Demolition Planned to Occur at Addison Terrace

The Pittsburgh Housing Authority may demolish the 734-unit Addison Terrace development in the Hill District and replace it with a social and architectural gulag designed to strike fear in the hearts of Pittsburghers for the next several generations.

The authority board voted this morning to seek federal approval to demolish the existing units for low-income residents and to seek architectural certification from the Le Corbussier School of Unspeakable Abominations.

The authority's executive director, A. Fulton Meachem Jr., said the new housing would not be based on any preconceived design notions, except that they will not fit in to the surrounding neighborhood, will be isolated from public services and business districts, and will generally try to avoid making the experience better for anyone involved in the project. The authority will strive to avoid innovation in Public Housing, choosing instead to plop housing units down on HACP owned property in much the same manner as a dog does its business on the neighbor's lawn.

"We estimate that the project will take 5-8 years for HUD to review, then 3 years for us to review internally, and then another 10 years for us to screw it up and have to go back to HUD for a waiver."

No cost estimate was available because the planning is in the early stages, Mr. Meachem said, although it's projected that a huge request for additional funding from the City of Pittsburgh will be made at the last minute.

Mr. Meachem said the new development would mirror projects in Garfield, in that they will little public input from the surrounding neighborhood and force residents to remain isolated.

'Burgh Stories

For my policy inclined yinzer friends, I stumbled across a couple of stories that you may or may not have caught:

First, for those of you who are interested in transit, two of the major foundations are putting up some cash towards the design and construction of the Gateway Center Station for the new North Shore light rail expansion.

Second, Fast Eddie Rendell is going to have an important economic "announcement" for Da Burgh on Monday. Stay tuned.

Third, the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh is laying off about 7.5% of its staff because of a $3.5 Million shortfall. This is following the massive layoffs that the city undertook a few months ago.

More later