Leaders from across Pittsburgh's public and private sectors turned out for the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership's annual meeting Wednesday night to discuss the future of Downtown.
The PDP's President and CEO , Jeremy Waldrup, says that he sees a future involving safe streets, bustling storefronts and businesses staying put.
"We have never before seen, from the Governor's Office to our regional leadership, our local elected officials, we are all kind of putting our investments in making sure that Downtown is clean, safe, welcoming, vibrant, and active", he says.
Part of the future plans include the renovation of Market Square starting April 1st, and a new annual festival called The Thaw, a celebration of the transition from winter to spring. Waldrup goes into detail about The Thaw:
"In Market Square, during Oktoberfest, we had this beautiful, big tent. We're going to be bringing that back. We're gonna have a bar, a small stage, and we're gonna welcome a lot of live music. We're gonna heat this thing, so you don't have to worry about being too cold. It's just a good way to get folks into the city", he said.
The Thaw begins March 8th and continues through the 23rd.