A petition in the Tango Cafe has thickened to the size of a small city's phone book since August. More than 1,000 people have signed it, some with exclamation-marked comments, as if passion could save a nook of culture from a $50 million hotel-condominium development.

Forward Square, a nine-story hotel-condo-retail construction, was first proposed in July to the city's Zoning Board of Adjustment. It will eliminate a 150,000-square-foot massing that includes the Squirrel Hill Theater, the former Poli's restaurant, the Tango and several other businesses on Forward and Murray avenues.

U.S. Professional Karate has already relocated. Tango's lease is up for renewal in April, when the developers expect to close on the last properties they need to secure.

Liliana Petruy and her daughters put their own money into the Tango as renters and have no resources left and no history of debt to leverage any. But they have what, at least in musicals that end happily, is better than money -- love and devotion. In their case, it's the vigorous intervention of patrons on their behalf.

Patrons formed Friends of the Tango Cafe and began trying to call on officials for help: city Councilman Doug Shields, the Urban Redevelopment Authority's small business experts and small business development contacts at universities. One of the developer's representatives has even driven Ms. Petruy on visits to possible relocations.

"When I first went into the site and got a chance to meet them, we talked about offering her a little space inside the hotel," said Tom Chunchick, executive vice president of R.E. Crawford, one of the developers. "She said, 'We sell more than coffee.' Being ignorant, I said, 'Oh, there will be room for your pastries, too.' She said, 'We are a cultural place, with language classes, music and dancing.'

"It's obvious that this is more than a coffee shop," he said. "They have taken time to create such a global feeling, and we want to see her persevere and succeed."

Asked if the company will compensate her for what she needs to relocate, he said, "I can't go into that, but our focus is to see her up and running, wherever she is. You can read into that what you want."

Ms. Petruy, a native of Argentina, was a journalist and a teacher before coming to Pittsburgh, where her sister has lived for 40 years. She said she first wanted to establish a community gathering place where people could learn Spanish and English, play music and display art. The coffee, pastries, ensaladas, empanadas and other light fare are the paycheck for those activities, she said.

"I put $25,000 into this place just to open and another $5,000 for improvements," she said. All the locations she has seen need renovation. "I have a big group of students and tertulias [conversation groups]. They don't want that I should go very far," but everything nearby is too expensive, she said.

Set up to serve coffee typical of Argentina and drinks made from yerba matte, a popular infusion drink there, the cafe also serves Argentinian food. A knitting group meets there on Sundays. Every Wednesday around 10 p.m. there is music, and Ms. Petruy teaches four levels of Spanish on site. People also gather to speak Spanish, some native speakers, some trying to keep their Spanish from getting rusty.

Within two months after opening in December 2002, patrons would ask if they could practice their Spanish with her, and she complied. As the demand increased, she set up a schedule and began teaching Spanish.

Anne Marie Kuchera, who lives in Oakland, joined a friend for lunch at the Tango Cafe recently.

"I've only been here a handful of times, but certainly it's a destination," she said. "What they offer here you can't get anywhere else in the city."

On the petitions, in a space where people can comment, many wrote "please don't go!!!"

"Keep diversity and small business in Squirrel Hill," wrote one petitioner.

Roger Day, a devotee and leader of the cafe's friends group, said his Spanish class there is "like a big family." The musicians he has met have formed bands.

"Three years ago, my son said, 'Dad, go down and play music with these guys.' People gathered and they were doing bossa nova and I had my tuba and we played for two hours," Mr. Day said.

"Then there was Mexican folk music and music from the Andes. It was phenomenal. At the end of night, Jorge, a guy I didn't know, comes over, takes his guitar and starts playing Colombian music.

"They're singing all night long and I couldn't get out the door without 20 hugs, and I thought, 'This is the life for me.' I started taking Spanish language classes," he said.

"Liliana has created a little world that's had a large impact on people's lives."