{"id":9136,"date":"2018-09-21T17:56:31","date_gmt":"2018-09-21T21:56:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/?p=9136"},"modified":"2018-09-24T11:02:03","modified_gmt":"2018-09-24T15:02:03","slug":"mac-miller-made-it-famous-but-blue-slide-park-has-a-long-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsinteractive.post-gazette.com\/thedigs\/2018\/09\/21\/mac-miller-made-it-famous-but-blue-slide-park-has-a-long-history\/","title":{"rendered":"Mac Miller made it famous, but ‘Blue Slide Park’ has a long history"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"The <\/a>
The caption on this August 1962 photo calls this “a new kind of slide–made of polished concrete and laid in a curve over a natural slope. The photo was taken at one of the city’s new parklets, on Beechview Boulevard and English Lane, the area that would later become Frick Park Playground, or Blue Slide Park. (Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Ailani <\/a>
Ailani Mitchell, 7, of Homewood goes headfirst down the blue slide, Aug. 10, 2012. (Chris Kasprak\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Ava <\/a>
Ava Gerami, 19, of Cleveland places flowers in honor of rapper Mac Miller during a vigil, Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2018, at Blue Slide Park. (Matt Freed\/Post-Gazette) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Some called the playground on Beechwood Boulevard “Crazy Park.”<\/a> To others, the Squirrel Hill landmark was “blue slide Frick.”<\/a> But to Mac Miller, it was “Blue Slide Park,” and after he released his debut album under that name in 2011, it’s hard to imagine the playground being called anything else.<\/p>\n

Miller, born Malcolm McCormick, died on Friday, Sept. 7, at the age of 26. In addition to the park’s role in his early career, the blue slide has provided mourning fans a tangible connection to Miller’s story. When his record label scheduled a vigil, the park was the obvious choice, and thousands of mourners gathered at the top of the slide to remember the Allderdice graduate. And a petition has circulated calling on the city to rename the park in his honor. Mayor Bill Peduto said<\/a> he wouldn’t oppose the name, though he said the request should come from the community.<\/p>\n

“Sometimes I just wanna go\/ Back to Blue Slide Park, the only place I call home\/ I hope it’s never all gone, don’t think it’s ever all gone,” the Point Breeze native sings on the album’s opener, “English Lane,” named after the street at the entrance to the playground. “Blue Slide Park,” which didn’t receive the level of critical acclaim as Miller’s later work, features the slide as a blue streak of paint on the cover. Miller said the opening track was meant to simulate walking into the playground.<\/p>\n