By Candy Williams
Tribune-Review

Published: Tuesday, May 15, 2012, 6:02 p.m.
Updated: Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Going out for dinner usually means taking a break from the kitchen for the family cook.

That wasn’t the case for the couples who set aside last Saturday evening for a gourmet dinner on the South Side. Before they could sit down to enjoy the meal, they had to prepare it and cook it together.

That’s part of the fun of hands-on cooking classes at places such as Gaynor’s School of Cooking along East Carson Street, where special sessions for couples are offered as part of the class schedule.

Gaynor’s May Couples Night menu featured Lemony Artichoke and Potato Soup, Poached Salmon with Red Pepper Mayonnaise, Roast Carrot & Beet Salad, Baby Dilled Potatoes and Chocolate Tart with Almond Crust.

The group of 10 was divided into two teams by cooking instructor Andrew Alvarez, who also works as a chef at the Omni William Penn Hotel, Downtown. The classes are designed for students to learn cooking techniques while having fun with their significant other or friends.

“The emphasis is on fun,” said Gaynor Grant, instructor and director of the cooking school. “Unlike our other programs that are primarily instructional, this is a fun night out with your relevant other under the guidance of trained instructors whose main objective is that the food is cooked properly.”

Andrea Crall of Peters, who participated in Gaynor’s Couples Cooking Class with her husband, Mike, signed up for the class because, she said, “I thought it would be a fun date night.” She typically does all the cooking at home, except for the Thanksgiving turkey and grilling chores, which are delegated to Mike.

As he stirred a pot of baby carrots in boiling, salted water for the salad course, Mike — whose “day job” is as a civil engineer, vice president and department manager for HDR Engineering — said his culinary skills were being put to the test.

“If it’s building bridges or working on the North Shore Connector project, it’s no problem,” he said, smiling. “But if it’s cooking carrots, it’s a serious challenge.”

Laura and Kyle Greenman of Mt. Lebanon stirred together ingredients for the Red Pepper Mayonnaise.

“It’s our daily release,” said Laura, who shares kitchen duties with her husband. “Actually, he does most of the cooking. I’m more of a baker. We have a 1-year-old, and I’m busy with him.”

Kelly Szesterniak of Plum said the cooking class was a birthday present from her husband, Mike.

“We like cooking together a lot,” Mike said. “This is right up our alley.”

Their friends Jack Gillespie and Kara Berman of Robinson looked on as Chef Andrew showed them the proper way to slice a head of garlic for the soup.

The cost of the three-hour class is $145 per couple, which includes wine served with dinner. The menu changes each month. Participants range in age from 20s to early 70s, Grant says.

Crate Kitchenware Store and Cooking School in Scott offers its three-hour Cooking with a Partner class about once a month. The May class, taught by Marlene DeGeorge, featured Avocado Gazpacho with Fresh Tomato Salsa and tortilla chips, Lump Blue Crab Cakes with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce and Napa Cabbage Slaw, Sweet Potato Fries and Rustic Plum Galette with Almond Cream.

Participants included couples with various levels of cooking expertise.

“It’s a nice mix,” said Crate owner Linda Wernacoff. “We get a range of young and old, and not necessarily husbands and wives, but, sometimes, friends. They’re interested in learning, and they really want to be here. It’s fun.”

Tony and Rachel Zimmerman of Plum said the gift certificate that brought them here was a wedding gift last June. This was their first cooking class adventure together.

“We watch Food Network together a lot,” Rachel said. “We get hungry watching TV.”

Bonnie Jeanne Tibbetts and Greg Pacek of Economy, Beaver County, chose the Gazpacho station, which involved chopping avocados, onion, garlic, jalapeno and cilantro and pureeing them in a blender.

“With all the chopping, it was a little tedious,” said Pacek, after blending the ingredients into a bright-green liquid. “It doesn’t look pretty, but it tastes good.”

Tibbetts said she couldn’t wait to share her new dish with friends.

“I’m going to Cape Cod for Memorial Day weekend. This will be a great recipe to take there,” she said.

