Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 4/17/2011.
Excerpt: In 1957, the year demolitions began to clear land for the Civic Arena, the Lower Hill had been designated a slum. But what the bulldozers destroyed was the last of the city's great immigrant melting pots.
Crowded, unsanitary, multilingual, multicultural, multiracial and unsavory here and there, its old architecture and vitality were the wrong kind. The Lower Hill had come up against a postwar society thinking about space.
The $21 million "Cinderella Project" proposed to revitalize 100 acres with what the newspaper called "a long-needed municipal auditorium."
No longer needed after 50 years, the since-renamed Mellon Arena itself is a step from the wrecking ball. The Historic Review and Planning Commissions have voted not to recommend historic status to preserve it. City council, which has yet to vote, is the last hope of preservationists.
Preservation was not an issue in the 1950s, nor were the sacrifices people were anticipating within the arrowhead-shaped land bounded by Bedford Avenue, Crawford Street, Centre Avenue and Washington Place.
Excerpt: David Wordelmann, Lakewood mayor, said TJ Maxx, Pet Smart and Michaels could be moving into the plaza. He said the owner of the plaza, Widewaters Construction, will be investing $3.5 million into renovating and improving the plaza for the arrival of the new businesses. He said Widewaters officials are hoping to complete a payment in lieu of taxes agreement with the county, school district, town and village to offset the cost of renovating the building for the new stores. Wordelmann said the county's Industrial Development Agency is also working on the proposal. The mayor said, hopefully, if the deal goes through the businesses will be open by October. (
4/6/2011)
Excerpt: There will be new basketball hoops and backboards, new top coat and blacktop on the basketball court and three tennis courts, a concrete pad for bleachers, 130 linear feet of limestone pathway connecting the existing handicapped accessible path to the basketball and tennis facilities, as well as upgrades to fencing and lighting.
Workers on the project will also raise the elevation of the basketball courts to the level of the tennis courts and skate park.
"In this manner, we are anticipating that the flooding will not impact this area any longer," Nau said. "This year's flooding, due in part to the exceptionally high conditions of the Allegheny River, has never impacted the tennis courts over the 20 years of their existence."
Rehabilitation of the Beaty Park area began in 2008 with new restrooms and storage facility, handicapped parking, Americans with Disabilities Act-approved playground equipment, and the development of accessible pathways connecting the various park features. The second phase of the Beaty Improvement Project included the addition of the skate park last year.
Excerpt: Between the Warren County Commissioners weighing a rezoning issue that was the first step in construction of the mall and the ribbon-cutting in 1979, seven years lapsed.
When John and Esther Berkebile first requested to have their 21-acre agriculturally zoned property along the Conewango Creek rezoned to business transitional in February 1972, many local retailers viewed the request as a possible threat to local business.
Attorney William M. Hill Jr., represented 50 retailers in downtown Warren and voiced several concerns they shared before the property had been sold to George Zamias of Johnstown.
During a county commissioners meeting Hill said rezoning the property would encourage "fragmentation of retailing," and did not see new job growth, "rather a reapportionment of retail jobs will take place."
"Nor is a healthy economic outlook seen for the retail stores of the area who are, and have been, taxpayers to the county. The downtown will still be the major source of retail sales and services, even though left in a weakened condition. It would only weaken the strength, so to speak, just as it has in almost every area where malls have been created."
The request to rezone the Berkebile property was granted by the commissioners in March of that year.
Ground was officially broken on November 16, 1977,. "Warren County has finally come of age," said Zamias. A completion date of late 1978 or early 1979 was anticipated.
Montgomery Ward was the first store to open at the mall on Sept. 13, 1979, and the Warren Mall officially opened for business when the opening ribbon was cut on Oct. 5, 1979. (
4/2/2011)
Workers sealed up the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue East in Warren last Thursday. "The franchisee made the decision to close this restaurant," KFC Spokesman Rick Maynard said this week. "We hope our loyal customers will continue to visit our other nearby locations." (4/6/2011)
