NFL draft construction is underway in Point State Park, closing off a portion of the park as crews start setting up for what will be a major part of the “NFL Draft Experience.”

Fences are beginning to surround the park lawns. The portion of the trails along the Monongahela River near the Fort Pitt Museum is completely closed off, with access to the museum and Fort Pitt Block House open.

The southbound side of Commonwealth Place is also closed to allow for a staging area, leading to traffic, at times, around the Wyndham Hotel.

A walk through the park on Saturday meant dodging forklifts that were bringing materials around. Meanwhile, people continued to enjoy a nice day at the park, having picnics, resting, or just looking at the rivers.

KDKA-TV’s crew even found one man, Conrad Lloyd, hanging out in a tree.

“Most times I come here when it’s not icy or snowy because I feel like it’s a nice way to feel like a child again,” Lloyd said.

From his perch, he had a view of all the construction. KDKA-TV watched as parents kept their kids away from a platform.

“I just hope they are practicing the best they can with safety because I think there are a lot of crazies downtown who wouldn’t be afraid to steal a forklift,” Lloyd said.

Safety was also on the minds of the crews. They told KDKA-TV it’s the reason the main lawn would be closed starting Sunday as construction intensifies. A Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources spokesperson confirmed there would be additional closures on Sunday, but did not specify exactly where.

“I did not know that, and that is not the best,” Lloyd said. “It’ll be annoying, I guess, at the very least. I will be treeless for a few weeks.”

“It’s a bummer, but we’ll just wait it out, get back here once it’s open again,” River Samek, who was enjoying the park with his family, said.

A map on the NFL OnePass shows that access will remain open in some capacity to the fountain at the point in some capacity.

The map, however, did show that there would not be easy access to the Fort Duquesne pedestrian bridge, forcing people to walk to the Roberto Clemente Bridge if they want to cross from one part of the NFL draft footprint to the other.

The Gateway Clipper will also run across the Allegheny River, but a source familiar with the city’s planning told KDKA-TV it won’t be running for the entirety of the draft.

Pittsburgh Mayor Corey O’Connor was asked about draft construction in the morning. Roads are being reconstructed, and fencing and signs are going up, he said.

“We’re using weekends to do a lot of it because there’s not as much traffic downtown as there would be during the week,” O’Connor said.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have a laundry list of players who are sitting out the team’s game against the Washington Capitals Saturday at PPG Paints Arena, notably Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

The Penguins announced seven players are injured and will not play:

• Sidney Crosby (lower-body)
• Ben Kindel (upper-body)
• Evgeni Malkin (upper-body)
• Bryan Rust (lower-body)
• Parker Wotherspoon (upper-body)
• Erik Karlsson (lower-body)
• Kris Letang (No injury listed)

To fill the open roster spots, the Penguins recalled Ville Koivunen, Rutger McGroarty, and Joona Koppanen, all on an emergency basis.

Also, forward Connor Dewar’s status was changed from day-to-day to week-to-week.

Crosby has been nursing a knee injury since suffering a Grade 2 MCL tear during the Winter Olympics in February. He missed about four weeks. Malkin has also been nursing multiple injuries, from a shoulder malady to a hand injury.

The Penguins face Washington at 3 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena, the club’s last home game of the regular season. The Penguins have already clinched a playoff berth and second place in the Metro Division, but Washington is still chasing a long shot chance to leapfrog the Philadelphia Flyers, Columbus Blue Jackets, and New York Islanders in the final three games.

PHN will update the story after coach Dan Muse addresses the media at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Tags: erik karlsson Evgeni Malkin Kris Letang Sidney Crosby

Categorized:Penguins News

KDKA — The four astronauts on Artemis II went farther into space than any human has before, and one person from southwestern Pennsylvania can say they took part in the historic mission.

Gary Jordan spent his teenage years in Cranberry Township, growing up loving Star Wars, and while those interests wouldn’t take him to space, they took him to the closest place he could get.

His highlight was a little more than a week ago as Artemis II blasted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, sending three Americans and one Canadian on a record-breaking 252,000 miles from Earth.

On the live broadcast, NASA commentator Derrol Nail started with the countdown to liftoff. About 30 seconds later, you could hear a different voice, that of Jordan.

“Houston now controlling the flight of Integrity on the Artemis II mission around the moon,” Jordan said on the broadcast.

Jordan was speaking from mission control at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, where he’s the manager of communications and public affairs.

For three more hours or so, Jordan was the sole voice who translated for the public the conversations between the astronauts and the CapCom, the person speaking to the crew, helping us all to understand what was happening.

“I was taking deep breaths, you know? I was trying to get really into a focused mode,” Jordan told KDKA.

The Seneca Valley High School graduate said that after a year of special training preparing for contingencies, it became real at the 10-minute mark before the launch, his heart racing, but he tried to put himself into one of those simulations to separate himself from the gravity of the moment.

And about one minute into the flight, he took it all in.

“I kind of looked up and saw the engines firing. I saw the plume of smoke. I saw the roar of the engines, and for just a moment, I kind of pulled myself out from that level of focus … and just (sat) in awe of what was happening. People were traveling, people were about to go to the moon, and we were a part of it, and we were making it happen,” Jordan said.

It’s a memory he’ll never forget.

“It’s definitely an honor. It’s definitely humbling,” Jordan said.

It’s one he will take with him as he sets his eyes on 2028, when the U.S. plans to send astronauts back to the surface of the moon.

“I would love to stick around and do anything I can to push us towards getting there and do it what I think is the best way possible, share with as many people as possible,” Jordan said.