Hill District Consensus Group News & Information

Redwood: Penguins renege on Hill art project

Fri, 18 May 2012 17:26:05 GMT

Written by Christian Morrow - Courier Staff Writer

Wednesday, 16 May 2012 09:29

As part of its original master plan for the CONSOL Energy Center, the property was to include a ‘Garden Passage” with a water feature between the center and Epiphany Church.

CURTAIN CALLundefinedAn art piece comprised of digitized historic Hill District photos on glass tubes is part of a garden the Penguins promised in 2010.

Artist Walter Hood’s “Curtain Call” design, which won the competitive bid for the project, was also to include digitized historic Hill District photographs scanned onto glass tubes along the path from Centre Avenue to Fifth Avenue.

But when the arena was completed in 2010, the Pittsburgh Penguins said they did not have the $1.5 million required for the project. Yet this year, they erected a statue of Mario Lemieux in the same spot.

Hill Consensus Group Director Carl Redwood said it is another example of the Hill District being shafted, and he’s calling on them to make good.

“They chose not to do it. They refuse, again, to pay for what they promise. That statue is an insult,” said Redwood.

Redwood noted that the CONSOL center was granted a LEED environmental certification in pare because of how the garden feature would channel rainwater from the property.

“The public art piece was part of getting political and community support for the arena, and it was all a scam,” said Redwood. “The Sports and Exhibition Authority needs to stand up. The penguins claim there is no money, but they are about to get all the net revenue plus 65 percent of the tax generated by 300 new parking spaces at the Civic Arena site.”

Pittsburgh Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle has introduced legislation, calling for the city’s 35 percent of parking tax revenue to be used for Hill District development projects, but Redwood said the art project should be funded by the Penguins as promised.

Neither Penguins President David Morehouse nor Sports and Exhibition Authority Executive Director Mary Conturo returned calls for comment by New Pittsburgh Courier deadline.

The project is still listed on the SEA website under public art with a completion date of 2010. Redwood said he plans to bring the issue to the SEA board at its scheduled June 14 meeting.

Pittsburgh Housing Authority begins replacing Addison Terrace

Sat, 28 Apr 2012 19:27:46 GMT

By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The Pittsburgh Housing Authority has received $12 million in low-income housing tax credits to complete the financing for the first phase of redevelopment of the Addison Terrace community in the Hill District, executive director A. Fulton Meachem Jr. said today.

The tax credits round out a $31 million package that also includes authority funds and money from other agencies that will pay for new infrastructure, demolition of antiquated buildings, and construction of 80 new townhouse apartments.

"That allows us to build a mixed-income property where Addison used to be," said Mr. Meachem. The 80 units in the first phase will include 56 apartments with subsidized rents for low-income households and 24 market-rate apartments.

Mr. Meachem said demolition will likely start within two months and construction early next year with a completion target of late 2014.

He said that isolated Elmore Square and Addison Street will be reconnected to the Hill's street grid.

The $31 million first phase is part of a $160 million plan to turn 734 low-income apartments into a 400-townhouse community with subsidized and market-rent residents.

The authority plans $250 million in redevelopment and modernization in coming years. Today its board voted to hire Atlanta firm CVR Associates Inc. and local project manager Terry Lee for $6.6 million over three years to provide technical assistance on the projects.

Rich Lord: rlord@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1542.

Hill Grocery Article from Courier

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 20:06:02 GMT

Hill grocery delayed again

Written by Christian Morrow - Courier Staff Writer

Wednesday, 18 April 2012 10:01

After two groundbreakings, a year of delays, multiple changes in the contract management team, the dismissal of Executive Director Jules Matthews and her husband, Jason Matthews, the Hill House Economic Development Corporation finally seemed ready to build the promised SHOP ‘n SAVE grocery store the community has been waiting 20 years for.

VACANT GROUNDundefinedLittle appears to have been accomplished at the site of the Hill District’s future SHOP n’ SAVE. (Photo by J.L. Martello)

Now, however, Hill House President and CEO Cheryl Hall-Russell said the project has hit another snagundefineda funding shortfall.

“There were several items that were left out of the scope of the project that have caused it to grow,” she said. “One is an equipment budget that grew larger than we anticipated. We are working hard to come up with a final number to share with our funders and are actively raising capital to close the gap.”

