Project Status: Ongoing
In October 2020, Street Plans was hired by U3 Advisors, the development managers for Hazelwood Green in Pittsburgh, PA, to lead programming and events at the development’s newest public space, Hazelwood Green Plaza.
In response to community feedback, and acknowledging the historical and cultural sensitivity of the site in its relationship to the Hazelwood neighborhood, Street Plans created the Hazelwood Local initiative as a way to also highlight the efforts of neighborhood organizations, and drive traffic to neighborhood businesses while promoting its own events. We highlight just some of these community champions and changemakers here.
Since January 2021, Street Plans has executed 40+ events both in the neighborhood and at the Plaza, from large music festivals to intimate community gatherings. Street Plans manages the production and execution of each event, from the initial event concept through to event breakdown, and also produces content for the Hazelwood Local social media outlets, which include the website, Instagram/Facebook, and monthly Mailchimp newsletter.
To maintain relationships within the neighborhood, the Hazelwood Local team attends other community events and meetings, and also hosts a monthly virtual meeting solely to share its programming, and seek feedback from the neighborhood on how events can be made more relevant and accessible to them.
In addition to managing the Hazelwood Local programming, Street Plans created a streamlined permitting process for the developers to use as they receive inquiries from outside organizations to use event space within Hazelwood Green. A permitting guide on the Hazelwood Local website provides resources like site plan templates to enable organizations to easily request space for public events.
Each year, as a culminating celebration, Street Plans executes a public art project along the neighborhood’s main commercial corridor. In 2021, Street Plans partnered with Clear Story Creative Studio and local artists Mikael Owunna, Alisha Wormsley, and Ian Brill to deliver Illumin-Ave, a series of five, temporary storefront activations that illumated the pedestrian experience at night along Second Avenue. This year, Street Plans partnered with Hazelwood organizations Arts Excursions Unlimited to paint a piece of funcational art at Hazelwood Green Plaza. Called Hazelwood Alive, the shipping container represents the native flora found at Hazelwood Green, and serves as a beacon identifying the Plaza as a community space.
