PITTSBURGH Police plan drinking area for revelers

The square will be surrounded by a 6-foot temporary chain-link fence.
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The city's St. Patrick's Day Parade dates to 1869, but this year's edition will be the first to feature a drinking area for revelers who stay downtown afterward.
Market Square, a quaint open-air plaza dotted with taverns, restaurants and other shops near the end of the parade route, has become the unofficial gathering place for crowds of 10,000 or more looking to keep the party rolling after the Saturday morning parade ends.
The parade typically attracts more than 100,000 spectators, with police turning a blind eye to public drinking along the cross-town route.
But after this year's parade March 13, the square will be surrounded by a 6-foot temporary chain-link fence, with six entrances manned by Pittsburgh police. Their goal: to keep the post-parade drinkers inside, and to keep people from carrying alcohol in or out of the square.
"St. Patrick's is a day unlike any other in the course of the year," said Police Chief Robert McNeilly Jr. "It's a party atmosphere, and when you add an atmosphere like that with alcohol, it becomes a little more difficult to police. We're trying to ensure people's safety."
Owners agree
Police brought the idea to the Market Square Association, a group of business owners, who agreed to try it.
Jeff Joyce, owner of the 1902 Tavern on the square and president of the association, said merchants hope the post-parade celebration will be more orderly.
"Instead of allowing people to just pour in and out, we'll restrict it a little by closing down to 10-foot openings," Joyce said. The square, at the intersection of Forbes Avenue and Market Street, is normally open to vehicle and pedestrian traffic from four directions, plus an alley.
Michael Lamb, Allegheny County prothonotary who sits on the city's parade committee -- which is not affiliated with the post-parade party -- said plans for the fence are "a little much" but less insulting than those it's meant to corral.
"More offense is taken with the people who come down and get drunk," Lamb said. "You can't blame the city and police for trying to keep people safe. You blame the people who go down there and make fools of themselves."