The 2009 Greenprint referenced here is a plan for Hill District development that is smart and sensitive to both the environment and to the Hill's history and culture. It was created in a deeply collaborative process with Hill residents, a process facilitated by the Hill House. The author, architect Walter Hood, has every bit of the credentials of LaQuatra Bonci Landscape Architects, leading us to ask, Why is the community's own plan being ignored by the City? This is our chance to correct historic wrong-doing to an entire community- and it's a golden opportunity that won't come around again anytime soon.
We have recently discovered that the new legislation introduced after the vote is significantly different than the original 2005 law. This newly proposed legislation is narrow in scope, only applying to construction with a budget of 3 million and above. Additionally, the new legislation does not pool set aside funds as most modern percent laws around the county do. Instead, funds would be tied to each individual construction project. With this setup, the new legislation will not serve Allegheny County as a whole, only areas where new construction is being performed. With that in mind, why would a majority of the voting population get behind the new legislation?
Walter Hood was originally commissioned for a public artwork, "Curtain Call" that lent green water infrastructure credentials to the Penguins' application for LEED certification of the Consol Energy Center. The project, well-loved by the Hill District community, the greater arts community and private foundations, has not been built, although slated for 2011 construction on the Sports Exhibition Authority web site. "What happened to the planned public art project near Consol Energy Center?" will provide interested readers with more insight at http://www.post-gazette.com/local/2015/07/12/What-happened-to-the-planned-public-art-project-near-Consol-Energy-Center/stories/201507120074 "Curtain Call," a name borrowed from August Wilson, would have honored the heroes and history of the Hill District. A great many District residents, with assistance from Terri Baltimore at the Hill House, have already invested their time and participation into the project. Adding insult to injury the Penguins said they "did not have the money" for "Curtain Call," but somehow came up with an estimated 1.5 million or more for the cast bronze statues of hockey players installed just outside the Consol building.
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