Riot damages cost thousands

Property owners are still tabulating the bill for damage done to their businesses during the… Property owners are still tabulating the bill for damage done to their businesses during the post-Super Bowl riots two weekends ago, but they expect the repairs to cost in the tens of thousands of dollars range. Lamar Advertising owns two of the bus shelters that were destroyed during the festivities. Each shelter will cost at least $10,000 to replace, said the company’s transit director, Sara Lupinski. It will be several weeks before the shelters will be replaced and ready for use again, she said. ‘It’s fine to celebrate the win and all, but I don’t see why they had to destroy our property and other people’s,’ said Lupinski. ‘I hope that the ones who did it suffer consequences for their actions.’ People threw a parking meter and several street signs into the UPS Store on Forbes Avenue. The meter and signs shattered the front glass door and a large glass window, tore up the store’s carpeting and damaged the counter, said its manager, Marc Goodman, who estimated that the repairs will cost several thousand dollars. The damage forced the store to close the following Monday, and the store might need to close more over the next few weeks to allow for repairs, he said. ‘It’s just a few bad apples that did it, but we’re still disappointed,’ said Goodman. The cost of damages to the Hillman Library windows and other Pitt property still is being calculated. Contracts have been assigned for repairs, but the full cost to Pitt for damage done last Sunday night still is pending, said Robert Hill, Pitt’s vice chancellor for public affairs. Hill said he wasn’t sure when the repairs would be done. Bruegger’s Bagels, Hemingway’s Cafe and The Original Hot Dog Shop also had windows broken. Several parking meters, streets signs, public trash cans and newspaper dispensers were either removed or damaged. The City of Pittsburgh Public Works Department, which was calculating estimates for the damage done to city property, did not return calls as of press time.