Cooking classes

Places in Pittsburgh to sign up for a cooking demonstration or hands-on class:

• Chop, Wok & Talk, Garfield, 412-362-0679, offers cooking instruction for private parties, team building and hands-on classes. www.chopwoktalk.com

• Crate Kitchenware Store and Cooking School, Scott, 412-341-5700, offers monthly Cooking with a Partner classes, Lunch & Learn classes and classes that feature area chefs and restaurants. cratecook.com

• Food Glorious Food, Highland Park, 412-363-5330, offers occasional Cooking with a Partner, group and corporate cooking classes at its specialty bakery, spokesman Tom Hambor said. foodgloriousfoodonline.com

• Gaynor’s School of Cooking, South Side, 412-325-2703, fetures a monthly Couple’s Night, plus baking and pastry series, the Art of Fine Cooking series, wine events and children’s classes. www.gaynorsschoolofcooking.com

• Giant Eagle Market District: Offers occasional couples classes and Girls Night Out classes. Four locations. www.marketdistrict.com

• Habitat, Fairmont Hotel, Downtown, offers monthly cooking classes. www.habitatrestaurant.com

• McGinnis Sisters, three locations, offers cooking classes, demos and special events. www.mcginnis-sisters.com

• Rania’s Catering, 100 Central Square, Pittsburgh, 412-531-2222, offers cooking classes. www.rania.com

Read More: http://triblive.com/lifestyles/1802072-74/cooking-pepper-red-salt-cup-teaspoon-classes-tablespoons-prepare-oil

Regular readers of this space are well aware of Munch’s thinly veiled yearning to become a restaurateur or tavern owner. Sadly, Munch lacks the key component needed for such an endeavor — money (or at least a wealthy uncle with a wobbly banister and no understanding power-of-attorney forms) — so Munch is instead relegated to the realm of whiny wannabes worldwide: a critic.

Because as H.L. Mencken said, “Those who can, do; those who can’t, teach; those who can’t do either, lob verbal gasbombs at the first two from a safe distance under the guise of the First Amendment.” Or something like that.

But establishment owners toil in a backbreaking racket and have Munch’s near universal respect. Except for those few that open joints without one whit of vision or creativity. Too often Munch has excitedly checked out a new spot, only to be enraged by the banality of the place: the “decor” is merely promotional junk from Coors or Bud; the menu is some combination of bad wings, pizza and burgers; and the place probably has an Irish name — like Lonnegan’s or Doyle’s — even though there is nothing Irish about it.

So Munch appreciates guys like Scott Kramer and Steve Zumoff who have opened thematic South Side venues — the Lava and Tiki Lounges and Double Wide Grill — which could be called avant-garde or garish, depending on your taste. Their latest, the Rowdy Buck, which adjoins their landmark coffee shop the Beehive, is no exception.

According to a bartender, the Rowdy Buck’s theme is that of a Prohibition-era whiskey den, a kitschy hunting lodge with gourmet hot dogs on the menu. The interior is all wood. There’s a giant saw blade on one wall, a pair of waders on another. Some seats are made from stumps. Light fixtures with fake antlers hang about. A “window” looks out to an intentionally tacky faux-western scene.

It’s like being inside a Lincoln Logs creation where you can get premium whiskeys, craft beers or a proper Pernod Absinthe fountain pour (sugar cubes and all — $17) on a slick long bar that appears to be made from a giant petrified tree. If Fictional Hero of Munch (FHOM) Ron Swanson and cult filmmaker John Waters opened a joint, it might look like this place.

Munch and Poker Ace Friend of Munch (PAFOM) swigged beers — Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA and Amstel Light — while trying some of the 10 varieties of hot dogs available ($4.50 for a beef frank, $5.50 for veggie) all on poppyseed buns. We each ordered two beef dogs.

PAFOM quite enjoyed the flavors of the Texas Ranger, which he said were in complete harmony. The grilled onions, cheddar jack cheese and spicy mayo provided some kick, and the tortilla chip strips added a pleasant crunch to the mix.

He was less enthusiastic about the Po Boy, topped with shrimp, lettuce, tomato, spicy mayo and a pickle, which he said tasted a little unnatural. Shrimp and hot dogs are not his idea of surf and turf.

Munch tried the Tokyo, an interesting mix of sliced radishes, wasabi mayo and some overly pungent seaweed, then devoured the delicious Porky Pig, topped with grilled onions, cheddar jack, pulled pork and a honey BBQ sauce.

