Dormont might encompass less than one square mile, but its
shopping districts along West Liberty and Potomac avenues offer
lots of great stores and restaurants—such as Dormont Dogs (just
off Potomac on Glenmore) and the venerable Dor-Stop diner.

Wander into Dormont's residential areas to see sturdy houses
representing a wide range of architectural styles.

The 300-seat, recently restored
Hollywood Theater on Potomac
Avenue is showing an eclectic
mix of Grade B movies, old
Hollywood classics and first run films. A
schedule is available at
www.hollywooddormont.com. ough. “People are being priced out of the city. Dormont has great
housing stock and is right on the T line. You can get a lot of house
for your money, as well as trees and a yard.”
Earlier this year, residents formed DIG Dormont, a community
garden club committed to cleaning up the town. The club’s first
project was building a natural rock wall and planting annuals
and perennials in a vacant lot at the corner of West Liberty and
Hillsdale avenues. A sub-group of Councilman Drew Lehman
and Councilwoman Kim Lusardi’s Community Affairs/Recreation
Committee, the club also will maintain planter boxes on Potomac
Avenue and work to beautify both West Liberty and Broadway
avenues. On Saturday, October 17, the club will sponsor free semi-
nars with two master gardeners on composting and landscape design.

For information, log on to www.digdormont.com.

Two other big events are planned for October. On the October
10, Potomac Avenue will shut down between West Liberty and
Belrose avenues for Dormont’s third annual street festival. The day-
long event features craft vendors, food booths, kids’ activities and a
beer garden. Pittsburgh rock legend and longtime Dormont resident
Joe Grushecky will headline. And sometime in early October, a
Dormont mural, created by Pittsburgh artist Taylor Shields, will
be unveiled at 2938 West Liberty Avenue across from Tom’s Diner.

Funded by The Sprout Fund’s Public Art Program, the mural will
include a portrait of country music legend Slim Bryant—who has
lived in Dormont for decades—and items related to Dormont’s
100 years of history—such as a bulldog, the Dormont High School
mascot. “We picked that building because people will see it as they drive
down West Liberty into town,” Maggio says of the mural's location.

Dormont has a lot to offer—a bowling alley in the plaza across
from the Dormont Public Library, an outstanding history center/
museum in the municipal building on Hillsdale Avenue, a great
public track at the Keystone Oaks High School and a wonderful
park with bocce courts and, of course, the pool. But Maggio says the
real hidden gem in the community is the 500 metered parking spots.

“When someone says we have a parking problem, I tell them
they have an attitude problem,” he says. “I guaranteed you that
if you parked in the lot off Glenmore Avenue and walked to the
Hollywood Theater, it would be a shorter walk than if you parked in
the Destinta lot, walked in, got your ticket and then walked all the
way back to one of those theaters.”
So don’t just drive through. Stop, shop, dine and enjoy.

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