Hill District volunteers envision return to neighborhood's heyday
When Clyde Hefflin arrived in the Hill District nearly a half century ago, grocery stores, jazz clubs and thriving families in well-kept homes were at his fingertips.
Hefflin said Wednesday he and 320 other volunteers of the One Hill Coalition are working to recapture those hallmarks of the Hill's heyday through an agreement with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Allegheny County and the city that will create jobs for residents, attract new stores and preserve the neighborhood's history during redevelopment around the planned hockey arena.
"There's just too much decay and no accessibility to anything without leaving this section of town," said Hefflin, 65, a retired electrician who has lived in the Hill 48 years. "I don't believe that the (Penguins) want to continue to see the type of blight that exists here. I believe the Hill is going to become an extension of Downtown as it used to be."
Carl Redwood, One Hill's director, said negotiations with Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and county Chief Executive Dan Onorato began this week and will continue Sept. 6 in a meeting with Mary Conturo, director of the city-county Sports & Exhibition Authority, which will own the new arena.
Like Hefflin, Redwood would like a new grocery store but also wants job training, youth activity programming and jobs at the arena for Hill District residents.
Funding for direct mailers, surveys and phone calls to raise support for One Hill's cause is coming from the community group Pittsburgh UNITED, which relies on foundation support, Redwood said.
One Hill's nine-member negotiating committee wants to establish a "community benefits agreement" with the Penguins before the city Planning Commission approves a master plan for the new $290 million arena, Redwood said. He dismissed smaller factions from the Hill that have tried to assert control.
"There's only one voice for the community benefits agreement, and that's the One Hill Coalition," Redwood said.
Kansas City-based HOK Sport presented initial designs for the new area to 260 people, including One Hill members, Tuesday night. Redwood said much of the development discussions with Penguins officials have focused on parking and traffic concerns.
He wants the spotlight to be on how to help people living near the new arena.
"Mainly the planning process that they went through dealt with bricks and mortar, not people," Redwood said. "Our kind of slogan is we need to put people above parking. Not parking lots over people."
Hefflin said Wednesday he and 320 other volunteers of the One Hill Coalition are working to recapture those hallmarks of the Hill's heyday through an agreement with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Allegheny County and the city that will create jobs for residents, attract new stores and preserve the neighborhood's history during redevelopment around the planned hockey arena.
"There's just too much decay and no accessibility to anything without leaving this section of town," said Hefflin, 65, a retired electrician who has lived in the Hill 48 years. "I don't believe that the (Penguins) want to continue to see the type of blight that exists here. I believe the Hill is going to become an extension of Downtown as it used to be."
Carl Redwood, One Hill's director, said negotiations with Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and county Chief Executive Dan Onorato began this week and will continue Sept. 6 in a meeting with Mary Conturo, director of the city-county Sports & Exhibition Authority, which will own the new arena.
Like Hefflin, Redwood would like a new grocery store but also wants job training, youth activity programming and jobs at the arena for Hill District residents.
Funding for direct mailers, surveys and phone calls to raise support for One Hill's cause is coming from the community group Pittsburgh UNITED, which relies on foundation support, Redwood said.
One Hill's nine-member negotiating committee wants to establish a "community benefits agreement" with the Penguins before the city Planning Commission approves a master plan for the new $290 million arena, Redwood said. He dismissed smaller factions from the Hill that have tried to assert control.
"There's only one voice for the community benefits agreement, and that's the One Hill Coalition," Redwood said.
Kansas City-based HOK Sport presented initial designs for the new area to 260 people, including One Hill members, Tuesday night. Redwood said much of the development discussions with Penguins officials have focused on parking and traffic concerns.
He wants the spotlight to be on how to help people living near the new arena.
"Mainly the planning process that they went through dealt with bricks and mortar, not people," Redwood said. "Our kind of slogan is we need to put people above parking. Not parking lots over people."