On the evening of January 21, 2003 over fifty people gathered at the Hazelwood Car Barn to find out what may become of the Hazelwood LTV site. The attendance included not only Greater Hazelwood residents but residents of Oakland, as well as, representatives from the Urban Redevelopment Authority, State Representative Jake Wheatley’s office, Allegheny County Executive Roddey’s office, the Mayor’s office, City Departments of City Planning and Engineering and Construction, Heinz Endowments, ALMONO, and members of the media. F. Brooks Robinson, Sr, President of RIDC and General Partner of ALMONO, explained how ALMONO, LLP, the consortium of foundations who purchased the LTV Hazelwood site, requires several elements in the development of that site. ALMONO expects an exemplary urban mixed-use development with four (4) goals:

1) Revitalize Hazelwood by weaving the new development into the existing residential and commercial areas of Hazelwood.

2) Create a Great Urban Pittsburgh Place…a new address celebrating the cultural and industrial history of the site, Hazelwood and Pittsburgh.

3) Be Sustainable, showcasing the best practices of industrial reuse while healing the site and being pedestrian/bike/transit friendly.

4) Connect the Site to the Region by supporting public transportation into the Mon Valley, connecting to the institutions and resources of Oakland and Pittsburgh, as well as providing public access to the river for recreation and commerce.

With those four goals in mind, ALMONO’s consultant, the local firm of Urban Design Associates (UDA) was given the charge to develop a conceptual master plan for the entire site. Don Carter, FAIA, Principal of UDA explained the process with which his team of sub-consultants undertook. Three phases of the process were defined. First came the Understanding Phase. This was the gathering of site-specific information and the feedback from various stakeholder groups. During this phase the strengths, weaknesses and vision for the future of the site were identified. Six stakeholder groups were engaged. These groups included transportation agencies; economic development agencies; private developers; river life and recreation interest groups; river commerce agencies and neighborhood residents from Hazelwood and adjacent communities. All of this information helped to create the "X rays" of the site. These "X rays" as defined by UDA included the transportation networks in the vicinity of the site; the topography; the cultural assets; the existing infrastructure on and off the site, to name a few.

The second phase of their design process was the Exploration of Design Ideas. In this phase all the information gathered, the "Xrays", were synthesized into several different development scenarios. UDA formed a consultant team of Chan Krieger & Associates of Cambridge, Masachusetts - Architects and Planners; D’Appolonia Civil Engineers of Monroeville, Pennsylvania; Zimmerman Volk of New Jersey - residential marketing analysts; Economic Research Associates of Washington D.C. - commercial marketing analysts; and Walter Kulash of Glattin Jackson in Orlando, Florida - Traffic Engineer. This team developed two (2) overall conceptual master plans – one with and one without the Mon/Fayette Toll Road.

Through the Exploration of Design Ideas phase, it became very obvious of obstacles to total development of the entire 178 acre site. If the CSX rail lines remain; the Mon/Fayette developed through the site as intended; the area of contamination not remediated or "capped"; and with the large buildings remaining, only 81.2 acres of land would remain to develop, less than half of the total acreage. Thus two development scenarios emerged. One concept emerged with the Mon/Fayette, providing less land to develop, and the other concept without the Mon/Fayette and almost all of the 178 acres to develop.

Although each development concept was presented that evening, both were similar in many ways. The "Big Idea" is to extend the grid of streets across the site creating an urban environment upon which mixed-use development would occur. This mixed-use would consist of various residential types immersed in a very green site intermingled with recreation opportunities as well as some commercial activity. However, Carter did imply that their ideas recommend commercial activity to take place near and along Second Avenue reinforcing the original Hazelwood business district.

The main road network would have a main spine through the middle of the site travelling north to south. This roadway would follow portions of the "old" Second Avenue. In addition, the concepts included a River Road, allowing all to experience the views and amenities developing along the riverfront. On one side of the River Road, various types of residences would front out to the river. The opposite side directly along the river could provide benches, trails, outlooks, possibly a restaurant as an adaptive reuse of the existing Pump House. A marina is in the conceptual plan at the end of an extended Hazelwood Avenue. This marina would be for boaters and kayaks, but not an extended stay marina. A possible hotel is also part of the vision for this area.

Closer to the Greenfield end of the site and the narrow end, the conceptual plans include possible soccer fields, signature sites for high technology companies (a minor extension of Pittsburgh Technology Center), and a vision of extending Schenley Park to the river from Junction and Panther Hollows. These were all parts of the concepts developed for ALMONO by the UDA team of consultants. These concepts will now be included as part of the search for the appropriate developer or team of developers to bring all of this to reality.

Brooks Robinson, Sr. anticipates sending out requests for qualifications and proposals to developers nationwide by the end of March. Then the Client Decision phase begins. Possibly by the end of 2003 definite plans will be in place to develop the entire LTV Hazelwood site within the next ten years.