Hall-Russell said the HHEDC is reviewing everything in conjunction with funders and store operator Jeff Ross and all remain committed to the project. She did not, however, reveal the amount of the funding shortfall or give an estimate on when construction could resume.

At this time, most of the site preparation work is completed and water and sewer lines have been laid. But pouring the concrete footers, which Hall-Russell told the Courier in February was imminent, is now on hold.

The project calls for a 29,500 square-foot SHOP ‘n SAVE building that would feature bakery, deli, dairy, meat and produce departments, as well as frozen foods and health and beauty aids, and several thousand square feet of retail space fronting along Centre Avenue and Heldman Street.

Ross, who with his family owns four other SHOP ‘n SAVE markets, has invested $1 million in the $9 million project.

Even so, it is possible the shortfall is substantial. As the Courier reported in September, then construction manager Jason Matthews replaced Brinker Group LLC as the contractor after Brinker declined to reduce its $5.6 million construction bid by nearly $1 million.

Matthews, who Hall-Russell said was employed on a month-to-month contract, left when CM Solutions was announced as the new program manager last month. She said his departure was not related to his wife’s earlier departure, nor to the recent wrongful termination lawsuit she filed.

Jules Matthews filed a wrongful termination lawsuit claiming she had uncovered a misuse of funds, and was fired after bringing it to her superiors’ attention.

“Our only statement on the Jules Matthews case is that we are confident that the charges will prove to be false and that we had a third party review the grants and accounting systems before her suit and it was clean,” said Hall-Russell.

Hill Consensus Group Chair Carl Redwood said the delay is disappointing, but cost overruns are part of development.

“Look at the Consol Energy Center that went $30 million over budget and it’s all taxpayer money, so put it in perspective,” he said. “There is the $3 million development fund for the Hill District funded by the Rivers Casino, and they have an application before them. It’s frustrating but it will get done, and the Consensus Group will do whatever it can to help get it done.”

(Send comments to cmorrow@newpittsburghcourier.com.)

'Clean sweep' drug net gets lukewarm reception from Hill District

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 20:23:28 GMT

By Brian Bowling, PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW

The people gathered for an outdoor press conference in the Hill District on Monday had mixed reactions to the announcement that police arrested more than 60 people in a five-month drug investigation in the neighborhood.

Looking over the photos of some of the people arrested, one man said he thought police did a good job of rounding up mid-level and street-level dealers, but others were skeptical about whether the arrests would produce long-term improvement.

"It's imperative that we keep this area safe," Mayor Luke Ravenstahl said standing near the intersection of Erin Street and Centre Avenue in the Hill.

Pittsburgh police Chief Nate Harper said the investigation started in November by identifying the dealers and arresting them. The next phase is to bring in social service agencies such as the Hill House Association to help addicts.

Pointing to the new YMCA and the Shop 'n Save grocery store under construction, Harper said the neighborhood is transforming.

"We want to give people a chance to change their lifestyles," he said.

In addition to the arrests, police seized cash, drugs and vehicles with a value of about $189,000, he said. The drugs include 27 ounces of cocaine, 4 ounces of heroin, 110 stamp bags of heroin, 388 balloons of heroin and 2 pounds of marijuana, Harper said.

Among the crowd of about four dozen was Charles Walker, 64, who said the only time the Hill District sees Ravenstahl and Harper is at a press conference.

"This don't mean nothing," he said. "This is just for the election."

Yvonne F. Brown, 65, gave Harper more credit, saying that he's sincerely trying to improve life in the Hill but questioning why the city is focused on arrests and tearing down old houses instead of on programs that would encourage young offenders to renovate the houses.

One of the toughest critics was Linda Bacon, 59, of the Strip District, whom police have accused of being a secondary supplier. Standing in the crowd gathered at the intersection, Bacon cursed at the mayor and police chief.

"This is guilt by association," she said before storming off.

Pittsburgh police arrested Bacon on March 23 on three drug charges. She is free on $2,000 bail, and her preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 6, according to court records.

City Walkabout: View of the Hill improves again with new YMCA

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 20:14:59 GMT

Diana Nelson Jones/Post-Gazette

Aaron Gibson, executive director of the new Thelma Lovette YMCA in the Hill District, has a view of the neighborhood's progress.

