PITTSBURGH - The Miniature Railroad and Village, the 83 by 30 foot model of late 19th/early 20th century Western Pennsylvania that has been a Pittsburgh landmark for more than 50 years, first at the Buhl Planetarium and later the Carnegie Science Center, reopened last Friday to large crowds, but perhaps not for long. The miniature plastic citizens of the Miniature Village are threatening to leave town unless the City agrees to fund a new miniature sports facility to replace the fourteen-inch long, circa-1900 baseball field that has graced the Miniature Village since it opened in 1954. The estimated cost of a new sports facility is $300.
Blacksmith Julius Little, the half-inch tall spokesman for a consortium of small businesspersons in the Miniature Village, explained that the old ballpark has no luxury boxes. "Heck," said Little, "it doesn't even have chairs with backs on them."
Little said that his group had hoped to obtain a gaming license to operate a miniature casino, the revenue from which would fund a new sports facility. By law, the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board will award one miniature gaming license, but it has rejected the Little group's proposal. "The fix is in," said Little. "Mark my words -- they're going to build the miniature casino inside a train set that belongs to one of the kids of a Forest City investor," said Little. (Forest City is teaming with Harrah's in a proposal that would put a casino in Station Square.)
Resorting to "Plan B," the small business people in the Miniature Village are "ready to walk" if the City refuses to fund a new sports facility, Little explained. "We think," said Little, "it's really a small thing to ask."