Our waitress was attentive and comped us a round when the hot dogs took a bit too long.

You can also cook your own S’mores for $12 — chocolate, marshmallows, graham crackers, skewers and flame source provided — but that option was unavailable during our visit.

The Rowdy Buck is a bar first, hot dog stop second, where weekend DJs seamlessly spin country, Southern rock and rap. Don’t bring the kids. And Munch strongly advises those with delicate sensibilities avoid the place on Mondays during “Dirty Bingo” night (which is exactly what it sounds like).

Messrs. Kramer and Zumoff have created a conceptually cool cabin of kitsch on Carson Street, a place where hipsters, homeboys and hunters might all oddly be at home.

But Munch wonders: Is the Rowdy Buck a friend or foe of nearby neighbor the Smiling Moose? And just how do Elks Lodges fit into all of this?

The Rowdy Buck is at 1325 E. Carson St., South Side Flats. Call 412-431-2825.

When Frank Lenz left Pittsburgh in 1892 on what was then a newfangled “safety” bicycle, carrying little more than a camera, a revolver and a homemade umbrella, he expected to return to the city two years later, after completing a spectacular bike ride around the world.

He didn’t. Lenz and his bicycle disappeared in Turkey, after he made it roughly 15,000 miles across the United States and several countries including Japan, China and Iran.

Now, 120 years to the day after he pedaled away — with 800 onlookers wishing him well from the Smithfield Street Bridge — the city on Tuesday will officially commemorate “Frank Lenz Day.”

Mayor Luke Ravenstahl will issue a proclamation at noon at the OTB Bicycle Cafe on the South Side. He will also be recognizing the opening of the city’s first on-street bicycle parking corral, as well as other advances that the city has made for bicyclists.

“Frank Lenz’s courage and ambition lives on in Pittsburgh’s growing bicycle community of today,” said Mr. Ravenstahl. Lenz’s story is fitting to remember now as the city has made great strides for bicyclists in recent years, said the mayor, from bike lanes to its trail system to recognition last year by Bicycling.com as a top 50 bicycling city.

For years, Lenz’s journey was utterly unknown. Author David Herlihy stumbled upon his story as part of his research for another book and decided there was enough material for a separate book just on Lenz.

That book, “The Lost Cyclist,” was published in 2010.

“He was a celebrity when he disappeared but he was forgotten fairly quickly,” said Mr. Herlihy. “The bicycle boom went bust with the automobile, and there was a sense that Lenz had been foolhardy. His legacy is kind of lost.”

Mr. Herlihy lives in Boston but is doing his best to bring Lenz’s story back into Pittsburgh’s public consciousness. He is in early discussions with the Riverlife Task Force about a memorial on the South Side bike trail and with the Heinz History Center about an exhibit. He even dreams of a Lenz museum in the house that still stands on Western Avenue.

For Linda Boxx, president of the Allegheny Trail Alliance, the story of Lenz is so grand in scale that it barely seems real.

“It was a native son, who tried this phenomenally impossible task,” said Ms. Boxx. “To think that he was going into these remote places in China, Asia, and Turkey, where he ultimately met his demise, where people hadn’t seen a European, much less a European on this crazy contraption. It’s worthy of a movie, and it’s special because this was a Pittsburgh boy.”

At age 24, Lenz quit his job as an accountant to attempt his journey around the world. The bicycle boom was in full swing and though Lenz had enjoyed some success in bike races, he felt that his talents were better suited to long distance travel and exploration.

A worldwide bike trip had been completed five years prior by Lenz’s idol Thomas Stevens, but Lenz would be the first to do so solo, on a more extensive route and with a camera. He would be documenting the adventure for Outing magazine.

In his book, Mr. Herlihy re-created his journey through those dispatches and through Lenz’s letters home to friends and family. His adventures were truly larger than life, from a night spent in jail in San Francisco, to being robbed and stoned by villagers in China to biking through tiger-filled Burmese forests.

He set out from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C., following roughly the route that is now the Greater Allegheny Passage. He traveled across the United States and Canada to San Francisco, sailing from there to Hawaii and Japan. He biked across parts of China, India and what were then Burma and Persia before disappearing in Turkey.

