Hill group to join talks on arena benefits

The Penguins and Hill District representatives are ready to begin talks to ensure the neighborhood will reap fruit from the construction of a $290 million arena, and not the destruction that accompanied a similar project nearly five decades ago.

The Penguins, along with Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato, are expected to sit down with Hill leaders before the end of the month to start negotiations toward a community benefits agreement.

In anticipation of the talks, the One Hill Community Benefits Agreement Coalition yesterday said a nine-member negotiating team will represent the neighborhood in discussions with the hockey team and local leaders.

About 100 Hill District groups are represented through the coalition, said Carl Redwood, its chairman. He said the coalition and its negotiating team, selected by the membership, will be the "community voice" in the negotiations.

Hill leaders and residents are seeking to capitalize on the new arena construction, which is expected to start next spring, and avoid the devastation that occurred almost 50 years ago when the Civic Arena (now Mellon Arena) was built. About 8,000 people and 400 businesses were displaced in that project.

In community meetings over the last few months, the coalition has developed a list of benefits it will seek in negotiations with the Penguins and elected officials. Mr. Redwood said they include the first shot at jobs created by the arena and support for community programming.

Toward the latter end, the coalition would like help in landing a neighborhood grocery, an amenity residents have desired for years.

"We do anticipate there will be benefits for the community because there is such a large subsidy going to the Penguins," Mr. Redwood said. "We have to make sure there are substantial benefits that come back."

However, Mr. Redwood said the negotiating team won't push for the $10 million in development funding demanded by one group of Hill residents last spring. He said that was not "one of the planks or benefits the community came up with" during meetings.

The Penguins said they are ready to talk.

"There's a great opportunity here for the city and the region. The arena can be an economic generator, more than just a hockey arena. We acknowledged that what happened here 50 years ago was a travesty," spokesman Tom McMillan said.

The Penguins, he added, already have been working behind the scenes "to try to get something going" regarding a grocery. The team also is looking to add more off-duty police officers to the Crawford Square area during games to prevent illegal parking, which people complained about during recent focus group meetings.

Kevin Evanto, Mr. Onorato's spokesman, said the chief executive "is looking forward to building a consensus and moving forward with the construction of the arena."