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Hamnett Place: Preserving the Community’s Treasures While Building Community
By Michael Jehn
There’s an indelible charm about Hamnett Place, the Wilkinsburg neighborhood bounded by Rebecca Avenue, East Swissvale Avenue, Walnut Street, and the Martin Luther King, Jr. East Busway. Hamnett Place contains so much of the character that helps to define Wilkinsburg: from expertly restored apartment buildings containing affordable units and historic single-family homes (some in need of substantial love, to be fair) to an array of community-sustaining green spaces including Hamnett Place Community Garden (where the Regency Apartments stood until 2008) and Grow Pittsburgh’s Garden Dreams Urban Farm & Nursery. The Hamnett Historic District, a specially designated 114-acre portion of the neighborhood, was officially listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.
Pam Panchak and Deb Rose, dedicated residents and community volunteers, have been championing the needs of Hamnett Place’s people (and properties) for more than 20 years, promoting public safety and blight reduction, attractive public spaces and home ownership, and unification against predatory development that could have harmful consequences for the neighborhood....
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