Two years later, Outing magazine sent another bicyclist, William Sachtleben, to solve the mystery of Lenz’s disappearance, a journey also detailed in Mr. Herlihy’s book. He found that he was likely killed by a bandit after somehow insulting a Kurdish chief. His body and bicycle were never found, but eight years after his death the Turkish government paid Lenz’s mother a $7,500 settlement.

For Mr. Herlihy, even though his book on Lenz is complete, there is still much more to be discovered.

“Somebody probably has a trunk full of letters in their attic,” he said. In particular, he’s hoping for information about a seamstress named Annie R. Leech who was Lenz’s girlfriend. She died, unmarried, in 1950.

“It’d be great to see a little more recognition for Frank,” said Mr. Herlihy. “I do think he stands out as a courageous fellow with good intentions — one of those icons who will always be young.”

By Tony LaRussa
Tribune-Review
Pittsburgh City Councilman Bruce Kraus said he will block a plan to create a special tax in the South Side to pay for litter cleanup, safety patrols and other services because it would be levied on residential property owners.

Neighborhood organizers voted on Tuesday to move forward with the creation of a Neighborhood Improvement District, or NID. The first step in that process was a request that Kraus petition council to take up the matter.

“My biggest concern with this plan is the residential fee,” Kraus said on Wednesday. “It’s extremely difficult for me to support.”

Gavin Robb, an attorney representing NID organizers, said without Kraus’ support, “this will not happen.”

Kim Collins, co-chair on the NID steering committee, called Kraus’ decision “absolutely disappointing.”

“The people who support this live and work here and believe it is a viable way to improve the quality of the whole South Side experience,” she said. “My fear is that the problems we were trying to address will continue without any resolution.”

Scores of residents attending meetings at which the NID was discussed opposed paying more to deal with the long-standing problem of disorderly patrons who frequent neighborhood clubs and taverns.

The NID would impose a tax that ranged from exempting low-income seniors and disabled people to charging businesses $50 for each $10,000 of assessed property value with a cap of $7,500 a year. The median yearly cost for homeowners would have been $136.

Michelle Berard, who opposed the NID, said she is “cautiously excited” about Kraus’ decision.

“Everybody acknowledges that there are difficulties that need to be dealt with in the South Side,” Berard said. “But creating a NID isn’t the answer. We shouldn’t be looking at taxing residents and businesses more to fix problems that the city should be addressing.”

Kraus will issue a written statement next week detailing his objections to the NID and offer ideas for dealing with the vandalism, public intoxication and litter associated with South Side nightlife.

Stephen Felder, chef of Stagioni on the South Side, with seared duck breast, left, and cavatelli with ramp pesto, prosciutto and oyster mushrooms.

It was a sad day for Bloomfield when Stephen Felder and Cara DelSignore decided to move their Italian restaurant, Stagioni, to the South Side. Leaving behind Little Italy might seem like a risky departure, but Stagioni was moving up in the world, to a larger, prettier space, previously occupied by Le Pommier.

They’d actually considered the East Carson storefront when they first opened in November 2009, said Mr. Felder, but as new restaurateurs (Mr. Felder is the chef and Ms. DelSignore runs the front of the house), they wanted to start smaller. But in late January 2011, Le Pommier was closed by a fire, and when they learned the space was available, Stagioni’s owners decided to revisit the idea of the South Side.

They moved in March and quickly settled into their new home. Changes were small, but noticeable: The marble tables, designed by Ms. DelSignore’s cousin, were lovely but noisy in Bloomfield. But the South Side has softer surfaces, and even when the dining room was full, chatter stayed at a manageable level. A new bar, too, is topped with marble on a base of reclaimed wood. As the bar suggests, Stagioni has acquired a liquor license, and the seasonally inspired Italian food is now complemented by a full bar and an Italian-focused wine list.

The restaurant has nearly doubled in size, but those seats are divided between two dining rooms (and a few more in the bar), maintaining a feeling of intimacy while allowing a little more breathing room among tables.

Mr. Felder’s food continues to be Italian in spirit but heavily influenced by seasonal produce. The style of the food hasn’t changed, but the new setting is more relaxing, encouraging tables to linger over multiple courses.

