On March 6, 1962, the president of the Brookline Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Will Axmacher, appeared before City Council to propose fifteen potential improvements that the Chamber deemed necessary for the community.

At this time, three of the members of City Council, Thomas Gallagher, Charles McCarthy and Council President Patrick Fagan, were all residents of Brookline. During the hearing, the Brookline delegation implied that even with three local homeowners on council, the community was lacking in support from the city.

"We haven't had a major City improvement project in Brookline in twenty-five years," Axmacher said.

The Brookline Chamber of Commerce's list of potential improvements included:

1. Construction of a parking plaza on Brookline Boulevard.

2. Repaving of Pioneer Avenue from West Liberty Avenue to Southcrest Street.

3. Widening of Brookline Boulevard from Breining Street to Reamer Street.

4. Improvement of Breining Street.

5. Razing the firehouse and construction of a parking lot on the site.

6. Construction of a combined police-fire building.

7. Improvements to Moore Park Recreation Center.

8. Improvement of streets having ditches and open drains.

9. Improvement of Whited Street.

10. Widening and paving of Edgebrook Avenue.

11. Repair of sewers along Brookline Boulevard.

12. Widening and paving of Metz Way.

13. Use of parking tokens for Brookline shoppers.

14. A shopper's bus in Brookline.

15. Creation of more parkland at the Brookline Community Center.

This was quite a wish list. Some of the recommended improvements were implemented and some were not. Let's go down the list and see what eventually happened:

1. In 1981 the Mazza Pavilion opened on Brookline Boulevard with a small public parking garage on the lower levels. The space for the building was created when three older Boulevard structures were destroyed in a 1973 fire.

2. In the mid-1980s this section of Pioneer Avenue, laid in 1924 with Belgian Block, was paved over in asphalt.

3. Did Not Happen.

4. Improvements to Breining Street were made in the 1970s.

5. Did Not Happen. The historic Brookline firehouse, built in 1909, still stands. However, parking along the boulevard is still a challenge to this day.

6. Did Not Happen.

7. Improvements were made to the Moore Recreation Center.

8. Most streets with open ditches and sewers were improved. Some notable exceptions would be Whited, Edgebrook, and the lower end of Creedmoor.

9. Improvements were made to Whited Street, but much more needs to be done.

10. Edgebrook Avenue was paved, but never widened. It remains possibly the most treacherous road in Brookline.

11. The sewers along the boulevard were repaired.

12. Metz Way was paved but never widened.

13. Did Not Happen.

14. Did Not Happen. St. Mark's Church did offer free bus service (via the Little Red Bus) for senior citizens from 1977 until 2012.

15. In 1976, the valley between Brookline Boulevard and the Community Center was filled and Brookline Memorial Park expanded.

* Information on proposed improvements from The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - March 6, 1962 *