Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 17

City NEIGHBORHOODS PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE MONDAY, OCTOBER 9, 1995 B-3 CITYSCAPE The filming of "Diabolique" in a busy neighborhood creates a story all its own. Movie drama almost unreel for Squirrel Hill residents "Our business district is in need of a plan to help us compete with other business districts and malls, to attract regional customers and to accommodate our neighborhood patrons," said Roberta Weissburg, chairwoman of the Main Street Committee. East End 'People power' workshop A group of hospitals in the city's eastern neighborhoods are sponsoring a workshop Saturday to gather residents with skills and talents that can be pooled to help improve their communities. The workshop, called "People Power: Building Health Communities from the Inside Out," runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

at Vintage, 401 N. Highland East Liberty. It is for residents of Bloomfield, Friendship, Garfield, Lawrence- ville, East Liberty, Lincoln, Lem-, ington, Belmar, Morningside and Stanton Heights. West Penn Hospital, St. Francis Medical Center, Shadyside Hospital, St.

Margaret Memorial Hospital and the Allegheny County Health Department are following up a community health assessment done over the past year. John P. Kretzmann, of Northwestern University's Center for Urban Affairs and Policy Research, will lead a discussion based on his experience working with community groups across the country to identify their members' talents for use in strengthening their communities. Those interested are asked to register by calling 578-7374 by Friday. Free child care is available for those who request it in advance, Mount Washington Boy named scholar An eighth-grader at St.

Mary of the Mount has been named a National Catholic Education Association Seton Scholar. if I Vy t1 rl, 1 1 North Side Glass aviary dome OK'd The city's Historic Review Commission has approved construction of a $400,000 Victorian-style glass dome over the front entrance to the National Aviary. Work is expected to get underway by mid-November and be completed by mid-March, said Frank Moone, the aviary's director of marketing and development. The aviary will remain open during construction. Historic Commission approval was needed because the aviary is located in West Park, a city historic site, and the commission must approve any changes to the exterior of buildings in such areas.

The glass dome, to be 38 feet in diameter and 30 feet high, will span a renovated and enlarged entrance lobby. There will be movable partitions that can be used to create rooms for conducting classes about birds and environmental education. The dome is being financed by the state and private foundations. ClTYWIDE Meeting on zoning code City officials and their consultants working on an overhaul of the 1958 zoning code will update the public on the status of the project at a meeting Wednesday night. Anyone interested can attend the Urban Zoning Code Project from 7 to 9 p.m.

at the Pittsburgh Child Care Institute, 5 Station Square Drive East beside Woodson's Bar and Grill. The city Planning Department has been working on an update of the code for more than a year through a team of consultants and with representatives of neighborhoods and developers serving on a Zoning Advisory Group. A draft version of a new zoning code is expected to be presented to the city Planning Commission and City Council for consideration next year. "We're looking for more flexibility for developers, but where interaction occurs with neighborhoods, to develop compatibility standards" to help preserve their residential character, said Karen Brean, a consultary who serves as project manager. She said attendees Wednesday would hear an overview and break up into discussion groups addressing residential and commercial development and other issues.

South Side Two groups unite The South Side Chamber of Commerce and the Main Street Committee of South Side Local Development Co. are merging operations to form a single organization representing the neighborhood's business community. The South Side Business Alliance will be created by early next year, officials of the two organizations said. Its establishment will enable better use of resources that have been divided between the two entities and will provide a more unified voice for South Side merchants, officials said. "The alliance is intended to take the best of what both the chamber and Main Street have to offer, and create an organization which can better respond to the many needs of new and existing business owners," said Claudia Wheland, chamber president.

The board of directors of the chamber, which was formed in the 1960s, and the Main Street Committee of South Side Local Development will appoint a committee to work out details of the business alliance's structure. It will be a subsidiary of South Side Local Development, but it is to have its own board, budget and staff and independence on issues affecting the business district. David Pesa-creta, 13, son of Michael and Catherine Pe-sacreta of 3 Mount Washington, re- ceived his -award Oct. 2 in the Andrew W.Mellon Auditorium in I By Gary Rotstein Post-Gazette Staff Writer For Carol Beth Yoffee, it's meant living for three months with the top half of her large Squirrel Hill home draped by Army camouflage netting and artificial trees to disguise its appearance: "It's wild, really weird, but it's fun to be part of something out of Hollywood," said Yoffee, who was compensated but won't say for how much. For movie buff Judy Haffner, it's been the chance of a lifetime sneaking around a movie set and stars' trailers within eyeshot of her Beechwood Boulevard home: "They're really not allowing people to get too close, but I never stop trying." And for Deane Root, this filming of "Diabolique" in one of the busier parts of one of the city's busier neighborhoods meant sleeping on his birthday in a Downtown hotel, at the film company's expense.