A perfectly wonderful spring meal might begin with a simple antipasti plate of house-made mozzarella, roasted red peppers, a thin sheet of prosciutto and a few olives, glistening with oil ($10). Alongside, one might sip a classic Italian aperitif, the Negroni (gin, sweet vermouth and Campari), an Italianized mojito (vodka, limoncello, lemon juice and mint) or a glass of prosecco.

A small portion of pasta should follow (pastas are available in full or half portions), like finely ridged cavatelli with a pungent ramp pesto, mild oyster mushrooms and a little more prosciutto ($8/$16). Among the entrees, many seasonal choices beckoned: Crisp soft shell crabs were set on a bed of cabbage, radicchio and carrot slaw with a pickled ramp aioli — all the crunch of a soft-shell sandwich, only without the bread ($24). A seared duck breast tasted particularly rich, almost livery, against the sweet-tart snap of a strawberry rhubarb sauce ($23). This plate, too, was pleasantly light on starch, rounded out with a sprightly salad of arugula and pickled fiddlehead ferns, whose green stems tasted a little like asparagus, only sweeter.

Even in summer, there’s room for dishes like oxtail ragu, the rich, braised meat just kissed with tomato, gently blanketing wide ribbons of pappardelle ($19). It was easy to balance out such a dish with light, fresh starters. A chilled carrot soup emphasized the root’s sweet nature, balanced by a spoonful of tangy creme fraiche and a garnish of pickled carrots ($6). Bright green clusters of delicate Bibb lettuce decked out in a goat cheese dressing, laced with tart pickled onions and crunchy walnuts, evoked the American wedge salad, a delicious contrast between cool, crisp lettuce and rich, creamy dressing ($7).

Two visits, just two weeks apart, offered almost entirely different menus, each with many good options. Flatbreads with cracker-like crusts were good to share, particularly one lined with prosciutto, then topped with arugula, parmesan and a trio of fried eggs ($9). A simple sauce of wild mushrooms, leeks and white wine emphasized the tender texture of ricotta gnocchi ($8/$16). Scallops and cauliflower were an unexpectedly delicious pairing, each emphasizing the sweetness of its partner, and nicely gilded by a vaguely Sicilian finish of golden raisins, pine nuts and a hint of vinegar ($20).

Stagioni embodies the virtues of Italian cooking: The simple dishes feel special without being fussy or heavy. Call it indulgence-light.

The liquor license, of course, can help make a meal a little more indulgent. They’re still working on a printed cocktail list, but if you ask, they’ll offer suggestions of house drinks. They would benefit from a little more attention to measurements — mixology is really more like baking, in this regard.

The flexible, affordable wine list is already an asset (and those who miss the BYOB Stagioni will be happy to know that corkage is $10). Servers are fairly well versed on the wine list and will turn to Ms. DelSignore if they’re unfamiliar with a particular bottle. Impressively, when asked for a suggestion of a glass of red, one server recommended the cheapest option. Restaurants should stand behind every wine on their list, and it’s clear that at Stagioni they do.

On a busy weekend, service was less attentive, and there was a lag between being seated and receiving menus, but in general, service was professional and thoughtful. When one main course failed to arrive with the others, our server quickly stopped by to let us know it would be a few more minutes and to apologize for the delay — simple actions that took the frustration out of waiting.

Occasionally, the kitchen’s attention to detail wavered: Another version of gnocchi was overwhelmed by a topping of slightly greasy Italian sausage ($8), a beautiful braised pork shank was served with slightly lumpy polenta ($19) and tortellini en brodo suffered from a watery, underseasoned broth ($7). The dessert menu hasn’t benefited from the same creative, seasonal inspiration as earlier courses. Nutella pudding and chocolate ice cream were toothache sweet, while ricotta cheesecake and tiramisu were above average but unexciting.

In a new place, Stagioni has a little more space to grow and mature, but it hasn’t lost its youthful charms. Le Pommier flourished on East Carson Street for nearly 27 years before it closed, a worthy legacy that has found a deserving heir.

