be from 11:00-5:00. Bring over you classic car to park on N Lincoln Avenue for a classy, classic car show all day.
In preparation of the tour the following Streets will be closed along with Maolis, Rope and Buttercup alleys.
Street Closings
The 800 block of N Lincoln Avenue and 700-800 block of Brighton Road will be CLOSED Saturday, September 29th for the from 8:00 am and 5:00 pm. Please remove cars from these streets.
Residential permitted cars may be parked overnight Friday, September 28th after 6:00 pm though Saturday, September 28th until 5:00 pm at 3 different location:
- Parking lot on Rope Way and North Avenue (next to 825 North Avenue-the Hipwell building). Thank you, Mitchell Schwartz and Elaine Stone.
- Parking lot across from 829 North Avenue on North Avenue. Thank you, Mitchell Schwartz and Elaine Stone.
- Presbytery Parking lot on Allegheny and Western Avenues. 900-940 Allegheny Avenue.
Neighbors can also park at CCAC lot near Subway Shop on Ridge from 8:00 am – 5:00 pm Saturday, September 29th. All cars should be removed after 5:00. Cars remaining on lot Sunday will be towed from CCAC lot.
Thanks for your cooperation.
An Extraordinary Documentary – Followed by a Panel with the Filmmaker
RealTime Interventions Presents the Film
The Rest I Make Up
Monday, October 8th
7:00 pm
Maria Irene Fornes is one of America’s greatest playwrights and most influential teachers, but many only know her as the ex-lover of writer Susan Sontag.
When Fornes gradually stops writing due to dementia, an unexpected friendship with filmmaker Michelle Memran reignited her creativity and triggered a decade-long collaboration. What began as an accidental meeting becomes a story of love, creativity, and connection that persists even in the face of forgetting. Theater luminaries such as Paula Vogel, Edward Albee, Ellen Stewart, Lanford Wilson and others also appear in the film to shed light on Fornes’s important contributions.
The Rest I Make Up has received an explosion of interest this summer, from laudatory reviews in the New York Times and New Yorker to a sold-out run at the MoMA and a Fornes marathon at NYC’s Public Theater. RealTime Interventions is thrilled to bring the film and its maker to Pittsburgh, making our city one of the first outside of New York to experience this extraordinary new work.
A panel discussion and Q&A will follow the film, including panelists Michelle Memran (the documentary filmmaker), Katie Pearl (co-producer), Michael Cerveris (star of Broadway, TV, & film), and moderator Molly Rice of RealTime Interventions.
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The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra returns to Alphabet City!
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Presents
Bernstein: Activism and Engagement
Thursday, October 4th
7:00 pm
Join guest musicians of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra for Activism and Engagement, a program celebrating the eclectic work of Leonard Bernstein.
Leonard Bernstein — celebrated as one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century — ushered in an era of major cultural transition. Through his open attitude about what constituted “good” music, his work bridged classical music, Broadway musicals, jazz, and rock, reaching new and diverse communities of listeners, young and old. He had a deep love for the community-based musicianship of the symphony orchestra—which is the foundation of our partnership with PSO. With a delicious sense of humor, he also exhibited the courage to tackle the most profound questions of the human experience.
Hosted by Associate Conductor of the PSO Andres Franco, this program will feature Venezuelan born pianist Rodrigo Ojeda playing selections from Bernstein’s repertoire. Writers (TBA) will do short readings in response to Bernstein’s unique character, identity, faith and social activism.
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PHLF: Restoring Murals
Location: Landmarks Preservation Resource Center, 744 Rebecca Avenue
Date: Tuessday, September 25th
Time: 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm
Contact: marylu@phlf.org or (412) 471-5808 ext. 527
In this presentation, we consider art appreciation in regards to exterior and interior murals with an examination of the history of murals tracing it back to its origins. We consider the different approaches to commercial and artistic mural painting. This will include a look at examples of contemporary mural painting and its significance and the emotional impact considering the importance of proper choice of style and subject to support the architectural situation and enhance community life.
