Volume 29 No. 9
September 2013
Northview Family Center renovations By Kelsey Shea
history, and we strongly believe it would be a positive thing to have it put back to community use.” Berger also explained that SLB has grown so much that the extra space would be ideal for its teen programs and additional quiet space for recording, though its primary studio would remain in the museum. The library has been closed since 2006 when lightning struck and caused $2 million in damage, which has since been repaired by the city. Those in attendance last night filled out index cards expressing their memories of the library building and their hopes for its future. Many wanted the library to be a public space and for developers to preserve its historic value. Some suggested a theater or community
For years, The Northview Family Center looked closed. It was tucked away in the woods on Hazlett Street on an overgrown lot, and the building’s entrance shrouded by a rusty awning. But despite its dilapidated appearance, the Center has been active for several decades. It provides critical services to 50 families in the Northview Heights neighborhood, runs an emergency food bank, connects people to social services and holds community events in an area of great need. “One thing that’s said about the Center a lot is that from the outside it isn’t that attractive,” said Renita Freeman, project director at the family center. Together with a group of leaders from across the Northside, the family center plans to improve the exterior of the building in hopes that it will draw more people to the programs housed there. In late August, members of Northside Next Leaders and 10-20 volunteers from Sam’s Club spent four days removing the old awning, cleaning the building’s interior, weeding the lot and prepping the outside of the building for an artist, who will paint a mural depicting the history of the Northview Heights neighborhood on the edifice of the family center. “The idea is that we do all that we can to clean up and work to make this place approachable,” said
See Library, page 10
See Family Center, page 9
Photo by Kelsey Shea
Community members explored the library building in an open house hosted by The Children’s Museum.
Children’s Museum explores possibility of expanding into old Allegheny Library By Kelsey Shea Last month, Children’s Museum administrators and partners met with the Northside community to discuss the future of the old Allegheny Library building. The museum is looking for space to grow into and is considering leasing the adjacent library building, which is owned by the city of Pittsburgh. Roughly 100 people attended an open house on August 14 that included tours of the building and the opportunity to hear the Children’s Museum’s plans and submit their opinions. “We’re really looking to engage the community on this and ask for their input,” said Chris Siefert, Children’s Museum deputy director. The museum has seen a large
influx of visitors in the past several years, averaging more than 250,000 per year, and organizations within the museum, such as The Saturday Light Brigade and Reading is FUNdamental have seen similar growth and have outgrown their space. Other partnerships with the University of Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon University Food City Fellows, Volunteens and Youth Alive have brought space constraints at the museum to a “tipping point.” The library building offers 45,000 square feet of additional space that can fill that need and also offer auxiliary performance space for the New Hazlett Theater, which is connected to the library. “We’re thrilled for a couple of reasons,” said Saturday Light Brigade founder, Larry Berger. “It’s a wonderful building with great