By Diana Nelson Jones / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

When the Thelma Lovette YMCA opens for business on Centre Avenue Wednesday, the Hill District will have a state-of-the-art fitness facility. But if that's all it was, executive director Aaron Gibson would not have needed to make a point of showing me the view from the rooftop terrace.

And if the view were the point, it would have been merely beautiful, not something to think about.

"Look at the transformation all around us," he said, sweeping the air with his arm. Straight ahead was the Downtown skyline. To the right, across the street, were the Legacy Apartments and rows of new homes beyond it.

That view used to be of abandoned houses, he said.

To the left from the YMCA, Addison Terrace is going to be upgraded by the Pittsburgh Housing Authority, in part with low-income housing tax credits, for $160 million. Construction on phase I is expected sometime in 2013.

One block away, a new Carnegie Library branch was dedicated in 2008.

Several blocks toward Downtown, hills of dirt and silent equipment represent the site of a future Shop 'n Save, which could open by the end of this year.

The Hill that attracted immigrants like filings to a magnet, and which packed them so tightly that footsteps in one house resounded in the next one, was a place of running sewers, many languages and a lack of city services. Within that Hill was the vibrant, celebrated Hill.

I came to Pittsburgh almost 23 years ago and pretty quickly started getting to know the Hill District. It was hollowed out, dejected and heartbreaking by then. It never would have dawned on me that one day you would be able to check out a book, go for a swim and buy fresh produce within a few blocks of the Zone 2 police station.

"Everyone is seeing a positive outlook for the future," Mr. Gibson said. "I am hoping we will be one of the pillars that would attract new development and new businesses along this corridor. But we're only going to be successful if we have community support."

The Y raises money so it can subsidize members whose incomes are low, with rates as affordable as $15 a month for a household.

It has strength and conditioning equipment with movable seats so people in wheelchairs can use them. It has a roomful of spinning stationary bikes and a pool with a window spanning one length of it.

One day recently, Mr. Gibson said, three churches brought members of their congregations in buses for a tour.

"Our community is definitely on the move," said Carl Redwood, executive director of the Hill District Consensus Group. He cited new housing on Dinwiddie and north of Centre Avenue. "A lot of new residents -- students from the Pitt side and from the Duquesne [University] side. We have joggers and bicycles now.

"We want to encourage mixed-income development. There's probably not a better place to be in terms of an ideal location between Downtown and Oakland."

The negative side remains open-air drug dealing on Wylie and Centre avenues "in the shadow of the police station," Mr. Redwood said. "The YMCA is a great addition, but if the police don't do a better job, the Y won't succeed."

Cheryl Hall-Russell, president and CEO of the Hill House Association, said the Hill's promise is one of the things that attracted her to the area from Indianapolis seven months ago.

"I saw the opportunities to fill in Centre Avenue and to have retail and health and wellness options. I wanted to be at the heart of making those things happen," she said. "It's cool to look at the master plan that the people of the community did and to see that things in the plan are coming to fruition."

Diana Nelson Jones: djones@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1626. Read her blog City Walkabout at www.post-gazette.com/citywalk.
First Published 2012-04-17 04:10:47

Lavelle: Arena parking should benefit the Hill

Tue, 03 Apr 2012 11:59:39 GMT

Pittsburgh city Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle today will introduce legislation that would allocate parking tax revenue from the Civic Arena site to spur Hill District development, but a community activist said the proposal wouldn't do enough to aid a neighborhood shortchanged on development projects.
Full article here

Pitt, developer at odds over Oak Hill lease

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 13:49:42 GMT

Pitt, developer at odds over Oak Hill lease
"Mr. Byrne said that until this snag is smoothed, people in the community will continue to "come out their door every day and see Pitt's pantheon to sports up on the hill and be reminded that they haven't gotten" their end of the bargai."

$1.9 million public subsidy for Penguins

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 15:18:51 GMT

Read full article

here

Transformation of Pittsburgh's historic lower Hill District should begin next year, but the planning started on Thursday when the city-county Sports & Exhibition Authority approved spending $1.9 million on site design.

The authority's board hired Michael Baker Jr. Inc., a subsidiary of Moon-based Michael Baker Corp., to design streets, sewers and sidewalks for the 28-acre site where the Civic Arena, former home of the Penguins hockey team, is being demolished. Baker will receive $500,000 in state gambling revenue for the first phase of work, said authority Executive Director Mary Conturo.

