Pittsburgh is suddenly awash in big plans for the future, but short, for the moment, on the cash to make them happen. That's not a horrible place to be.
The worst predicament is one in which a city has no hopes, no prospects and, in effect, no will to shape its future. But with effective leadership, a strong sense of civic purpose and resourceful financing, the best cities are able to sustain and improve themselves, regardless of the ups and downs of the economic cycle.
That's why, despite last week's release of a new $363 million package to revive Fifth and Forbes -- plus continuing plans for the riverfront, North Shore development, a light-rail tunnel and the Mon-Fayette Expressway -- Pittsburghers should not discount the Penguins' bid for a new arena, which would dovetail with a $500 million Uptown redevelopment plan.
The $225 million facility would replace the 41-year-old Mellon Arena, the oldest hockey arena in the league. Although some Penguins fans enjoy the grit and charm of the silver Igloo, the franchise, like the Pirates and Steelers, is more interested in a modern venue that will keep it financially competitive in Pittsburgh.
When Mario Lemieux's ownership group rescued the team in 1999, the city and Allegheny County said they would try to complete "a financing and development plan by June 30, 2002, for construction of a new multipurpose arena." That did not mean money would be available right away or that the plan would be implemented immediately. What it meant was that public officials would complete by that date a financial blueprint with the Penguins for building a new home.
The preliminary plan sketched out Monday by the franchise goes far beyond a new arena and envisions a major new investment in the city's Uptown-Lower Hill section. In addition to an 18,000-seat civic center between Fifth and Centre avenues, the package would include demolition of Mellon Arena and the construction of 800 units of rental housing, 300 units of owner-occupied housing, three to seven office buildings, a 264-room hotel, 3,000 spaces in parking garages and new retail and restaurant space.
Particularly appealing is the housing, which would put 2,500 new residents just above Grant Street. The neighborhood, an extension of the popular Crawford Square mixed-income development, would take the landscape back to its pre-Civic Arena days, when it was a place to live rather than a place to park.
The grand design, assembled by Economics Research Associates of Washington, D.C., and Urban Design Associates of Pittsburgh, would be built through a combination of public and private funds. While the Penguins are believed to want a deal similar to that of the Pirates at PNC Park, in which the franchise put up 18 percent of the park's cost, the hockey team would do itself -- and the overall project -- a favor if it invested more in the new arena.
Mario Lemieux and his partners have done well by Pittsburgh in saving and keeping the hockey team here. Now it's time to work out the Penguins' future for the long haul. If the new home that secures the franchise can be parlayed into bigger benefits for the city and its people, so much the better.
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