Dress down Fridays take a new meaning

PUMP’s Stay and Play Fridays Sponsored by PUMP 5 to 9 p.m. Every Friday through Aug. 4 Market Square, Downtown www.pump.org

Market Square won’t seem so deserted Friday nights this summer with the Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project hosting Stay and Play Fridays Downtown. Stay and Play Fridays will feature live music, drink specials and various other activities to promote Downtown’s nightlife.

PUMP is no new project: The organization has been working to bring a new life to Pittsburgh’s Downtown since 1995. They’ve been involved in politics, transportation and charities in addition to creating their own programs, like Stay and Play and their popular adult recreational Pittsburgh Sports League, in the interest of improving the region.

The project was founded in 1995 when University of Pittsburgh graduate student Michelle Fanzo realized that many of her friends were leaving Pittsburgh to find more vibrant cities with more job offerings. She wrote an editorial in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, and after hearing back from other young professionals with the same concerns, they began to meet, and PUMP was formed.

PUMP, a nonprofit organization, is fueled by the small but vocal demographic of local young professionals. The average age of volunteers is between 25 and 39, but executive director Erin Molchany explained, “Though most of our volunteers are young, we still have a broad spectrum … PUMP is for both the young and the young thinking.”

The ideas and opinions of volunteers are what truly influences the organization.

“We want to be the voice of young-thinking people in Pittsburgh,” said Molchany, “Stay and Play Fridays were put into action because the volunteers felt that improving Downtown was the most important issue that they wanted to have a positive impact on.” Jennifer Black, the director of Operations and Programming at PUMP, has high hopes for this summer’s weekend-starting programs.

“Stay and Play was inspired by another program we had years and years ago when PUMP was first getting started, called M-squared. It had the same concept except with a more social aspect. It was wildly successful, but since we were still a new organization, it got to be too big for us and went away for a few years,” she said.

After a huge publicity stunt last Thursday, which had more than 125 volunteers freeze in place for five minutes Downtown, the Market Square festivities were brought back to life last Friday with the first Stay and Play event of the season. Friday’s event was the “Stay and Play Sampler,” which was a preview of the events to come over the summer. The “Stay and Play Sampler” featured two live bands, Mercury and Tres Lads, as well as Chinese lion dancers, Polynesian fire dancers, break dancing, tap dancing and outdoor beer vendors.

This Friday’s Stay and Play theme is “Summer in the City” and will feature three local bands, CK9 and the Old E Allstars, Strangeway and The Takeover UK as well as outdoor beer vendors. Without the distraction of a holiday weekend, PUMP expects an even better turnout than last week’s successful event. “Market Square is a great venue because it’s outdoors and has plenty of unique businesses and restaurants. It’s also ideal because it’s right in the heart of Downtown, so it’s a natural spot for people to congregate no matter where they work in the city,” said Black. Stay and Play’s events run from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. every Friday night throughout the summer until Aug. 1 in Market Square, located in the heart of Pittsburgh’s Downtown.

PUMP’s main goal with Stay and Play is to revitalize Pittsburgh and bring new customers to local businesses by attracting young professionals to come Downtown outside of their Monday through Friday workweek. PUMP hopes to raise awareness about its efforts working toward Pittsburgh’s revitalization and to prove that young people still care about the city and want to see it succeed.

“Members are the real people these events are for