{"id":340,"date":"2014-08-20T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2014-08-20T02:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=340"},"modified":"2015-01-09T16:20:42","modified_gmt":"2015-01-09T21:20:42","slug":"clemente-field-and-mayor-sophie-masloffs-brutal-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2014\/08\/20\/clemente-field-and-mayor-sophie-masloffs-brutal-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Clemente Field and Mayor Sophie Masloff\u2019s brutal month"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"PG <\/a>
PG coverage of the announcement. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"This <\/a>
This Tim Menees cartoon was published in the PG on Sept. 9. <\/div> <\/div>
\"Rob <\/a>
Rob Rogers, then with The Pittsburgh Press, published this piece on Sept. 8. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"A <\/a>
A few of the critical letters. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Michael <\/a>
Michael Lamb, then an aide to Pittsburgh City Councilman Michael Coyne, looked over a rendering of the proposed ballpark. (John Beale\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Mayor Sophie Masloff once offered Pittsburgh a grand idea. People hated it. Their rage flared in letters to the city\u2019s newspapers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere did she get this hare-brained idea?\u201d asked a man from the South Side. \u00a0\u201c\u2026 if she thinks we should spend our hard-earned tax money on this, she\u2019s senile.\u201d<\/p>\n

“I\u2019m so angry I can barely see the paper I\u2019m writing on,” wrote a woman from Bethel Park.<\/p>\n

Masloff proposed an old-fashioned baseball stadium on the North Shore. The idea of an \u201cold fashioned\u201d park was shocking at the time. Baltimore\u2019s throwback ballpark, Camden Yards, wouldn\u2019t open for another six months.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDidn\u2019t we used to have an old-fashioned baseball stadium?\u201d wrote an Aspinwall resident. \u201cIn Oakland, wasn\u2019t it? Oh, gee, that\u2019s right; we tore it down.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ballpark\u2019s price tag, estimated at $100 million to $130 million, miffed a lot of folks. Pittsburgh faced a projected $35 million deficit and was preparing to hand out pink slips to a number of city employees.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was, in fact, a difficult time throughout much of Western Pennsylvania.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can the mayor make such a proposal when the Mon Valley needs help ..?\u201d wrote a man from Duquesne. That town\u2019s steel mill closed \u00a0several years earlier, but a few rusted sheds remained as reminders of what had been lost.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a good laugh the other day,\u201d wrote a guy from the North Hills. \u201c\u2026 Masloff wants to build a new stadium. What a joke that is \u2026 Does she think it\u2019s as easy as going out and buying a new dress?\u201d<\/p>\n

Newspaper editorials were somewhat gentler. The PG, while wondering where the money would come from, urged folks not to dismiss the idea \u201cout of hand.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Press couldn\u2019t figure out where it stood. \u201cWe cannot at this point say that the mayor\u2019s idea is a bad one. But neither can we say it\u2019s a good one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Masloff endured the ridicule and jokes for two weeks. That was enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been in public life 40 years,\u201d she said. \u201cNothing I\u2019ve ever taken on \u2026 has ever concerned and confused people as much as this has. I\u2019m amazed by it.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Sept. 16, 1991, she announced she\u2019d abandoned the plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery once in a while I get carried away with an idea,\u201d she explained.<\/p>\n

Officials broke ground for PNC Park 8\u00bd years later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mayor Sophie Masloff once offered Pittsburgh a grand idea. People hated it. <\/p>\n

Look at the picturesClemente Field and Mayor Sophie Masloff\u2019s brutal month<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":341,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"gallery","meta":{"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[944],"tags":[969,988,1006,1027,1035,1037,1047],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/tumblr_nakr52fB3A1rr5swxo1_1280.jpg?fit=1280%2C846&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2649,"url":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2012\/08\/10\/july-2-1989-pittsburgh-mayor-sophie-masloff\/","url_meta":{"origin":340,"position":0},"title":"Sophie Masloff and her character","date":"August 10, 2012","format":"gallery","excerpt":"The first female mayor of 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