By Lourdes Daughtry | Staff Writer
The opening of Shore Thing, a new floating food and entertainment platform placed off Allegheny Landing on the North Shore, has brought a new attraction to Pittsburgh’s riverfront.
Shore Thing, created by the nonprofit Riverlife, wants to bring life to the city’s waterfront in an original way: by placing public space directly on the water. The 4,500-square-foot platform, built on 10 recycled barges brought in from Dubuque, Iowa, can be found between the Sixth- and Seventh-Street “Sister” Bridges on the Allegheny River and is now open for activities.
Shore Thing includes food, art, and recreation to create a space for socializing and riverside fun. The food menu, created by BG Brewing of Braddock, includes a fun mix of backyard favorites and flavors, such as Wagyu hot dogs, poke bombs, haluski, macaroni salad, shaved ice, and vanilla ice cream with rainbow sprinkles. Craft beer, cocktails, lemonade, canned sodas, and non-alcoholic beer are all available on the menu.
Throughout the season, visitors can enjoy a floating library with books for all ages, classic board games such as Go Fish and Chess, and hands-on art stations packed with watercolors, colored pencils, and magnetic boards. Shore Thing will be open until mid-October, with hours from 3 to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and noon to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday. It’s closed on Mondays.
While visitors are able to enjoy the sight of the floating platform, it took months of hard work, coordination, and a lot of steel to make it possible. That effort included the skills of Josh Sasfai, President of RJ Brown River Towing Inc., a Kittanning, Pennsylvania based company that sells barge towing, marine construction, and terminal services. Their yard, located at 300 Mile Long Hill Road, was important in the project’s early stages.
Sasfai described how everything started in January, one of the coldest weeks of the year, when the tractor- trailer carrying the barge sections, each measuring 10 feet in width and 41 feet in length, arrived. The parts had to be stacked and kept on land until spring because the Allegheny River was seven inches deep with ice at the time. The team put them in the water for an entire mock build in March after the river thawed.
“Let’s build it as it would be in Pittsburgh and make sure everything zigs instead of zags,” he said.
To be able to meet the summer deadline, work increased by April and May. As a way to avoid high temperatures, Sasfai and his team started building early in the morning.
“We started at 5:30 or 6 o’clock in the morning, assembling the barges, driving the spuds, and putting everything together,” he said. “It went from winter freezes to heat indexes of 115 degrees.”
When putting it together, the project got daily attention. Every day, a crowd would come and ask what it was. According to Sasfai, some people believed it to be a fishing pier or something that would float away.
“I told them, hang tight. There’s a restaurant going in, beer, tables, art installations — it’s going to be a lot more than they expect.”
Sasfai told the fishermen that Shore Thing had been placed far enough offshore to avoid conflict, even with their fears about losing the fishing area.
Also, the platform is made to be portable.
“Everything is self-contained. It doesn’t have to stay between the Sister Bridges. If needed, it can move to Point State Park or another part of the city,” Sasfai said. “It’s a floating venue that can explore different parts of Pittsburgh.”
Shore Thing is about movement and wellness along with food and building. Fitness with Darnell Campbell, a weekly community workout held on the floating deck, is one of the season’s most popular programs.
“The staff is incredibly kind and welcoming, and the energy from the community is just contagious,” said Darnell Campbell, who leads the weekly session.
“Every week brings new faces, and it’s so heartwarming to see everyone greeting each other with big smiles, high spirits, and lots of encouragement,” said Campbell, speaking about how the new floating “thing” has quickly become a major contribution in Pittsburgh, bringing new visitors to the shore.
Campbell also reflects on his experience leading Fitness with Darnell, saying,”It’s such a joy to be part of a group that’s genuinely excited to work out bright and early, right by the river. I look forward to it every time.”
After Riverlife found his work online, Campbell, a PE teacher, trainer, CPR instructor, and coach became connected with the organization. “Not long ago, someone from Riverlife came across my Instagram and reached out. We connected, and what started as a conversation about bringing a corporate wellness program to their staff quickly turned into something even more exciting… we landed ourselves on Shore Thing.”
In terms of the future of Shore Thing Campbell said, “I’m not exactly sure what the future holds, but I do know this: I absolutely love the positive, uplifting environment they’ve built, and I’d be thrilled to keep growing with it. Each week, I’ve been sharing my website, Iamfittllc.com, with folks so we can stay connected and I can continue doing what I’m passionate about — helping people move and feel their best.”
To visit Shore Thing, come to 2 Federal St., Pittsburgh, PA 15212 and see what it is about. For more information, visit shorething.riverlifepgh.org.