"We expect to (bid) the first construction project by the first quarter or early second quarter of next year," Conturo said.

Hill District residents say the Hill and the public should benefit from public subsidies going into the development, which abuts Downtown.

"There's a debt that we just incurred on behalf of the Penguins," said Carl Redwood, who chairs the Hill District Consensus Group, a coalition of community residents. "Whenever a for-profit company like the Penguins gets a public subsidy, there has to be a clear public benefit.

"The danger is these subsidies are being given out now without a clear idea of how it benefits the public."

Penguins receive additional $500,000 from the public; waiting for $39.5 million more from public

Wed, 28 Mar 2012 15:05:09 GMT

"Adding roads and other infrastructure could cost as much as $40 million, money that has yet to be found. The SEA is seeking $3.1 million in state funding to help pay for the design work. A $500,000 grant from a state economic development fund backed by gambling revenues will pay for the preliminary design.

The city Urban Redevelopment Authority also is considering tax increment financing to help pay for the improvements." - Belko Post - Gazette

Read full articlehere

How much additional public subsidy will Penguins receive?

$500,000
$1.9 million
$3.1 million
$40 million

McAuley grants help Hill, Uptown, West Oakland prosper

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 13:27:39 GMT

From Pop City Wednesday January 25 - Link to article here

McAuley Ministries has only been making grants since 2008, but Executive Director Michele Rone Cooper believes the group's focus on the Hill, Uptown and West Oakland is already starting to have an impact.

The Hill District's Cliffside Park, Reading is Fundamental and five after-school programs are among the local concerns sharing more than $1.25 million in grants just announced by McAuley, the charitable arm of Pittsburgh Mercy Health System.

One of the focuses of the Hill District's master plan, devised last year by the Hill District Consensus Group and Hill Community Development Group, is restoring some of the area's green spots for reasons of both community health and esthetics. McAuley has awarded the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy $200,000 to revamp the Hill's Cliffside Park overlooking the Allegheny River, which was built in 1975 but has already decayed.

“We know that there is a persistent achievement gap in the schools located around the Hill District,” says Cooper. That's why McAuley has also given $358,000 to five after-school programs in the Hill: Boy Scouts of America, the Center that C.A.R.E.S., Oakland Planning and Development's School-to-Career Program, Ozanam and Schenley Heights Development Program. “Children who attend high-quality after-school programs [increase] their academic success,” she says.

That's also the reason McAuley has granted $150,000 over the next three years to two programs of Reading is FUNdamental. Everybody Wins is a literacy program pairing 2^nd and 3^rd graders with adult volunteers from various local companies and nonprofit groups who share books and conversation during the lunch hour. The Storymobile goes to childcare homes, daycare and public housing, where kids can check out books and also get free books to take home, “ so they are also building their own home libraries," Cooper says. "The research shows that children from economically disadvantaged communities often have very few books in their homes.”

To see all the grants announced by McAuley Ministries, click here.

Do Good:

• Have a stake in the future of the Hill District? Become active in issues central to the Hill District Consensus Group’s efforts by clicking here.

Writer: Marty Levine
Source: Michele Rone Cooper, McAuley Ministries

Hill District, Hill House in Huffington Post article on Poverty in America

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 13:06:28 GMT

"Last fall, the Census Bureau revealed a troubling statistic: A full 6.7 percent of Americans, or roughly 20.5 million people, were earning less than half the official poverty rate -- a category generally known as "extreme poverty." For a family of four, including two dependent children, that would amount to an annual income of about $11,000 or less."
Link to article here.

Affordable housing further away for many Americans

Wed, 07 Mar 2012 12:50:37 GMT

Nearly one in four working households spends more than half of its income on housing costs, according to a new report by the National Housing Conference.

Moreover, despite falling home values, housing affordability worsened significantly for working owners and renters between 2008 and 2010.

The report shows that housing problems cause financial stress and also have a negative impact on health, education and the environment.

To go with the report there is a short and accessible blog post which you can read here.

Lower Hill Letter to the editor PG 12/23/11

Sat, 24 Dec 2011 00:34:10 GMT

Letter to the Editor PG 12/23/11

The arena site

As a resident of the Hill District, I have a vested interest in the future development of the Civic Arena site and am paying close attention to the plan, or lack thereof.