About the Presenter: Boris Brindar is a second-generation art conservator. He got his start in the field at a young age, working with his dad, then the Head of Conservation Labs at the Russian State Museum in Leningrad. Boris is a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Leningrad where he received a degree in conservation and art history. He has more than 33 years of professional experience.
All events are free to PHLF members. Non-members: $10 RSVPs are appreciated: marylu@phlf.org or (412) 471-5808 ext. 527
Check out http://phlf.org/events/ for more PHLF tours and events.
PHLF: Glass Cutting and Window Re-Glazing
Location: Landmarks Preservation Resource Center, 744 Rebecca Avenue
Date: Thursday, September 20th
Time: 6:00 pm – 8:30 pm
Contact: marylu@phlf.org or (412) 471-5808 ext. 527
In this workshop, you will learn how to cut glass and reglaze panes and get some hands on experience. Find out about different kinds of glazing putty, how to get the old putty out without breaking the glass, and tools for putty and glass cutting, and perhaps some paint removal and wood repair if time allows.
About the Presenter: Regis Will is a woodworker, craftsman, and owner of Vesta Home Services, a consulting firm on house restoration and Do-it-Yourself projects. He blogs about his work at The New Yinzer Workshop.
All events are free to PHLF members. Non-members: $10 RSVPs are appreciated: marylu@phlf.org or (412) 471-5808 ext. 527
Check out http://phlf.org/events/ for more PHLF tours and events.
Discounted Tickets for Northsiders: The Father
Presented by Kinetic Theatre
September 14th – 23rd
Andre was once a tap dancer. He lives with his daughter, Anne, and her husband, Antoine. Or was Andre an engineer, whose daughter Anne lives in London with her new lover, Pierre? The thing is, he is still wearing his pajamas and he can’t find his watch. He is starting to wonder if he is losing control.
A sensation in Paris, London, and New York, French playwright Florian Zeller’s The Father has received an impressive number of awards, including a 2017 Tony Nomination for Best New Play. The play’s brilliantly simple theatrical conceit allows us to see the world through the eyes of a patient suffering the debilitating effects of dementia.
The Father by Florian Zeller an English adaptation by Christopher Hampton and Directed by Andrew Paul. Starring Sam Tsoutsouvas, Catherine Gowl, Darren Eliker, Erin Krom, Lisa Ann Goldsmith & Gregory Johnstone
You’re Invited
Northside residents and workers can get $5 off admission to The Father. During check out, use the coupon code:
NORTHSIDERS
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Big News for Allegheny Commons
The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy has been awarded a Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) grant for $1 million dollars by the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development for the Allegheny Commons Park Fountain & Infrastructure Project Phase I. The funds will be used to help defray construction costs related to the Northeast Fountain and Promenade renovation project in Allegheny Commons Park that is currently underway.
The Northeast Fountain and Promenade Project is a neighborhood revitalization and public park improvement project that includes construction to add infrastructure to 1,000 feet of public green space in Allegheny Commons Park. The project will complete the next phase of the Allegheny Commons Master Plan (2002) and is consistent with the updated Action Plan (2017). The project site spans from the northeastern section of Allegheny Commons Park at Cedar Avenue along North Avenue. The project includes improved lighting and walkways, and other park site furnishings. The project is currently in progress with recreating an historic fountain at the intersection of North Avenue and Cedar Avenue that includes trees, plants and an infiltration bed that will aid in storm water management and site amenities.
The Northeast Fountain project will bring new energy to Pittsburgh’s oldest park. The new fountain will mirror its original 19th century design and will include a 50-foot circular basin, a one-foot rim of heavy cut stone, a large Grecian urn in the center, a tall central jet with smaller jets. The Northeast Fountain project, designed by Pashek+MTR, is under construction and scheduled for completion late fall 2018 with a grand reopening celebration being scheduled for spring 2019. The North Promenade project is in final design with construction scheduled to begin in spring 2019.
