Downtown banners for Penguins put on ice - Pittsburgh Tribune-Review Two giant Downtown banners heralding the Pittsburgh Penguins quest for the Stanley Cup have been put on ice thanks to a quarrel between City Council and Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's administration.Humm....
Where oh where can the banners be hung?
How about in the shape of a "M" and put on the top of the US Steel Building?
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How about from the upper deck at PNC Park?
How about if the are used as a patch on the roof at the Convention Center?
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How about as a wind-break on the construction site of the new slots parlor on the North Side?
How about within Century III Mall?
How about as a massive slip and slide on Rt. 28 or Kilbuck Township?
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How about from the broken bridge on the upriver side of the Birmingham Bridge, still in one lane status?
Or, what about on the closed lower McArdle Roadway?
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How about on a stand right behind the still closed Point State Park bandstand? Why in the hell is that place still closed? Work has not been done for months within Point State Park.
How about if the banner goes into the Pittsburgh International Airport to close off the empty wing that is now vacant due to the shrinkage of US Airways over the years.
Perhaps a banner could be floated on the surface of the river tied to one of the many sets of locks and dams that are in frail conditions throughout the region?
A banner could be hung within the Civic Arena -- as that building is going to be torn down shortly.
Why not in the new cafatorium at Reisenstein School? It is both a cafeteria and an auditorium. Might as well be a banner-torium too. There are NO WINDOWS within Reisenstein, so you won't be able to peek in from the outside and see it. But, fear not, in a few years it will take $50-million, or more, to fix up Reisenstein into a decent school. Some zealots (Mark Roosevelt) want to move out of Schenley to save $30-million and pay $20-million additional to 'save money.' Might as well give the banner to them as the might need to use it as a tent to teach under given all the sky-is-falling fears of asbestos that is throughout all the schools in the district.
Let's fold the banner into a door sized package. Then put the banner on the office doorway of Bruce Krause in city hall to cover up the other sign that shows how much money they are raising to cover legal bills that were not approved for fighting a sign that had ethical implications.
Perhaps the banner could be used to cover up the abandoned building that the Penguins left in the heart of the city in the middle of a park -- also known as the Neville Ice Rink -- closed for many years now.
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Penguins signs held up by city billboard moratorium
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
By Rich Lord, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
A proposal by the Penguins to put large banners depicting team stars and featuring the Reebok logo has apparently become a casualty of Pittsburgh government's ongoing sign debate -- and a subject of renewed political sparring.
The team contacted Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's office with a proposal to put temporary signs on Fifth Avenue Place, Downtown, celebrating the team's ascent to the Stanley Cup Finals, the mayor said today. He viewed it as a good idea.
"I would certainly be willing to hang them somewhere," he said -- but only with City Council blessing. "I didn't feel comfortable unilaterally making that decision."
The administration tried to take the temperature of council, which on April 1 voted to place a moratorium on new advertising signs. The moratorium was a response to the permitting by the city Planning Department -- without public hearings or votes -- of a new Lamar Advertising electronic billboard on the front of the Grant Street Transportation Center.
At a meeting between administration and council members late Monday afternoon, all parties tried to find a way to permit the banner under the city code's sign rules. Councilman William Peduto said some of the ideas floated included requiring that the banner be owned by the nonprofit Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, that it be donated to charity after the finals are over and that it be authorized by a special council resolution.
"I don't think that anybody wanted to oppose it," Mr. Peduto said. "What we asked the administration to do was a little bit of work to find a way to make it legal."
Council President Doug Shields confirmed that account.
The mayor and a majority of council have been wrestling with sign rules since a Feb. 12 Post-Gazette story revealed the billboard plan, and the billboard is expected to become the subject of Zoning Board of Adjustment and City Planning Commission hearings and votes.
Mr. Ravenstahl said he believed "one or two council members" were intent on "making [a Penguins sign] a political issue."
"I've heard the term 'political' being used, and that's just a bold-faced lie," Mr. Peduto said.
Councilman Bruce Kraus, who authored the sign moratorium, said the administration engaged in only "some initial discussions with members of council. My understanding is that the administration pulled it."
He said he didn't know enough about the signs to say whether he would support their posting.
"I think we need to put the banners up," said Councilman Jim Motznik. "I don't believe legislation is necessary to put up some temporary banners to celebrate the fact that the Penguins are in the Stanley Cup Finals."
Mr. Ravenstahl said he did not know whether the signs had been manufactured. Nor did Penguins spokesman Tom McMillan, who said the team had essentially given up on the idea of the banners by last weekend.
"We decided that it just wasn't practical," Mr. McMillan said.
Mr. Shields had this advice for fans who might have wanted to see huge Penguins signs: "Get a bed sheet and hang it off your front porch."
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