The Post-Gazette recently reported that the Penguins and the Sports & Exhibition Authority, which hold the development rights for the 28-acre Civic Arena site, are planning to meet its rather aggressive schedule of developing roughly 2 acres per year ("Penguins Skating Uphill Over Arena Site Plan?" Dec. 13). This is to conform to the city's requirements for them to maintain control of the site. This made me laugh out loud. The notion that the city would hold a Pittsburgh sports entity to its word is ludicrous. I'm a sports fan too, but let's be honest, we bend over backward for our sports teams in this town.

Remember the city's North Side parcel near the stadiums that was under agreement with the Steelers and Pirates, along with a Columbus developer, to buy the land for about $466,000 and come up with a plan for developing it? They didn't make the deadline. At the same time, the city had another offer from a certain parking lot magnate for $10 million for the same parcel. The city stuck with the sports teams (color me surprised) and extended their deadline for development, turning down the much higher offer, and losing millions.

It's also been reported that the Penguins/SEA make about $14,000 each day on parking fees for the hundreds of suburban cars that come into town each day. Where is the incentive for the Penguins/SEA to do anything beyond increasing their parking revenue?

Are the people of the Hill District the only ones who care about the future of this vital land -- seeing for its future, unfortunately -- a much larger parking lot for the next 10 years?

Is anybody paying attention?

GARY CRAVENER
Hill District

City Planning Commission moves to give more subsidy to Penguins Corporation

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 01:40:38 GMT

The City Planning Commission this afternoon unanimously designated the 28-acre Civic Arena property as blighted, paving the way for publicly funded roads, sewers and utilities on the Uptown site.

Representatives of Pittsburgh`s Urban Redevelopment Authority applied for the designation in order for the property to qualify as a Tax Increment Financing district, which would allow the city to use future tax revenue to pay for infrastructure. The Penguins own development rights to the property under a deal to keep the team in Pittsburgh. Team owners have said they want a mix of residential, commercial and retail development on the property.

Two members of the group Preservation Pittsburgh argued that any section of the city could be declared blighted under a broad definition in the state redevelopment law, and that the tax money would be better spent on improving the Hill District.

Planning Commissioner Page Thomas agreed that the definition in the 1945 law is archaic and causes confusion.

"It is not blight as we understand it from the Webster`s Dictionary," he said. "It is an enabling tool. It allows everyone -- city planners, financiers, economic development people – who`s involved in making cities the ability to do so."

Penguins Corporation lining up for public welfare

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 01:43:16 GMT

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) undefined While the Civic Arena is still not yet demolished, the city’s Planning Commission is considering a step in redeveloping the site.

Today, the Urban Redevelopment Authority asked the commission to declare the area blighted.

Once demolished, this 28-acre site will be a giant hole in the ground surrounded by parking lots.

The city’s URA has a better idea.

“Declaring it blighted is the first step, as the URA mentioned in the presentation, the first step to opening doors, financial doors, to a lot of different financial mechanisms that the city, the URA, the Sports & Exhibition Authority can use to redevelop the site,” says Trey Barbour, a consultant to the URA.

Hill District growth group poised to hire director

Thu, 03 Nov 2011 00:12:15 GMT

A Hill District group that state Rep. Jake Wheatley organized is poised to hire an executive director as it taps into a fund that will contain $3 million from Pittsburgh's casino.

But at least one critic, who struggled to give Hill District residents a voice in how money from the casino is spent, questions how the Greater Hill District Growth Development Fund Committee is spending $200,000 of the principal and whether it is open to public input when selecting members and granting funding requests.

Wheatley, D-Hill District, said members likely will vote in November to name attorney Carl Cooper, a former city Urban Redevelopment Authority executive, to oversee its efforts to spur development beyond Crawford Street. The area below Crawford includes the Civic Arena, Consol Energy Center and 28 acres for which the Penguins hold 10 years of development rights.

"For the first time in history, that I know of, there's a pool of money that's controlled by this community to do some of the things that we envision happening with our master plan," Wheatley said. "I want it to be as helpful to as many as we can, but it isn't a lot of money for development."

Wheatley, 39, hopes to obtain matching grants and encourage others to invest in residential and commercial projects in the neighborhood.