• Hours: Tuesdays-Thursdays, 5-10:30 p.m.; Fridays-Saturdays, 5-11:30 p.m.
• Recommended dishes: Made-to-order mozzarella, chilled carrot soup, Bibb salad, ricotta gnocchi with mushrooms and leeks, cavatelli with ramp pesto, prosciutto and oyster mushrooms; oxtail ragu with pappardelle, duck breast with strawberry-rhubarb agrodolce; scallops with cauliflower, golden raisins and pine nuts.
• Prices: Appetizers, $6-$12; pastas, $8 half portion or $16 full portion; entrees, $17-$24; desserts, $6.
• Drink: Full bar, ask about house cocktails; Italian focused wine list.
• Summary:A neighborhood Italian restaurant where the food is inspired by the seasons and local ingredients, and the atmosphere is elegant yet unfussy.
• Information: Wheelchair accessible; credit cards accepted; reservations recommended for weekends and peak times; corkage, $10.
• Noise level: Low to loud.

The South Side Planning Forum voted Tuesday night to recommend a Neighborhood Improvement District to City Council.

The forum moved the meeting from its usual room in the Brashear Association to the cafeteria at UPMC South Side to accommodate more than 100 people who gathered mostly to voice opposition to the plan and the additional tax burden it would place on residents.

“The NID would be a distraction, another layer of bureaucracy that we have to deal with,” said Mary Ellen Leigh, a South Side homeowner. “This tax will not go away; and don’t kid yourself, it will grow every year.”

A Neighborhood Improvement District is an area of special assessment, whose property owners have voted to pay extra — based on the value of their properties — for an enhancement of the public services they get, such as street cleaning and security.

The vote in favor of the NID now goes to District 3 Councilman Bruce Kraus, who will determine if he will bring it to City Council.

If it reaches the council, a legal process will begin that will include a plan mailed to every property owner within the proposed district, public meetings and a vote.

The district cannot be established if 40 percent of the property owners vote in opposition to it.

To date, 40 percent of residents have signed letters in opposition to the new tax, which were placed in a stack and held in front of each forum member at the meeting.

“Now instead of listening to 1,200 people with their opposition, they aren’t going to listen to us at all,” said Helena Wagner, a South Side property owner who was with a group passing out anti-NID stickers.

Many of the residents, such as Ms. Wagner, balked at the idea of paying another tax that feeds into a system to help for-profit businesses.

But others said the NID could provide a solution to the littered streets and crime from bar hoppers on the weekend.

“The NID is ready to step up and clean up and help with enforcement. What is your plan?” resident Wanda Jankoski asked of those against the NID.

Evan Stoddard, a South Side resident, said the NID is needed because the problems plaguing the neighborhood won’t be solved through existing public services alone.

“I, for one, don’t believe the city has the resources to help us out,” he said.

The NID would apply to about 2,800 property owners from the railroad at Josephine Street to the Monongahela River, between Ninth and 29th streets, said Susie Puskar, neighborhood outreach coordinator for the NID.

Residents, who make up 35 percent of the property owners, would pay 15 percent of the total fees because they do not generate income and because the concerns behind the need for a NID stem largely from bar businesses.

The average resident payment per month would be $10, she said.

NIDs have become more popular vehicles to provide services that have been sacrificed by cuts in public spending, but the economic downturn also fuels opposition.

Daniel Murrer, vice president of RealSTATs, has been a leading opponent.

“Many of the South Side’s citizens see the NID tax as another opportunity for government waste and corruption,” he said. “We pay for police protection, for public works, for code enforcement. Why should we pay more? Why should residents pay for a bar’s profits?”

He said his extra tax would be about $1,200 annually.

“I clean my own sidewalk,” he said. “There is already incentive for people to clean up in front of their buildings,” especially if they have a business and want customers. “People are already stretched financially. Our assessments have gone up, we have a library tax, and we pay 3 percent wage tax.”

Councilman Kraus, who attended the meeting and represents the South Side, said he will mail his decision to the forum in the next three weeks.

By Bob Bauder
Tribune-Review

Published: Wednesday, May 2, 2012, 8:32 p.m.
Updated 4 hours ago

Janette Knittel marveled at the transformation of the Monongahela riverfront while walking in the new South Shore Riverfront Park on Wednesday.