This project is a collaboration of the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, Allegheny Commons Initiative, Northside Leadership Conference and City of Pittsburgh Department of Public Works. The Allegheny Commons Northeast Fountain and Promenade project is a public park improvement project that has been supported by many elected officials, community partners and dedicated community members, including Allegheny Commons Campaign Co-Chairs Patricia Rooney and Jeremy Leventhal.
Jayne Miller, CPRP
President & CEO
Letter from the President – September 2018
The summer of 2018 has been even more eventful than usual here in Allegheny West. As we approach autumn, here’s at least a bit of what’s happening…
A special thanks goes out to the AW Party Team (yes, there really is such a thing), and “Partier-in-Chief” Greg Coll, who pulled together and treated all of us to three GREAT Summer street picnics – on Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day. This neighborhood tradition goes back into the 1970s, and couldn’t have been in better hands this season! And, although the Party Team now gets a well-earned rest, they’re always looking for more volunteers to help out when those picnics roll around next year!
The Housing & Planning Committee under Tim Zinn has been working diligently through the Summer as they process the many upcoming developments, impacts and issues for our neighborhood. At the September 11th Membership meeting, you’ll hear reports of positive progress on subjects as diverse as the railroad through the park and the overpass bridges, the scrap yard on Behan Street, guidelines for new construction on vacant sites and the growing issue city-wide of AirBnBs.
More Special Thanks – this time to Trish Burton’s Friends of Allegheny West, whose monthly neighborhood clean-ups make a world of difference for all of us. And when you’re strolling Western Avenue and enjoying the dozens of colorful hanging flower baskets, it’s Friends that make all of that happen too. Next year they’ll be tackling all of those empty tree planting beds along Western as well!
Our Ways & Means Committee is headed by Carol Gomrick, and has a distinction unmatched by any other community organization in the county: Mounting four different major fundraising events within six months. Did we mention that these folks are ALL volunteers?! With the very successful Wine & Garden Tour completed in June, Ways & Means now moves into its wildest part of the calendar – with the new Premier Wine Event on September 15, the very popular Alleys, Axles, & Ales car show just two weeks later (Thanks Cecile Canales and Tom Barbush), and then the region’s biggest annual house tour: our Allegheny West Victorian Christmas Tour in December. Of course, volunteers are needed for ALL of these!
And…
Nearly a decade after it was initially proposed, we are finally moving forward with our Western Avenue Gateway project, which will expand the AW Parklet at the corner of Western and Brighton to include several community garden plots, an appropriate encircling iron fence and prominent signage welcoming passersby to our community. Not a bad Summer for the City’s smallest neighborhood!
See you at Tuesday’s meeting for details on all of these – and lots more.
—
John DeSantis
President, AWCC
AWCC Membership Meetings – September 18, 2018
Calvary United Methodist Church, 971 Beech Ave
Tuesday, September 18th at 7:30 pm
- Visitors
- Councilwoman Harris’s Office
- Mayor Peduto’s Office
- Representative Wheatley’s Office
- Zone One Police
- Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy
- New Neighbors & Guests
- Minutes
- Treasurer’s Report
- Membership
- Thanks to Party Team for Summer Picnics
- Ways and Means
- Showcase Wine Event (September 15)
- 2018 Alleys, Axles & Ales (September 29)
- Christmas Candlelight House Tour (December 7-8)
- Friends of Allegheny West
- Clean Up
- Property
- Gateway Project in Allegheny West Parklet
- Housing and Planning
- Allegheny Commons Proposed Implementation Plan
- CCAC New Building: Ridge at Brighton
- North Avenue Lighting
- Western Avenue Revitalization, Electric
- Light of Life Ridge Avenue Project
- Expansion of Historic District
- Historic District Enforcement Issues (old cases)
- Comprehensive Guidelines for New Construction on Vacant Sites
- Airbnb Issues/Impacts on AW
- Railroad Bridge Replacements, Double Stack Train Impacts
- Northside Leadership Conference
- Nominating Committee
- Annual November Election
- Other Business (Old & New)
- Ratify Actions of Executive Committee
- State of Pennsylvania Parklet Grant
- New Construction Guidelines to CCAC