Volume 27 No. 12 December 2011
School realignment plan approved for next year By Kelsey Shea
Photo by Kelsey Shea Against the city skyline, developers broke ground at a lot on the corner of Madison and Tripoli last month where a dialysis clinic will soon be built. Check the news briefs on page 4 for the full story.
Garden Theater Block reels in three restaurants By Kelsey Shea This month, Garden Theater developers announced that three well-known Pittsburgh restaurants may be on their way to the Northside next year. The three restaurants, Nakama Japanese Steak House, Round Corner Cantina and the Firehouse Lounge, have shown interest in the Garden Theater Block on W. North Avenue and sent developers at Zukin Inc. letters of intent to lease spaces in the historic block. The next step for Zukin Inc. and the Urban Redevelopment Authority is to get leases for the spaces signed, as the letters are not legally binding. “We’re excited about the level of interest in the neighborhood. The real challenge will be to convert
INSIDE
these letters of intent into leases,” said Robert Rubinstein, director of economic development at the URA. The East End Food Co-op was originally named as a possible tenant, but developer Wayne Zukin said that an arrangement did not work out. “We were always focused on food services,” said Zukin. “People travel for food.” Zukin also mentioned that an advantage of all three restaurants is that they have renovated and moved into historic spaces before. Nakama, located on East Carson Street in the Southside, is currently housed in an 1893 historical landmark that was renovated and turned into a restaurant. Owners
See Garden Theater, page 11
-Ridge Ave. school sold 3 STORIES, COLUMNS, -Mattress Factory expands 5 FEATURES & MORE -Brightwood cameras 10
Nov. 22, in a near-unanimous vote, Pittsburgh Public School board approved the district realignment plan that will close seven Pittsburgh schools, including the Northside’s Oliver High School and Northview PreK-8. The plan was proposed this summer to decrease a projected $21.7 operating deficit for the 2012 school year and a projected $100 million deficit by 2015. “We’re trying to make the best decisions we can under the circumstances,” said District 2 representative Dr. Dara Ware Allen. Oliver and Northview will officially close June 30, 2012. In the 2012-2014 school year, Oliver students will be reassigned to Perry, which will become a partial rather than full magnet. Northview students will be assigned to King PreK-8 and Morrow, which will be expanded from a PreK-5 to a PreK-8. No plans have been announced for the Northview building. Special education offices and Pittsburgh McNaugher, a school for troubled students, will move into Oliver’s building. The current JTROC program at Oliver will remain on site. At the board meeting, one of the few dissenting voices regarding the realignment plan came from District 8 representative Mark Brentley, who opposed the closing of Northview because of the good condition of the building. “Somewhere, we have to find a way to remind poor, primarily African American schools that they matter,” said Brentley, who told the board closing Northview did not make sense, but supported the reassignment of Oliver students to
ONLINE
Perry. When the original realignment plan and later the reconsiderations that would instead close the Perry building were announced in through the fall, they were met with opposition from the Northside as a whole. Over 50 Northside speakers that included students, teachers, community members and parents addressed the school board at three public hearings to defend each school. Oliver supporters made the argument that Oliver had the larger building as well as a JTROC program, culinary program and free child care available, while Perry supporters maintained that Perry had a better building and met AYP standards. However, several teachers and community members saw the merging of the two schools as an opportunity to make a comprehensive Northside high school even before the vote. “We have an opportunity to be innovative,” said Derek Long, a teacher at Oliver who came to speak at one of the public hearings as a member of the community, asked the board to focus on the task of merging the two schools. “This is an opportunity to draw students back.” “The [Northside Leadership] Conference is pleased to see so much community input on this,” said Mark Fatla, executive director of the NLC, who noted that Northsiders made up the majority of each public hearing. “This is a good sign for the Northside regardless of what happens.” At the most recent public hearing, Diamond Kyte, a junior at Perry, supported the plan. “Perry High welcomes Oliver students with welcome arms,” she said.
-The Chronicle’s Daily Blog -Weekly real estate transfers WWW.THENORTHSIDE CHRONICLE.COM -Event flyers and photos