The committee gave $200,000 to its first recipient, the Hill District Community Development Corp., and the CDC could get more each year if it meets benchmarks based on the neighborhood's 144-page master plan. That plan envisions transforming Centre Avenue into a retail "main street," turning Bedford Avenue into a "residential corridor" that capitalizes on its views of Downtown and encouraging rapid transit along Centre to Oakland.

Not everyone is happy with Wheatley's development committee, a challenge he acknowledged.

Bonnie Young Laing, co-director of the Hill District Consensus Group, recently resigned from the committee. She deferred comment to Carl Redwood Jr., the Consensus Group's director and founder.

"Major fund decisions were made without community input," said Redwood, who fought to include Hill District residents in decision-making when public officials forged a deal for the Penguins' arena. "This can be easily resolved for the future by having an open process."

Redwood said he's not pleased that Wheatley chose the board's members and sought no input when awarding the $200,000 from Holdings Acquisition Co., which runs Rivers Casino.

Wheatley said Redwood is unhappy that board members hesitated to give him $50,000 to hire a development specialist at Hill District Consensus Group. Wheatley said board members want to avoid using the money to provide organizations with operational support.

He said the members are from many groups that protested in 2008 when public officials gave the Penguins development rights. Wheatley said he added a person from Hill District Federal Credit Union at Redwood's request.

"There has not been 1 cent spent outside the original intent," Wheatley said.

None of the committee's seven voting members returned calls or messages from the Tribune-Review seeking comment.

Cooper, 67, of Highland Park said he hasn't met with Wheatley's committee to discuss responsibilities. He declined to comment further.

Mulugetta Birru, former URA head, said he hired Cooper to work at the authority as director of real estate.

"He really did an outstanding job. He ran a strong department," Birru said. "He's a great choice. He's very well connected with the URA and he knows the process, and he's well connected with the county."

Wheatley said the fund's rules are laid out in a nine-page agreement between Holdings Acquisition and the Downtown-based POISE Foundation, which will administer the money from Rivers Casino. The money is coming in $1 million annual installments.

Founded in 1980 with a mission of assisting growth in black communities, POISE is charging $30,000 to administer the accounts, said Mark Lewis, its president and CEO. Lewis said the agreement permits spending the fund's principal.

"We're going to make sure that the money is used for the purpose that it was intended for," Lewis said.

Detroit businessman Don Barden promised $3 million each to the Hill and the North Side when he won the license to develop Pittsburgh's casino in 2006. Chicago billionaire Neil Bluhm led an investor group to take over the casino's construction in 2008 when Barden ran out of money. Barden died in May.

URA prepares for new Penguins Corporation subsidy

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 01:34:09 GMT

City may declare arena site blighted

That would allow city to raise money to develop there

Thursday, October 27, 2011

By Mark Belko, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The city may seek to have the land that houses the Civic Arena declared blighted as a means to generate funding for road, sewer and other improvements to help spur development.

Yarone Zober, chief of staff to Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, said Wednesday the blight designation is one tool the city is considering to help raise money for infrastructure improvements on the 28-acre site. Those improvements have been estimated at $40 million.

A declaration of blight would allow the city to use tax increment financing to help raise the money. Tax increment financing, or TIF, redirects a portion of the property tax revenue generated by development to fund improvements.

Mr. Zober said the blight designation and possible TIF district are but "one piece of a broader puzzle" in finding the money to help finance the work.

"The search for funding is on. We're rolling up our sleeves and looking for those funds," Mr. Zober said.

"The sooner we can determine how to get public infrastructure to the site, the sooner we can get new jobs and new residential opportunities on a key piece of land bridging Downtown, Uptown and the Hill District."

The city, the city-Allegheny County Sports & Exhibition Authority -- the arena's owner -- and the Penguins also are considering state and federal sources for funding.

Officials sought $28 million in funding from the federal government in 2009 and 2010 for infrastructure improvements, but that request so far has gone nowhere.

Mary Conturo, the SEA's executive director, said she believes local officials will continue to lobby for federal funding, even though such overtures may generate their own share of controversy.

Before the razing of the Civic Arena began earlier this month, Preservation Pittsburgh, a local historic preservation group, argued that the SEA was trying to circumvent federal preservation law and engaged in "anticipatory demolition" that could jeopardize federal funding for redevelopment.

"The Civic Arena is eligible to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places. If the SEA still intends to apply for federal funding, then the demolition of the arena now must only be to evade federal preservation law," Scott Leib, president of Preservation Pittsburgh, said Tuesday.

