BLOGSKI

A cute little red house at 332 Hancock — one that unfortunately turned out to have irreparable structural issues — is the latest Polish Hill demolition.  Safety is important, but it’s sad to see another bit of the fabric of the old neighborhood lost.

Current building codes make putting new buildings in narrow spaces like these problematic, and sometimes impossible.  The commonly used term is “missing teeth”, and Polish Hill has a lot of them.  In many places, they’ve become green spaces, either wild or cultivated, and provide relief from tightly packed buildings.

UPDATE:  We just got some more information about what’s going to happen on this site.  The owners of 332 Hancock have been working with Forecast D/B to design (and subsequently build) a new house on this property,  one with a high level of LEED certification.  When the new house is done, the owners will become Polish Hill residents.  As mentioned, infill projects such as this one can be difficult under current codes.  This will be an ambitious project that will add something special to Hancock Street.

The Polish Hill Voice is the PHCA’s quarterly newsletter, sent to all addresses in Polish Hill.  The Voice is where the PHCA reports on neighborhood projects, upcoming events, volunteer opportunities, and more.  It’s also a place to show the community as it was, and what it’s becoming.  To that end, we are always looking for more people to write for the newsletter.   The Spring – Summer issue is being compiled now, and the call for submissions goes out again.  Articles, short pieces, news items, photos — as long as they are about Polish Hill people and happenings.  If you have an idea, get in touch!

Here is the archive of back issues of the newsletter.

The monument committee cleared and redecorated the little parklet at the monument at Brereton and Dobson for spring.  They adorned the small trees with the birdhouses from last year’s contest.  A welcome sign of spring, just in time for the Easter weekend.  Many thanks to the monument committee for all their hard work!

(Photos by Leslie Clague for the PHCA)

If you ordered pączki, this weekend is the time to pick them up.  Orders will be available for pickup on Saturday February 9 from 10-6, or on Sunday from 11-2.

If you forgot to order — we did order a few extra — but only a few.  Those will sold on a first-come, first-served basis.

It’s still snowing at the moment, and it’s very pretty, but we’re already thinking about what comes next:  clearing the snow and preventing ice from forming.  Our stair stewards have already begun their work.  For other neglected stretches of sidewalk or steps, we’re calling on any other residents who feel like helping out.  If you have a shovel, some energy, and maybe an extra bag of salt, your help is needed.  First, look around your street.  Are there sidewalks in front of empty buildings, or a bus stop?  Are there elderly or disabled residents who might not be able to clear their sidewalks?

If your street looks well-cleared, put that shovel over your shoulder and take a walk around the neighborhood.  It’s not just shoveling that’s needed.  The temperatures have been below freezing for so many days that already icy conditions become more dangerous for being hidden underneath a new layer of snow.

We’ve already heard from one resident on Phelan who reports a massive ice slick (water from underground streams flow over the street year-round) that is endangering pedestrians and cars alike.  There’s a salt box near the top of Phelan, left by the City to help residents battle the icing problems that have bedeviled this byway for decades.  As the icy patches are on a road, we’ve 311′d it, and the City salt trucks should show up.  But Phelan is a less-used side street, so help might not be for a little while.  If you live near Phelan, or just feel like helping out, let’s get some salt or other traction on the icy patches.

(A group of volunteers head out to shovel after the big snowstorm of February 2010.  PHCA photo)

The neighborhood newsletter, the Polish Hill Voice, is mailed to PHCA members and is also available at some local businesses and at the church.  But many residents still don’t see the newsletter, and many who aren’t online don’t see Blogski or receive the e-blast — other places where we provide updates on neighborhood happenings and PHCA projects.   We would like to help keep more residents informed about neighborhood news and developments.  To that end, the PHCA is now working to get funding to print and mail copies of the Voice to every household in Polish Hill.

Until that funding is in place, we’re calling for volunteers to help us distribute the November issue of the newsletter.  This is something that volunteers can do at their own, and a number of people have stepped forward to help out.  But there are still a number of streets left for distribution.  If you have an hour or two to spare sometime in the next several days, and would be willing to help out, please contact us.  Call 412.681.1950 or email phca@phcapgh.org.

Here is the current (November) issue of the Polish Hill Voice, and here is the page with more back issues.

A “One of Its Kind” celebration will be held on October 21 to commemorate the 30th anniversary of John Paul Plaza, the senior 70-unit high rise at 1005 Herron Avenue in Polish Hill.  John Paul Plaza, named after Pope John Paul ll, was built in 1982 under the direction of Rev. John M. Jendzura, C.S.Sp, former Pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, and Sister M. Coleman Conroy, OSF, and Sister Veronica, OSF.

Presently, the Plaza is under Housing Management Services, and Sister Eileen Magill is the Executive Director.  The property manager at John Paul Plaza is Sister Lorita Kristufek, a member of the School Sisters of St. Francis from Mt. Assisi Convent in Bellevue (North Hills) PA.

To mark the 30th anniversary of John Paul Plaza, a special Mass of Thanksgiving will be celebrated on October 21 by Rev. Joseph Swierczynski at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church.  The festivities will continue at the Plaza; to highlight the occasion, Johnny Angel and the Halos will perform a concert at 3:00 p.m..  Tickets for the general public are $10 per person at the door.  There will be no pre-sale tickets.   For more information, call John Paul Plaza at 412.683.5850.

An unusual number of Polish Hill buildings seem to be sporting scaffolding or ladders lately.  This is a good time to work on building exteriors; the hottest days are past and there is still a month or more before the weather starts to get chilly.  The church is getting some attention — although we don’t envy that guy dangling off the side.

This building at 3117 Dobson is getting some touch-up on the third floor windows.  Long ago, the first floor was a butcher, but it’s all residential now.

This building, at 3206 Dobson Street certainly needed some work, but that scaffolding looks a bit precarious.  Unsecured scaffolding placed on top of stacked cinder blocks on an uneven sidewalk?  Somehow, we don’t think that’s up to OSHA standards.  A number of residents have commented on this situation, and it has been turned in to 311.

The PHCA office is open after a two-week vacation, and we are busy getting ready for the community meeting this evening.  We hope you will join us for refreshments, socializing, and community updates.  All are welcome — you don’t have to be member, or even a resident, to attend.

The meeting is held on the lower level of the West Penn Recreation Center, 450 30th Street, at 6:15 p.m.

Our office got a flier about a multi-family “flea market” on Bethoven Street tomorrow, Saturday, from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.  We don’t know much more about it, but “flea market” always sounds pretty good to us.  They promise “lots of great stuff”.

Readers who don’t live in the neighborhood might not know where Bethoven Street is:  it’s parallel to Melwood Avenue, but uphill — two blocks up closer to Bigelow.

(lacking a really good photo of Bethoven, we present instead a painting of the street, by Ron Donoughe.)