Root lives on Forward Avenue next door to the former St. Philomena church and school, where Sharon Stone and the rest of a 120-person film crew have been camped with tents, trailers and cranes for the mystery thriller since July. For two August nights, Root, his wife and two daughters checked into the Westin William Penn to avoid the glare of Hollywood spotlights for a particular scene shot outside his bedroom window. The musical family has also been asked to silence its instruments when cameras are rolling nearby. Root received earplugs on his birthday so the sound of trucks moving around at night wouldn't keep him awake.

The clattering and odors of meal preparation for the crew were another annoyance for a month. It's required a lot of tolerance for an erudite fellow who is the curator of the Stephen Foster Memorial. Root didn't know who Sharon Stone was before she started showing up in the lights 100 feet from his window this summer. He knows the film is good for the city and there's a certain allure to having it next door, but frankly, this whole movie business still leaves him a bit cold after seeing it up close. "We can vouch that filming a movie is one of the most boring things in the world," Root said.

His wife, Doris Dyen, said, "The two words that define the experience are 'rolling' and which they hear repeatedly. "And, oh yes, 'Sharon wants Film-making is no longer an oddity around Pittsburgh considering the number of mainstream movies done here, from "Flashdance" through "Silence of the Lambs" on up to "Kingpin," which just began shooting. But it's rare for a film production to find a home base in a community and stay there for months instead of shuffling from place to place, said "Diabolique" location manager Judy Matthews. Ben Avon's hosting of "Lorenzo's Oil" is probably the most apt previous comparison, although the "Diabolique" crew has also been to Union-town, Lower Speers, Sewickley Heights, Castle Shannon and other locales for snippets of filming. A South Side resident, Matthews was the one who identified St.

Philomena for producers as an ideal location for "Diabolique." The vacant church property, whose next real-life role is as a Jewish elementary school, serves as a down-and-out prep school for troubled boys. Through movie-making trickery like making Yoffee's three-story house blend into a wooded background the fictional St. Anselm's is supposed to be in rural Pennsylvania instead of an urban hub. Trees and plants have been added and hillsides created, though weedy and ragged in appearance since this is supposed to be no Sewickley Academy. Those tricks to block out the rest of the neighborhood help on screen, but they can't hide the impact of noise, traffic, lights and general commotion since filming began July 25.

The work often runs past midnight. In September, more than 150 local boys hired as extras at minimum wage were also on the set. The pro- David Pesacreta Annie 0 NeiilPost-Gazette Carol Beth Yoffee and her son, Eric, are framed by the military camouflage netting that has draped their Squirrel Hill home since moviemakers began shooting "Diabolique" on July 25. "It ys wild, really weird, but it's fun to be part of something out of Hollywood. Carol Beth Yoffee, Squirrel Hill D.C.

This also was when Bishop Donald Wuerl received the Elizabeth Ann Seton Award, the NCEA's highest honor. Seton awards were established to honor organizations and individuals who make contributions to America and to Catholic education: As a Seton scholar, Pesacreta was one of six youngsters and the only one from the Pittsburgh Diocese representing the best qualities of the 2.6 million students attending Catholic elementary and secondary schools. A $1,000 scholarship accompanies the award. David is an altar server at St. Mary of the Mount and a Boy Scout.

ClTYWIDE NeighborFair renamed You once knew it as the Neighborhoods for Living Center. Then you knew it as Neighbor-Fair Pittsburgh! Now, the nonprofit group promoting city living and helping to market Pittsburgh to outsiders has renamed itself City Source Associates. The name change took effect last month as part of an effort to clarify the organization's citywide focus as a housing resource, although its staff, board composition, location, phone number and other details haven't changed, said Terence Brady, director of administration. when they were filming in the open field (apparently for a soccer scene, he rushed inside and said, 'Hurry up, Sharon Stone's out there There apparently are no tales of interaction to report between neighbors and the film's stars: Stone, Kathy Bates, Chazz Palminteri and Isa-belle Adjani. Stone, Adjani and some of the crew's higher-ups have rented homes in Squirrel Hill or Shadyside, others are staying at the Westin William Penn and Shadyside Inn.

The filming is supposed to wrap up about Oct. 25. After that, the crew removes a fake swimming pool used for a drowning scene and a false wing that was added onto the St. Philomena rectory to provide the fictional school with a main entrance. The Jewish Education Institute has the option of keeping trees that were added, which could be a useful buffer to the neighborhood when the site's actual school opens next fall.

As they settle into a new routine without the circus-like atmosphere of the film, the neighbors will await the opening of "Diabolique" so they can see how it all looks on screen, even if they're rendered invisible. This is one film even Root and Dyen plan to view. They're hoping to see an Oriental-style rug they loaned to the production. "I'd like to be invited to the premiere I certainly feel like we had enough part in it," Root said. ducers said they gave preference to neighborhood youths.

