An effort by the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh to lead an arts-driven revitalization of the city's North Side will get its first public airing next week, when an international team of architects unveils its proposals for re-energizing the area.

	Related graphic Chart: The Charm Bracelet Project

The plans include fanciful ways for taking on tough problems in the neighborhood: Forbidding railroad underpasses could be lit up by chandeliers, and the rambling layout could be navigated with family treasure hunts, according to two proposals.

The project also has a light-hearted name -- the Charm Bracelet -- for its efforts to link the separate museums, parks, neighborhoods and amenities in the area.

The plans, including urban planning, cross-promotional and marketing efforts, will be unveiled at 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Children's Museum and left on display for four weeks.

The concept is to connect destinations -- among them, the Children's Museum, Andy Warhol Museum, Carnegie Science Center, National Aviary, Mattress Factory, New Hazlett Theater, Allegheny Commons park and sports stadiums -- in a way that positions the North Side as the city's "family district," just as Downtown's theaters and galleries are grouped as the Cultural District.

"We have this collection of institutions that are all family-friendly, plus some good neighborhoods to have families and younger people living in," said Chris Siefert, the deputy executive director of the Children's Museum who is overseeing the project. "The North Side often gets a bad rap, but there's a lot of charm to it -- a lot of grit, a lot of texture, but that's OK."

The Charm Bracelet idea grew from the award-winning Children's Museum expansion, which joined the previous museum space -- the former Allegheny Post Office -- with the Buhl Planetarium in late 2004. Once that was completed, museum director Jane Werner started contemplating larger-scale revitalization efforts.

The museum won a $39,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Arts to fund redevelopment designs, which the museum requested from four firms: Colab Architecture of Ithaca, N.Y.; Muf Architecture Art, London; Pentagram Design, New York City; and Suisman Urban Design, Santa Monica, Calif.

Local supporters include Carnegie Mellon University's Urban Lab, the Heinz Endowments, Springboard Architecture, Map Hub and Bike Pittsburgh.

The firms visited the area and met community leaders in October. They are expected to come up with proposals Tuesday for:

Increasing foot and vehicle traffic through the heart of the former city of Allegheny, which is now dominated by a pedestrian mall.

Addressing the dingy railroad underpasses leading to much of the North Side.

New uses for the lonely "sunken plaza" and the vacated Carnegie Library building adjacent to the Children's Museum

Attracting more families to live in the North Side neighborhood.

Celebrating the area's history and linking its cultural institutions.

Organizers will take community comments on the proposals and publish them in the summer. They hope to use the designs to focus North Side redevelopment efforts, many of them ongoing and separate from the Charm Bracelet plans, and guide strategic efforts by its institutions to work together.

Institutions across the North Side will also have to learn to live alongside the Majestic Star casino when it opens in 2008 between the Carnegie Science Center and the West End Bridge. Science center officials have pledged to work with casino operators, and the casino owner, PITG Gaming LLC, has pledged $1 million annually for North Side development efforts.

There has been no shortage of development plans for the North Side; the challenging part is implementing them.

"The ultimate point is the dialogue doesn't stop with the presentations," said Mark Fatla, executive director of the Northside Leadership Conference. "That's when dialogue starts on when to implement them, what's practical, what's short term and achievable, and what's a long term goal."