The new Orientation Center at the Frick.

Frick gets $3 million state grant
The Frick Art & Historical Center has been awarded a $3 million grant from the state’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program.

The funds will go directly toward building The Frick’s new Education and Community Center—the centerpiece of the second phase of the museum’s three-stage, $15 million expansion project. Also included in the project’s second phase are a new Car & Carriage Museum, an outdoor courtyard and additional storage space for the Frick’s collections.

The project’s first phase, which consisted of a new orientation center, bookstore and gift shop, opened in July. Further work will include the restoration of the children’s playhouse.

History Center opens Museum Conservation Center
As the fulcrum of American civilization for more than 250 years, Pittsburgh is chock-full of cool, old stuff. Now, a new installation from the Heinz History Center is helping people preserve their historic artifacts and family heirlooms.

The History Center debuted its new Museum Conservation Center last week in a space on Penn Avenue, directly behind the Smithsonian-affiliated museum’s Smallman Street location.

In addition to housing more than 32,000 items of the History Center’s collection, the conservation center affords Pittsburghers the ability to meet with conservators for consultations on how to best clean and preserve everything from documents and photographs to art, textiles and furniture.

The conservation center will also offer a variety of workshops throughout the year which will focus on caring for and preserving historic items.

For more information, check out the conservation center’s website.

Getting ready to open the 26th St Market in the Strip
Getting ready to open the 26th St Market in the Strip. NEXTpittsburgh photo.

26th Street Market coming to the Strip
For years, the building on the northwest corner of Penn Avenue and 26th Street was topped with a larger-than-life wedding cake ornament—an oversized bride and groom marking the location of the Big Day Wedding Center and making the building impossible to miss during a stroll or drive down Penn.

But with a bulk of Big Day’s business having gone digital, owner Sal Richetti has set about transforming the space into the 26th Street Market and Café. In addition to basic grocery items, the market will offer a coffee bar, a selection of pre-made salads and sandwiches and both indoor and outdoor seating with garage doors to create an open feel.

The coffee shop/convenience store hybrid, which will be in place to serve the Strip’s rapidly increasing residential and professional communities, could open as soon as November.

Matthew Wein

Matthew Wein is a local writer, editor, blogger, storyteller and proud native Pittsburgher. Once described as "a man of things," he covers city design, spirits and craft beer for NEXT, where he keeps all of the editorial meetings light-hearted and interesting. His interests include sorting books, looking at old things and candles which smell like old-growth pine forests.