Despite such concerns, Ms. Conturo didn't see any problem with seeking and securing federal funding for infrastructure work.

"We're working closely with our legal counsel on that issue, and we don't think there's any jeopardy of us being able to receive federal funding if it becomes available," she said.

The arena is being demolished to clear the way for a residential, commercial and office development proposed by the Penguins. The team holds the development rights to the 28-acre arena site as part of the 2007 deal to build the Consol Energy Center and keep the franchise in Pittsburgh. Part of the team's plan is to rebuild a street grid similar to the one that connected the Hill District and Downtown before the arena opened in 1961.

City Urban Redevelopment Authority board members already have agreed to hire a consultant to develop a basic conditions report for the property, a first step toward a blight designation and creation of a TIF district. The exact amount of any TIF has not been decided.

Ms. Conturo said the SEA hopes to be ready to begin design for the road improvements by early 2012 and start construction a year later. She and Mr. Zober said not all of the estimated $40 million would be needed right away since the work will be done in phases.

Mark Belko: mbelko@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1262.

First published on October 27, 2011 at 12:00 am

Cooper heads $3M Hill fund

Justin — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 18:14:24 GMT

Former Urban Redevelopment Authority attorney Carl Cooper has been lured out of retirement and named chairman of the Greater Hill District Growth Development Fund Advisory Committee and will manage the distribution of $3 million earmarked to revitalize the Hill District.

The committee, which includes representatives from several community organizations including William Generett, Pittsburgh Central Keystone Innovation Zone; Bonnie Young Laing, Hill District Consensus Group; Richard Witherspoon, Hill District Federal Credit Union; Jules Matthews, Hill House Economic Development Corp.; Marimba Milliones, Hill Community Development Corp.; Kimberly Ellis, Historic Hill Institute; Rev. Johnny Monroe, Schenley Heights Development Program; and Rev. Glenn R. Grayson, Wesley Center AMEZ Church., named Cooper director Oct. 13.

Read the full article here: http://www.newpittsburghcourieronline.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5600:cooper-heads-3m-hill-fund&catid=38:metro&Itemid=27

PLEASE NOTE THAT THERE IS AN ERROR IN THE ARTICLE: BONNIE YOUNG LAING RESIGNED FROM THE COMMITTEE AS OF AUGUST 9TH.

New Pittsburgh Courier Article on the 20th Annual Celebration

Bonnie Young Laing — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 16:03:38 GMT

At a gala reception Sept. 22, the Hill District Consensus Group celebrated 20 years of advocating for the community in the Hill District. Beginning as a strategic planning group in 1991, four organizations and three community residents felt they needed to form a coalition in the Hill that would show a united force; one that would protect their community from those who would enter without regard to what the ‘community’ desired.

HONOREESundefinedDwayne Cooper Jr., Dame Mary L. Walker and Richard Adams Jr. with the awards. (Photo by J.L. Martello)

The Elsie Hillman Auditorium was the venue and County Councilman William Russell Robinson was the emcee for the evening. The auditorium was filled to capacity and floral decorations of lavender and white, shimmering in candle light, was the perfect backdrop for a nostalgic video montage honoring the three community resident founders.

They were 93-year-old Dame Mary A. Walker, who is currently living in Ebenezer Towers, along with the late, Richard Adams Sr., and Dwayne Cooper Sr. who received their awards posthumously. All the families of the awardees expressed that they were extremely moved by the video renditions of the story of their lives. Walker, who was brought to the stage to receive her award, was unable to contain her tears as she stated how honored she was and thankful for being here, and for the continued progress the HDCG has made over the years.

Co-Director featured in article on grassroots organzing

Bonnie Young Laing — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 16:32:50 GMT

Walkabout: Grass-roots efforts feel like uphill fight to preserve city

Tuesday, September 06, 2011

By Diana Nelson Jones, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Jim Cunningham (center), a life-long community organizer and teacher, flanked by Rick Swartz (left), executive director of the Bloomfield-Garfield Corp., and Carl Redwood, chair of the Hill Consensus Group.

Most people who lead neighborhood advocacy groups know that if you want to get anything done, you have to gather a knot of strong residents, devise a good plan, get professional advice and then grab the city "leaders" by their collars.