Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania • Page 67

Mar 01 2013 Post-Gazette PE-1 the stereotypical, uncared for School board President Sharene Shealey said the amount spent on now-closed schools is but hindsight is I have no intention of pointing fingers at the board at that time. They were basing their decisions off the information they had at the Noting the annual capital budget is significantly smaller now, she said, hopefully heading in a different Capital budgets get haircuts In addition to money spent on now unused buildings, the district expended more than $79 million since 2004 to change the use of, expand grades in or build to schools that are still housing students. The district did this by borrowing money at a pace that may not be seen again, at least for some years. For at least the period from 2004 through 2009, the school board approved capital budgets calling for spending from nearly $40.6 million to nearly $54.4 million each year. In 2010, the number dropped to By Eleanor Chute Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The former Pittsburgh Reizenstein Middle School was once so crowded that large closets had to be turned into classrooms and some students were housed in an annex.

Now the Shadyside school, which was opened in 1975, is being torn down to make way for an expanded Bakery Square, purchased for $5.4 million enough to cover the outstanding debt but less than the $6.27 million the district had spent on it since 2007. The school symbolizes the millions of dollars expended on schools no longer open as Pittsburgh Public Schools has struggled to decide which schools to keep open or reopen, which to close and which to renovate in the face of declining enrollment, increased charter school choices and deficit budgets. Since 2004, the district has spent more than $23 million on capital improvements in 20 buildings that no longer house students. think we need to remind ourselves that a school is open until said school superintendent Linda Lane, who has pared capital spending significantly since becoming superintendent in January 2011. are a big investment.

You take care of your assets; you just let them deteriorate and fall apart because you may not be using them she said. In the future, she said, the district needs to attention to what we think the long-term use of that building might without making a closing a self- fulfilling prophecy because of neglect. Noting staff members work hard to make sure the schools are clean and in good repair, she said, think the condition of schools is a message the community sends to their kids. There is no school in the city that has NE OF A REAT EWSPAPERS SUNDAY EXTRA AN EDITION OF SUNDAY, MARCH 10, 2013 FREE By Janice Crompton Pittsburgh Post-Gazette ave you ever looked through the windows of a dollhouse and wished you could climb in and exchange your reality for that fantasy world? If so, you alone. The world of miniature collecting can be captivating, devotees say.

an addiction that nobody wants to get away said Terri Hirt, owner of Plum Miniatures and an avid collector of tiny items. Miniature houses just for dolls. not a dollhouse, a piece of three-dimensional said Debbie McManus, owner of Lynlott Miniatures Dollhouse Junction in Aspinwall. matter what else is going on in your world, with a miniature house, you can always make it The world of miniature collecting is making a comeback from its heyday in the 1970s, as children from that generation are now looking for ways to re-create their favorite youthful pastime and pass it on to new generations. Ms.

McManus has 3,200 Facebook followers and a thriving online and brick-and-mortar business as proof of the resurgence. used to be 10 dollhouse stores in this said Ms. McManus, whose mother Judy Lynch opened the shop with her friend Betsy Lott in 1977. was the first and the last store dedicated to miniatures in When her mother died of a heart attack at the age of 50, Ms. McManus found herself in charge of liquidating the shop.

But fond memories of her mother and grandmother and their miniature collections piqued her interest, and before she knew it, Ms. McManus had reopened the business. She sold it in the late 1990s so she could raise her three children but ended up repurchasing the business after seven years. Online purchases now account for 25 percent of sales. The two Olivias definitely a labor of said Ms.

McManus, 54, who has outfitted several dollhouses of her own, including one called named for her daughter, who was 2 years old when Ms. McManus started the house. Olivia the daughter is now in college, and Ms. McManus estimated that she has spent more than $10,000 in furniture and accessories for her namesake, a miniature Cape Cod mansion on display at the shop. Ms.

McManus also carries dozens of other house kits that range in price from under $30 for a simple cardboard kit to $2,950 for a one-of-a-kind weathered cottage with gingerbread trim. House kits come in just about every home style. One called is a townhouse made of teeny-tiny bricks. The kits contain the materials needed to build the shell of the house. Paint, roofing and flooring materials, decorations, furniture and accessories even wallpaper are available at the shop.

The general rule of thumb is if you can find it in your real house, you can buy it for your dollhouse. That includes even the most mundane or unusual items, such as a Beatles album, beaded purses, books, kitchen utensils, food and even a tiny ship in a bottle. Ms. McManus said she draws customers from all over the world, including a woman from Australia who twice came to the U.S. just to visit the store.

Ms. McManus is president of the Ohio-based Dollhouse Miniatures Merchants Association, a nonprofit group devoted to promoting retailers. The collecting bug bites Rich and Sally Wheland of Hampton are avid SEE PAGE 2 t-S SS Interest in miniatures grows as collectors create perfect little worlds of their own Caesar Palermo, left, and Terri Hirt created this miniature scene, which is for sale at Lynlott Miniatures Dollhouse Junction in Aspinwall. Mr. Palermo creates the glass cases, and Ms.

Hirt decorates them. Top left: A display titled also is at the shop. Top right: A replica of a house on Old Mill Road. Larry photos SEE PAGE 2 City schools spent $23M on now-closed buildings WedeliverHallofFameplayers andHallofFamewriters. HockeyHallofFamecolumnistDaveMolinari.Tolearnmore,visitpost-gazette.com..