The Voice – May 2012
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Polish Hill Voice We are the community … we are one voice! 3060 Brereton Street ☼ Pittsburgh, PA 15219 ☼ (412) 681-1950 ☼ [email protected] ☼ www.phcapgh.org May 2012 Contents From Our Readers 2 President’s Message News and 3 Above: Construction of the Melwood Avenue Announcements Solid Bones retaining wall, November 1907. The photogra- By Connor Sites-Bowen pher was standing on Melwood, facing north. Community Calendar The sidewalk along here is sinking now, but it’s I am in no way a native of the region, but I am reassuring to know what a massive structure is More News and 4 starting to call myself a yinzer. I’ve lived in the underneath. Announcements (Photo collage by Leslie Clague, using images from the 'burgh for almost a decade now, and I think Historic Pittsburgh Archive.) 5 what makes me comfortable claiming heritage Planning or kinship with the city is my ability to give Left: The 28th Street Bridge under construction, directions. September 1931. Below: The Herron Avenue Solid Bones, continued Bridge, 1924. I obsess over maps of the city, looking for (Photos from the Historic Pittsburgh Archive) The First Holy 6 strange streets and roads, new ways of traveling Communion and the from A to B, new understandings of not just the city by any and all available means. And what Ugly Green Coat “how” of the city street grid, but the “why.” do I take away from all of this wandering and analysis? First Communion, 7 continued Polish Hill was built right. The physical struc- ture of the neighborhood has carried it through rough times in the past, and will carry The Polish Hill Dog 8 it through rough times in the future. By physi- cal structure, I mean both the street and infra- Renovation Report structure layout and the buildings themselves. The retaining wall along Melwood is many feet thick, overdesigned and overbuilt to last hun- Green Team’s new tools 9 dreds of years. It’s already lasted for 105 years, and shows few signs of deterioration. Ethnic Charm 'n' Rock-and-Roll Continued on page 5 Why does it feel like Polish Hill is only con- Where Are They Now? 10 nected to other places by bridges? Because Bigelow was built as a throughway early on, Little House, Big Art dividing Polish Hill from Ridgeway and the rest of the slope. Because the railways cut along the Membership 11 base of the hill since the time that the hillside Application and was a farm, not a community. Because the rails PHCA items for sale and the busway are not just in a flat space, they are in a big darn valley, and bridges are the only The Voice is a quarterly real way to cross such land. published in February, May, August and November. It is these kinds of questions and answers that keep me up at night, and urge me to explore the Page 2 Polish Hill Voice From Our Readers President’s Message work. It's also wise to remember ... that while the projects lists are long and much Just thought I'd bring your attention Hello everyone! needs done, take the time to enjoy the to the "Falcon" buttons and t-shirts that community we have all worked so hard to you sell. They are really Polish Eagles We had a quick taste of summer be- build. (with the crowns) not Falcons as adver- fore Mother Nature decided to bring tised. You may want to research that. winter back for a visit. Many an out- There are a few items on our project lists door project was started or dreamed that should be priorities -- long (You do a great job with the newsletter) about on those warm days. As a test, Polish Hill walks, a cook-out in our we now need to be patient before mov- yards, meeting new friends and Thank you, ing forward with some of our projects. neighbors, and making the time to slow Merle Addams No matter what the temperature, we down a bit. You will be surprised, when (uncle of Judy Adamiec Cain) still have bright and sunny days with you are recharged and having some good more daylight hours. times, you will be more productive and the project list will not seem so daunting. I think the cold temperatures were actually a gift from the seasons. We Looking forward to hard work followed all got motivated then to plan and prep up with some simply stunning Polish Hill for the outdoor projects. Many of us sunsets. See you around the village! have plants growing in our basements, seed catalog orders already placed, Terry and maps made for how our gardens will change this year. Most of these were crafted over a hot cup of tea on a A big thank-you cold night, or perhaps even better, to Julia Sinicki Editor's note: over coffee with a neighbor at Lili Coffee*Shop. Redstone Candies is a family-owned The Polish falcon is a symbol of Polish company which has been based in When I saw neighbors collaborating, I heritage in this country, relating to the Republic PA since 1947. Resident Julia fraternal organization the Polish Fal- wanted to put forward that concept for everyone to consider. After taking a Sinicki has organized Redstone candy cons of America, which was founded in fundraising drives for the PHCA at 1887. The image on our t-shirts and moment to just soak in the energy of it Christmas and Easter for many years. buttons, which came from a Polish happening and having a smile cross source, is actually the white crowned my face, I wanted to share it along. Julia does all coordinating, handles the eagle, which is on the national coat of Plan with your friends and neighbors orders, and gives the proceeds to the arms of the Republic of Poland. It was to make your garden the best it has PHCA for neighborhood projects. ever been. Share some work days, adopted in 1295, and last modified in We'd like to take this opportunity to 1990. combine trips to the garden center, and perhaps co-fund bulk purchases of thank Julia and express our apprecia- tion for all the work she's done over the Merle Addams is a long-time, promi- topsoil and compost. Maybe you have nent member of the local Polish com- similar garden tastes -- can your two years on behalf of the PHCA. munity, and we thank him for remind- yards complement each other? As ing us that the description on our order neighbors, you have the chance to par- ticipate in changing the views you en- Unprecedented demand for form was not strictly accurate. That community garden plots description has been updated. joy from your windows. One never knows where classic heirloom perenni- als may just be waiting to be shared in The application period for the com- munity gardens opened up March 15, a new garden space. And, if you have a physically challenged neighbor on and by March 30, all the available plots BLOGSKI your street, consider spending a day had been spoken for. Polish Hill cur- is the PHCA’s blog helping them. rently has just two small gardens, one on Wiggins and one on Harmar Street. With new postings and pictures each week, As you can tell, the green places of The interest in the community gardens Blogski is the most up-to-date source of Polish Hill hold a special place in my news and information for heart. Admittedly the season has me is great, but there simply isn’t much residents and friends of Polish Hill. concentrating on those green parts of space to accommodate everyone. We the community for the moment; how- thank everyone who applied, and to Just type in this address: ever there is much to do and appreci- those who didn’t get a plot this year — http://blogski.phcapgh.org/ ate throughout our neighborhood. try next year. Who knows; by then, Everyone works really hard to improve maybe we’ll have found space for a the quality of life for our residents, third community garden! which is the core value behind our Polish Hill Voice Page 3 News and Announcements Iron City Brewery Collier Development has agreed to Photos left and far left, by Mark Knobil. re-start the master planning process Below, Iron City Brewery in 1919. Site Sold for the site. At the meeting Collier (Image borrowed from Wikipedia.) discussed a wide variety of options for developing the site, but nothing specific. At the time of the meeting they already had two tenants: Pitts- burgh Brewing Company and Trans- portU. TransportU is a company owned by Cargnoni that operates vans to transport elderly and handicapped individuals. They are using the site to park about 60 TransportU vans. Community & Event by Leslie Clague and Alexis Miller Calendar The Iron City Brewery site, just next to May/June/July the Herron Bridge on the northern border of Polish Hill, was sold in February to May 1 | Monthly Community James Cargnoni of Collier Development. Meeting 6:30 p.m. | West Penn Recreation The sale includes 20 buildings on 8.25 Center (Senior Center, lower level) acres. According to a deed recorded in Allegheny County, the price was $1.725 May 5 | Fundraising Yard Sale According to District 7 staff, Collier has million, but other sales documents indi- 11:00 a.m.— 5:00 p.m. | PHCA office, agreed to not seek any demolition per- cate the complex sold for $2.375 million.