MAYOR ANNOUNCES SECOND ROUND OF PUBLIC MEETINGS FOR CITY’S CULTURAL HERITAGE PLANNING EFFORT

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl announced today that the second set of public meetings on the development of the City’s cultural heritage plan, called PreservePGH, will be taking place as advertised beginning tonight at 6:30 p.m., at the Southside Markethouse.  PreservePGH is one of 12 phases of the City’s first comprehensive plan, known as PlanPGH.

 “Community involvement is key to the planning process and will help the City make decisions about future historic preservation efforts,” said Ravenstahl. “We ask that interested residents provide feedback and insight on the historic resources they cherish, and how they are cared for and protected.”

The public meetings will be taking place over the next two weeks in three locations across the City. Locations are below.

At the public meetings, residents are encouraged to review and comment on PreservePGH recommendations regarding the City’s historical and cultural assets, and the goals, policies, and strategies for their appropriate use, conservation, preservation and protection.

Recommendations have been developed from: public input from the first round of meetings; interviews with experts in the field of historic preservation and cultural heritage conservation; background research on how other cities approach heritage conservation; the analysis of existing lists of historic properties; and the processes that the City uses to nominate, preserve, re-use and market historic buildings and properties.
A third and final round of public meetings will be held in the spring of 2011, at which time residents will be given the opportunity to review final recommendations of the plan and future implementation activities.
One of the opening chapters to the City’s developing Comprehensive Plan, PreservePGH is expected to take one year to complete.  The budget for the plan is $145,000 with funding provided by the City of Pittsburgh, the PA Department of Community and Economic Development, and the PA Historical and Museum Commission.

South:
6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Mon., Dec.6
Southside Markethouse (Senior Center)
1 Bedford Square (S. 12th Street @ Bingham Street)
Pittsburgh, PA 15203

North:
6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Tues., Dec. 7
New Hazlett Theater
6 Allegheny Square E
Pittsburgh, PA 15212

North:
6:30 to 8:30 p.m., Mon., Dec. 13
Bakery Square
6425 Penn Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 1520

About PlanPGH

PlanPGH is City’s first ever Comprehensive Plan, and will serve as the City’s blueprint for economic growth over the next 25 years.  PlanPGH seeks to enhance Pittsburgh’s quality of life by determining the most effective and efficient uses of its natural systems, infrastructure, cultural assets, recreational amenities and economic resources.  Public participation and expert input is at the core of developing PlanPGH.

The plan will be completed in 12 phases, with three of those phases currently underway, including: OpenspacePGH; PreservePGH, which focuses on matters of historical preservation; and, MovePGH, a large undertaking to develop a transportation plan for the City and all related transportation agencies. The entire plan is scheduled to be complete in five years.

For more information about PlanPGH, or to see how you can give input to make Pittsburgh an even better place to live, work, and play, visit the PlanPGH website and Facebook page and “Be a Fan of the Plan.”