Pittsburgh Has Dim View Of Ads On Sign Above Point

The sign in question is to the right of the tall building and the incline. Looks like a cement wall next to the trees on the cliff. Actually a billboard.

Picture this scrolling hundreds of feet above the iconic confluence of Pittsburgh’s three rivers: “Chipped ham, $1.39 a pound.”

That’s the plot Mayor Bill Peduto says his administration has foiled as it negotiates a new permit with Lamar Advertising for the company’s famous 32-foot-tall, 225-foot-long neon sign on Mount Washington, which has loomed over the Point since around the time of the 1929 stock market crash that triggered the Great Depression.

Bayer, which for years had pushed for upgrades to the dilapidated sign that was covered with a banner during the G-20 summit in 2009 like an embarrassing piece of furniture, finally dropped its nearly 22-year lease of the sign last summer. Lamar pledged to overhaul it. During its lifespan, the sign has also been graced by the sponsorship of Iron City Beer and Alcoa, and displayed the time and the temperature.

Mr. Peduto said Friday that the company is threatening to cease the improvements over his administration’s insistence that the sign not be used for advertising purposes beyond displaying a company name. Mr. Peduto said he was told his stance “killed” a deal with Giant Eagle to become the new sponsor.

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http://www.post-gazette.com/local/city/2015/05/23/Pittsburgh-has-dim-view-of-ads-on-sign-above-Point/stories/201505230071

Mt. Washington Landslide Stable — For Now

Pittsburgh officials say a landslide that closed a popular Mt. Washington restaurant and the Duquesne Incline in April has stabilized, but they continue to monitor the area and a host of other slide-prone areas throughout the city.

Tons of boulders and dirt the length of a football field tumbled from Mt. Washington below theLeMont restaurant on April 8, blocking Norfolk Southern Railroad tracks along West Carson Street.

As a precaution, the city ordered the LeMont and the incline, on Grandview Avenue, closed. The restaurant remained closed for several days as engineers inspected the slide area and deemed the area safe.

Read more: http://triblive.com/news/allegheny/6735527-74/area-washington-areas#ixzz3DOzr5Tjj
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Residents’ Input Spurs Revisions At Grandview

A map of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with its neighborhoods labeled. For use primarily in the list of Pittsburgh neighborhoods. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After scrapping a grandiose hotel and condo project on Mount Washington in favor of apartments, a developer once again is tinkering with plans for the development.

The 300 apartments won’t be changing, but developer Beau Beemsterboer is adding an overlook and building a more “iconic” tower at the site of the former Edge restaurant at the east end of Grandview Avenue.

Charles L. “Luke” Desmone, the architect for the project, said Thursday the changes are being made to address concerns and comments raised by residents at meetings to discuss the switch from the hotel/condo project to the apartment complex.

As part of the latest revisions, a “stage-like” platform will be built just east of the Monongahela Incline and will offer visitors views of the Downtown skyline. While part of the proposed apartment complex, Mr. Desmone said the goal is to have the observation deck open to visitors.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/local/neighborhoods-city/residents-input-spurs-grandview-revisions-704114/#ixzz2fSF3aCJP

Developer Scales Down Grandiose Project For Mount Washington

A map of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with its neighborhoods labeled. For use primarily in the list of Pittsburgh neighborhoods. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Some five years after it was first proposed, a developer is scrapping plans for a grandiose $100 million hotel-condominium project on Mount Washington in favor of a more modest apartment complex.

Gone will be the 20-story high-rise featuring a four- to five-star, 163-room luxury hotel. Gone will be about 58 condos perched on a cliff overlooking Downtown.  Gone, apparently, will be amenities like a scenic overlook and a giant plaza that would have been open to the public.

Instead, Sycamore Grandview Development is proposing to construct about 300 market rate apartments in four buildings wrapped around a “grand central yard” at the four-acre site at the end of Grandview Avenue near the Monongahela Incline.

Developer Beau Beemsterboer is expected to present the revised plans to the community at a meeting Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Mount Washington Senior Center.

Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/stories/business/news/developer-scales-down-grandiose-project-for-mount-washington-702313/#ixzz2eDmwdroM