Knittel, 51, of Kennedy remembered when the park and adjoining SouthSide Works was part of the Jones & Laughlin Steel plant, later LTV Steel, that belched smoke and fire from both sides of the river and helped earn Pittsburgh its “Smoky City” moniker. Now, she can spend lunch breaks from General Dynamics strolling through the 3.2 acre park.

“I started walking through here and thought, ‘This is a surprise,’ ” said Knittel, who grew up in McKees Rocks. “I remember driving past here on my way to Kennywood, and the mill was right along Carson Street. There was no reason to come to the South Side unless you were going to Kennywood back then.”

Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and other dignitaries officially opened the $13.4 million park that runs from 25th Street to the Hot Metal Bridge and links by trail to the South Side Riverfront Park that runs between 18th and Ninth streets. The city paid for the project with about $10.6 million in federal, state and local money and about $2.7 million in private donations from the Richard King Mellon Foundation, Heinz Endowments, Soffer Organization and Columbia Gas.

“It’s beautiful,” said Leo McIntyre, 43, of Canonsburg, an employee of The Fireplace in McKees Rocks, who was eating lunch near the Birmingham Bridge. “The river is right here. There’s trains. You can see the barges going up and down the river.”

The park, which offers waterfront access to the SouthSide Works retail area and the Three Rivers Heritage and Great Allegheny Passage trail systems, does not ignore the land’s steelmaking legacy.

Remnants of the steel mill, which closed in 1984, are evident throughout. Five steel ingots and a large slag ladle that crews uncovered during site development were preserved and displayed. Rivers of Steel National Heritage Area donated a former gate to J&L’s Morgan Billet Mill, which also is on display, and provided interpretive plaques for the displays.

Ronald Baraff, director of museum collections and archives for Rivers of Steel, said the South Shore park was once the site of the No. 2 Open Hearth department. J&L began making iron on the South Side in 1853, he said.

Allan Helminiak, 68, of South Side Slopes was biking through the place where his late father, Albert, once worked as a bricklayer. Helminiak, a retired machinist, said he had aspirations of working there until a grade school tour of the mill. The dirt and heat convinced him there were better ways to make money, he said.

“It’s convenient,” he said of the park. “But also this is a great place to get on any of the trails. Like today, I was getting bored at the house, so I decided to get out the bike and see where it takes me.”

Tim Schooley

Reporter - Pittsburgh Business Times

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The long-awaited South Shore Riverfront Park opened Wednesday, adding another piece to the SouthSide Works   development and enhancing an important link in Pittsburgh’s riverfront trail system.

To celebrate the opening of the 3.4-acre park that spans from 25th to 29th streets, Pittsburgh Mayor Luke Ravenstahl, Riverlife and the Soffer Organization    hosted a tour that showed off the project’s amenities and charted what was still to come at the riverfront site.

The park was the culmination of the original plan for the redevelopment and was “a place where everyone is welcome to enjoy one of the city’s greatest assets, the rivers,” saidJames Lee Soffer, vice president for the Soffer Organization, the developer of the 34-acre SouthSide Works.

At least a year behind schedule, South Shore Riverfront Park will cost a total of $13 million to develop, with a $3 million final phase expected to be completed next spring that will clean up the portion of the park closest to river, extending the trail to the water’s edge and adding a landing for a water taxi.

With $10.6 million in public funds and $2.6 million in private money invested, South Shore Riverfront Park includes a 1,000-seat amphitheater, a water fountain for dogs, and various artifacts from the site’s previous history as a Jones & Laughlin Co. steel mill, along with its trails. Also planned to be added to the park is a new 300-slip marina to be operated by David Maxwell, who operates a marina in O’Hara Township.

“The full economic impact of SouthSide Works will now be realized through this park,” said Ravenstahl.

Kyra Straussman, director of real estate for the city’s Urban Redevelopment Authority, said the park will be maintained through a partnership of the Soffer Organization, the URA and Riverlife, the riverfront advocacy nonprofit organization, starting from a $1 million fund. An assessment district for the SouthSide Works development is also being planned in which the project’s various tenants and business owners would pay a small regular fee for park maintenance and programming.

Tim Schooley covers retail, real estate, small business, hospitality and media. Contact him attschooley@bizjournals.com or (412) 208-3826.