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Public Input Meeting To Be Held On Construction At Former Civic Arena Site

  Developers of the former Civic Arena site in the Hill District are looking for feedback from the community.

Danish architectural firm Bjarke Ingels Group will host a public workshop on development plans at the 28-acre site Monday from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the CONSOL Energy Center’s Lexus Club. Lead residential developer McCormack Baron Salazar will be present at the meeting.

Richard Baron, chairman and CEO of the St. Louis-based real estate firm, said he wants to get valuable feedback from the community at the workshop.

“I expect that we’ll have a very good, useful conversation about the design, what amenities they’d like to see and how it will relate to the overall community itself,” Baron said.

Bjarke Ingels will likely present its design approach to attendees, who can then ask questions or comment. Public opinion will be taken into serious consideration, according to Baron.

He said McCormack Baron Salazar has been involved in the project for about three years, and they have collaborated closely with BIG and the Pittsburgh Penguins on the project.

“We’re going to be involved with the housing component of the overall redevelopment plan for the area,” he said. “That will entail … working with the Penguins and the city and the community on the master planning for the sites.”

The project will take “a couple years” to complete, with construction starting as early as 2016, Baron said.

He added that there is no “firm vision” for the site’s at this point in time.

“The real question is going to be how those buildings are laid out,” Baron said. “The way in which we work with the community. We anticipate there’s going to be some amount of retail associated with the … buildings at least, and we’ll want to make sure that we’ve considered the various types of amenities for the buildings themselves.”