MOST ICY RECEPTION
Oakland block party celebrates first phase of new streetscape initiative
Roger Randolph was on his way home to work on a paper Friday when he cut through Oakland Avenue and happened upon a street party.
He stopped when he saw people gathered around something unusual. “What? Are those curling stones?” he asked.
They were. A miniature curling demo was being held between Forbes Avenue and Sennott Street. It was an attraction of a one-block party that the Oakland Business Improvement District held Friday to celebrate the first phase of a new streetscape initiative.
Mr. Randolph, a senior in industrial engineering at the University of Pittsburgh, tried his hand at throwing the imitation curling stones on the 30foot-long board with bumpers.
“I watched curling in the 2018 Olympics,” he said, “and I always wanted to try it. The people doing it looked like regular people.”
University police Officers Nick and Alexander Visnich guided newbie curlers through the process. The brothers are three-time national curling champions who hope to make the 2022 Olympics.
They got involved in curling at the Neville Island rink in 2015 when they were in high school.
“Our sergeant knew we were curlers and pulled us into this,” Alexander said.
The event began at 4 p.m. and continued as the sun went down, when the overhead string lights did their magic. Attached to the sides of buildings, the lights stretched across the street at diagonals along the block. Another set of lights was rigged between buildings a block north, on Oakland Avenue between Forbes and Fifth avenues.
The lighting is part of a larger plan that the Oakland Business Improvement District has forged with the Pittsburgh Innovation District that also includes street furniture and small pockets of green space — “things we can roll out fast,” said Georgia Petropoulos, executive director of the OBID. “The larger vision is about attracting companies that would maximize our research institutions and robotics.”
That effort also depends on improved aesthetics on the
street level, she said.
“We’d like to become an evening district like Downtown” beyond student life, she said. “The next goal is cafe seating for the restaurants” along Oakland Avenue.
The innovation district plan has had support from UPMC, the Hillman Foundation and the Heinz Endowments.
Paul Fireman of Fireman Creative worked with OBID on ideas, including the curling demo, “to get people excited about the overall concept,” he said.
He took his turn at curling. The “stones,” which are 30pound imitations of the regulation 42-pound granite stones, rolled on wheels and all arced left. Few people rolled their stones into the target, called a house. After six tries, Mr. Fireman made a disgusted face and said, “I think I need a different technique.”
“You need a different sport,” yelled a friend.
Stephen Kraus, who owns Anthem Video in Bloomfield, had a friend working on the event and stopped by.
“Are these lights staying up?” he asked, and Mr. Fireman assured him they would.
Mr. Kraus gasped, threw his hands up and laughed delightedly. “Wow! I went to Pitt, so this is a great thing to happen in this neighborhood.”