The Northview Heights Calvin M. Hall Public Safety Center is reopening Wednesday after being closed for more than two years because of the covid-19 pandemic.
The center opened in 2018 to serve as both a Pittsburgh police Zone 1 substation and a community hub.
Officials will showcase the center during an open house beginning at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
As part of the reopening, police are launching Zone 1 Cares, a community-policing initiative.
“Zone 1 Cares is a way for officers to meet residents where they are,” Zone 1 Commander Shawn Malloy said.
“Officers will be visible within the community and working in partnership with residents to improve safety, improve resident relations and rebuild trust,” Malloy added. “We want residents to see us, get to know us and work with us.”
Through the initiative, Zone 1 officers will be assigned to a designated area of the North Side that encompasses three to four neighborhoods. Officers will attend neighborhood meetings and engage residents in their respective communities. They also will distribute door hangers with a QR code that residents can scan to connect to the One Northside website, which provides safety alerts, information on community events and other resources.
The program will start in the Northview Heights and Allegheny Dwellings communities this fall. Officials hope to expand it to all 18 North Side neighborhoods by spring.
As part of the safety center’s relaunch, 13 Northview Heights residents have volunteered to serve as building captains. They will help engage residents, share information and rebuild community-based programming, officials said.
“We are excited to relaunch the safety center as the first step in re-engaging North Side residents following the covid-19 pandemic,” said Diana Bucco, president of the Buhl Foundation, which is providing funding for the Zone 1 Cares program. “The Northview Heights safety center model is evidence that residents and police can partner for safer, more livable communities.”
Separately, the city said a community day is scheduled at the center from 1 to 4 p.m. Oct. 29. In addition to free food and activities, residents and officers will pay tribute to Calvin M. Hall, a Zone 1 police officer fatally shot while off duty in July 2019.
