Work is coming along on the Hamilton Stage for Performing Arts with walls recently going up to cover most of the steel. The $5.825-million project is slated to be complete by next spring.

Work also has started on the $1.1-million interim parking lot at the former Hamilton Laundry site. Originally planned to house an amphitheater, the site will provide 115 parking spaces, including parking behind the three homes along Hamilton Street, adjoining the Hamilton Stage area (There will be 16 spaces at the Hamilton Stage, for a total 131).

If you haven’t noticed, I’ve been coming across a lot of interesting stories from The Atlantic lately, including this one about historic preservation in Pittsburgh (“Making Pittsburgh New by Keeping it Old”). It’s a great, quick read about how 15 years after the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation opposed the demolition of 64 historic buildings for a typical mall, the foundation now has been hired by the city to oversee redevelopment of those buildings.

Among the key takeaways: “The local urban redevelopment authority stressed how bad the neighborhoods were, how strategic it would be to clear them and stave off the decay. But (their) approach was about adding the positive to diminish the negative, not erasing the negative and expecting a positive to emerge.”