Stanley Cup Final Run Prompts City To Prep For Excited Fans
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- We all know the kind of celebration winning a sports championship can bring to a city.
"We are starting the planning as we speak, and we're dusting off the plan from the 2009 Penguins' victory," said Pittsburgh Public Safety Director Wendell Hissrich.
Hissrich says if the Penguins win Game 3 Saturday night, city officials will be meeting Sunday to finalize a plan for Monday when Game 4 will be played.
It will be all hands on deck, and that plan will reach beyond the Pittsburgh Police.
"We're working with [Allegheny] County Police, the Sheriff's Office, the State Police and other boarding municipalities as well," Hissrich said.
The need for manpower will depend on where the final game is played.
"You have the outside [of CONSOL Energy Center], South Side, Downtown, Lawrenceville, and who knows where else, so that's what we're looking at right now," Hissrich said.
There are plenty of other events coming up over the next few weeks in and around the city.
"We also have the U.S. Open, and we have PrideFest in the city, and the Pittsburgh Arts Festival," Hissrich said.
But as a lifelong Pittsburgh sports fan, Hissrich sees this as a great issue to have. And, as for any formal celebration, he says, "We don't even want to discuss that or jinx it."
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KDKA'S Kym Gable talked to business owners in the neighborhoods that Hissrich mentioned.
The first two games have already attracted raucous crowds on the city's South Side.
"It was pretty wild," said Mike Scarlatelli, owner of The Smiling Moose on East Carson Street. "But usually, the city prepares well and everyone's in order so to speak. So, everyone has to stick together and make everyone safe, and that's what we'll do."
Meanwhile, in Lawrenceville, a lot of folks aren't convinced that a concentration of revelers would flock to that neighborhood.
"I think it's a little too far out here. I mean, we don't have the sports bar-type atmosphere," said Matt Cavanaugh, owner of Matteo's on Butler Street. "If the city's bringing the police down, I'm sure they'll take care of it."