Volume 29 No. 8
August 2013
Deutschtown installs first part of historic walking tour By Kelsey Shea
Photo by Kelsey Shea
A parrot hangs out on a bike outside of Ride Aid on East Ohio Street. Some city neighborhoods have pigeons; the Northside has parrots.
Fineview plans new housing development for Lanark Street By Kelsey Shea The Fineview Citizens Council is continuing its efforts to build new homes in the hilltop neighborhood, which they hope will attract young families. The FCC is in the preliminary phase for a development plan that will build eight to nine single family homes on upper Lanark Street. “We feel that Lanark is part of the core of Fineview,” said Mike Flaherty, housing committee chair for the FCC. The homes will be on a lot that was given to the FCC by the television station WPXI when it moved its offices to Summer Hill. The land is near the television tower that gives the Fineview the name Television Hill and was previously a parking lot for employees.
INSIDE
The FCC is currently reviewing design and project proposals from several firms. The Lanark Street homes are not the first housing project of the FCC, but rather part of an ongoing neighborhood initiative to bring young families into the neighborhoods by building new, energy efficient homes. “We’re hoping to attract more young people to Fineview, like the Federal Hill project did for the Central Northside,” explained Flaherty. The FCC currently owns about 75 percent of the property on Lanark Street. The neighborhood organization hopes to build more homes on lower Lanark Street in the future, but for now is focusing on the former WPXI lot. Completed Fineview housing projects include homes on Nunnery
See Fineview, page 21
East Ohio Street packs a lot of history in a few blocks that even long-time Northsiders may not know. The first Clark Bar was made on East Ohio street. It borders the oldest park west of the Allegheny River, and Avery College founder Charles Avery grew up a block off the street. Together, the Deutschtown Merchants Association and the Northside Leadership Conference are working to celebrate that history with the Deutschtown Heritage Project, which will install signs, maps and plaques that will create a casual walking history tour in the business district. “You don’t have to go far to find some fantastic history here,” said Barbara Burns of the DMA. Local artist Anders Anderson of Red Clay Tile Works in East Liberty installed the first major part of the Deutschtown Heritage Project in late July.
An 8-by-7-foot tile map that features 24 landmarks throughout Historic Deutschtown was installed on the side of the Rita’s Italian Ice building at the corner of East Ohio Street and Cedar Avenue. “The past surrounds us here in Historic Deutschtown and throughout the Northside,” said Ed Graf, the building owner and a member of the DMA. “We have numerous iconic buildings that hold historical significance and although this map is in no way inclusive of them all, it is a tribute to beautiful architecture and the rich cultural past of our neighborhood.” The DMA and the NSLC hope that the heritage project will help instill a sense of pride in Deutschtown neighbors, even if they aren’t of German heritage. “We have lost some of the pride that we should have in this neighborhood,” said Burns. “A community that has a sense of its history is empowered to do things
See Map, page 14
Northside news available online weekly and daily Do you pick up The Northside Chronicle at your local bank or coffee shop? The same stories you read in our paper are also available online at ww.thenorthsidechronicle.com, where they’re posted weekly. To stay up-to-date with the
ONLINE
latest news, you can sign up for our online edition, sent straight to your e-mail inbox every Thursday, like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Find out how by scanning the QR code below or going to www. thenorthsidechronicle.com.
-The Chronicle’s Daily Blog -Public Safety 4 -Weekly real estate transfers WWW.THENORTHSIDE STORIES, COLUMNS, Garden Theater Update 5 CHRONICLE.COM -Event flyers and photos FEATURES & MORE -Manchester house tour 8