"Considering how long we've been here, we've had very few complaints," Matthews said, a view echoed by the Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition and Councilman Bob O'Connor. Even those occasionally annoyed, like Root, acknowledge the production company has been responsive when issues arise. The crew is also responsive when onlookers try to get too close to the set, crossing "no trespassing" signs on the periphery. They are asked politely to leave, and no problems for the filming have been reported. Haffner has been kicked out a few times, but she can't resist the urge almost daily "to peek in and see what's going on." "My husband is not as curious as I am, but Wednesday Thursday Tuesday Friday Saturday Sunday Monday CALEI3PAR Downtown: The Allegheny County Drug Alcohol Planning Council meeting is at 5 p.m.

in board rooms 1 and 2 at 304 Wood St. Highland Park: Citiparks' Farmers Market is from 4 to 8 p.m. at the Pittsburgh Zoo parking lot. Call 422-6523 for information. Oakland: The first of a three-part lecture series titled "Women on Women" is at 7:15 p.m.

inKresge Theater on the Carlow College campus. Speakers will be Lynn Martin, former U.S. secretary of labor; Marie Torre, former KDKA-TV anchor; and Gloria Naylor, author of "The Women of Brewster Place." Carrick: Carrick Community Council meets at 7:30 p.m. at the Concord Pres-: byterian Church, 1907 Brownsville Road. Friendship: The Second Annual "Living in Friendship House Tour" is from 1 to 5 p.m.

beginning at the Fourth Presbyterian Church, Friendship and Roup avenues. Call 621-1114. Downtown: First Lutheran Church, 615 Grant holds a German festival of the harvest, at 4 p.m.Call 471-8125. Squirrel Hill: Joe Negri performs with the Jewish Community Center Orchestra at 3 p.m. in the JCC's Levinson Hall, 5738 Carrick: The 29th Ward Carrick Block Watch meets at 7 p.m.

at Quentin Roosevelt Elementary School, 200 The Boulevard. Oakland: The University of Pittsburgh holds a Graduate and Professional School Fair from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the William Pitt Union, Assembly Room. For information, call the school at 646-7930.

Highland Park: Citiparks' Farmers Market is 4 to 8 p.m. at the Pittsburgh Zoo parking lot. Call 422- 6523 for information. Squirrel Hill: A Parkin-1 son's Support Group sponsored by the Tri StatePittsburgh Chapter, APDA, meets at 7 p.m. at The Rehabilitation Institute of Pittsburgh, Shady Avenue.

For details, call 521-9584. Oakland: A free lecture, "Freedom's Memorial: Manumission and Black Masculinity in a Monument to Lincoln," is at noon at the Frick Fine Arts Building, Room 203. Kirk Savage, department of the History of Art Architecture, will speak. Call 648-2400. South Side: Citiparks' Farmers Market is 4 to 8 p.m.

at 18th and Sydney streets. Call 422-6523 for information. East Liberty: The Lin-coln-Larimer-Lemington- Belmar Citizens Revitalization and Development Corporation honors James "Rip" Taylor, the off-duty Pittsburgh traffic officer who was shot to death last month, at a dinner at 6:45 p.m. at the New Southern Platter Banquet Hall, 8989 Frankstown Road. Carrick: Carrick High School Alumni Association inducts two former teachers, Marion E.

Clark and Richard O. Price, into the Alumni Hall of Fame at the Homecoming Day Luncheon at 1 1 :30 a.m. in the high school's big gym. Squirrel Hill: "Bump in the Night," a program of Halloween family fun, runs from 7 to 9 p.m. today and tomorrow at the Frick Environmental Center, 2005 Beechwood Blvd.

Call ty. 422-6538 to register. Forbes Ave. Tickets are Citywide: A fall festival and community day craft show benefiting the United Cerebral Palsy of Pittsburgh is from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Call the agency at 683-71 00 for location of festival. Squirrel Hill: The Western Pennsylvania Chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation presents a free workshop, "Women and Diabetes," from 9 a.m. to noon at the Rehabilitation Institute. Child care is available. For more information, call 471-1414.

$1 0 per person or $25 per How to list your events The City Neighborhoods listing welcomes information about events occurring in any of the city's neighborhoods. To be considered for publication, submit your listings at least one week before the publication date. Mail information, including a daytime and evening phone number, to City Neighborhoods, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, 34 Blvd. of the Allies, Pittsburgh, Pa. 15222.

We cannot list all events due to space limitations. family. Shadyside: Wolfgang Rubsam presents an Shadyside: Environmental projects under way at Quaker Valley Senior High School are the topic ot the Sierra Club meeting, 7:30 p.m., at The Pittsburgh Civic Garden Center, Fifth and Shady avenues. The public is invited. Call 421-6560 tor information.

opening concert of the Or gan Artists Series at 7:30 p.m. at the Calvary Episcopal Church, Walnut Street and Shady Avenue..