Construction crews moved onto the sidewalk outside the Strip District Terminal on Monday, using a crane to set granite blocks in place for the second class of the Pittsburgh Walk of Fame. The installation, expected to take several hours, will add bronze stars and plaques for 10 new honorees along Smallman Street in front of the Terminal at 19th Street, each stone marking one inductee's place in the region's history.
The 2026 class includes hockey legend Mario Lemieux, Steelers broadcaster Myron Cope, choreographer Martha Graham, photographer Charles “Teenie” Harris, Steelers running back Franco Harris, condiment magnate H.J. Heinz, actress Shirley Jones, composer Henry Mancini, actor Jimmy Stewart and inventor George Westinghouse, according to CBS Pittsburgh. The nonprofit Pittsburgh Walk of Fame describes its mission as celebrating southwestern Pennsylvanians who have made significant contributions to the nation's cultural heritage, per the same report. A public induction ceremony is scheduled for October 13 at 10:30 a.m. at the Terminal, running about an hour, and Smallman Street will close between 17th and 21st streets for the event, with Lemieux scheduled to appear in person.
A Decade in the Making
The project traces back to former WQED television host and Shady Ave magazine publisher Nancy Polinsky Johnson, who began envisioning a Pittsburgh version of the attraction after visiting a similar installation in St. Louis in 2012. Johnson spent over a decade bringing the idea to life, according to WPXI, eventually selling her quarterly magazine in 2022 to focus full time on launching the Walk of Fame. The project now uses a structured governance process combining public nominations with a roughly 150-member voting committee, as TribLIVE has reported.
To qualify, nominees must have been born in or spent their formative, creative, or societally impactful years within a 10-county region of southwestern Pennsylvania and achieved accomplishments with a national cultural impact, WPXI reports. That region spans Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Washington and Westmoreland counties. Selection begins with public nominations — accepted for the 2026 class through January 30 — followed by a vote from the nearly 150-member committee of regional leaders representing universities, cultural institutions and historical societies, before final board approval.
Following a Star-Studded Debut Class
Monday's installation marks the second phase of the attraction, which debuted in October 2025 with an inaugural class of 10: jazz musician George Benson, investigative journalist Nellie Bly, industrialist Andrew Carnegie, conservationist Rachel Carson, baseball icon Roberto Clemente, actor Michael Keaton, children's TV host Fred Rogers, vaccine pioneer Jonas Salk, pop artist Andy Warhol and playwright August Wilson. Keaton, who grew up in Allegheny County and began his television career at WQED, was the only living honoree present at the inaugural ribbon-cutting on October 20, 2025, delivering an outdoor address to crowds on Smallman Street while Benson appeared via pre-recorded video.
Each granite star is paired with a narrative bronze plaque describing the inductee's regional ties and national achievements, supported by a mobile app offering extended biographies and visuals. Among the 2026 class's standout accomplishments: Cope created the Terrible Towel in 1975, a fan symbol whose trademark royalties have since generated millions of dollars for a local care facility for people with intellectual disabilities, and Westinghouse held 360 patents and founded Westinghouse Electric Company.
Set Along a Historic Strip District Landmark
The markers sit outside the Strip District Terminal, a 1,600-foot-long red brick building that opened in 1929 as the Pennsylvania Railroad Fruit Auction & Sales Building and served as the region's primary wholesale produce hub for more than 40 years before its commercial restoration. The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014, according to the Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix.
The attraction's arrival adds another draw to a neighborhood already in the middle of a building boom. Overall public and private investment in the Strip District corridor reached approximately $1.5 billion between 2011 and 2026, driving a 347% surge in the neighborhood's residential population from 2015 to 2026, according to community organization Strip District Neighbors as Hoodline reported in its coverage of the nearby Brickworks development. That report noted the neighborhood's population grew to 3,453 residents in 2026, with more than 2,500 additional housing units in the pipeline.
Free to Visit, Backed by Corporate Sponsors
Admission to view the outdoor markers remains free to the public. The nonprofit Pittsburgh Walk of Fame operates through corporate and philanthropic support, with Highmark serving as presenting sponsor alongside funding from The Buhl Foundation, Rycon Construction and developer McCaffery Interests — the same firm behind the Terminal's restoration and the Brickworks project down the street.
