By KRIS MAHER
PITTSBURGH -- Perched atop Mount Washington, with its prime view of downtown, is the long-shuttered Edge Restaurant, a graffiti-covered building that has been empty for 30 years.
A neighborhood nuisance visible from downtown, the structure threatens to be a citywide embarrassment in late September, when finance ministers and their entourages from the Group of 20 nations arrive for a global summit. That is why the city plans to hide the eyesore under a drape and has enlisted the Andy Warhol Museum for ideas to dress up the disguise. Options include projecting faces of residents and famous people onto the covering, or painting on an image of the hotel proposed for the site.
With thousands of international visitors expected for the summit -- and advance workers coming to scope out the city -- Pittsburgh officials are frantically trying to get the city ready for the spotlight.
On Thursday, Mayor Luke Ravenstahl conducted the first of five G-20 sweeps, a late-morning walk along streets in the downtown cultural district during which he noted broken sidewalks and paint-chipped light posts and fire hydrants.
"This graffiti is pretty bad on this block," the 29-year-old mayor told Kevin Quigley, head of the city's Redd Up Crew -- named for a local phrase meaning "clean up." The 18-person crew received a list of "action items" from the first sweep. Among them: power-washing garbage cans and alleyways, renovating curbs and removing dead trees from what is known as the Priority Area, the zone around the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, where the summit will be held.
Cleanup efforts have been in full swing since May, when the Obama administration tapped Pittsburgh as summit host. Already, 40 tons of trash -- including tires, shopping carts and mattresses -- have been picked up from the banks of the city's three rivers. The biggest find was a concrete truck, found submerged near downtown, said Don Bialosky, of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, who helped coordinate a one-day cleanup event in June.
The city's G-20 spending is expected to total between $10 million and $20 million, including the cost for about 3,000 security personnel to supplement the city's 900 police officers. City officials are hoping for White House help. "We're very confident that the federal government is going to assist us in these costs," said Joanna Doven, the mayor's press secretary.
Pittsburgh's finances have been overseen by a state board since 2003, when it was declared financially distressed. The mayor is trying to raise revenue to shore up pension-fund shortfalls by leasing parking garages or raising payroll taxes on nonprofits.
The local economy could recoup some of that investment as an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 people -- including international delegations, journalists, security personnel and summit protesters -- fill local hotels and restaurants.
Joe McGrath, chief executive of VisitPittsburgh, the city's tourism bureau, expects the summit will generate about $8 million to $10 million, based on previous events in the city. Already, an hour south of the city, the five-star Nemacolin Woodlands Resort, which has trap shooting, a wildlife center with lions, leopards and zebras, and its own airstrip, said its 335 rooms, ranging from $300 to $650 a night, are booked for the two days of the summit.
Officials at Pittsburgh International Airport say they can accommodate increased traffic, given the abundance of unused gates since US Airways dropped Pittsburgh as a hub in 2004. The airport handles 157 flights a day, down from more than 600 in 2000. A nearby county airport is expected to handle many private jets.
Andy Masich, president and CEO of the Sen. John Heinz History Center, the largest history museum in the state, thinks the airport can use a few additions, and is recruiting actors to portray famous area natives such as Fred Rogers, Andrew Carnegie and Jonas Salk to greet G-20 dignitaries and media.
"We thought it would be good to make the point that Pittsburgh has changed the world over the last 250 years," said Mr. Masich. A history center robot might also translate the local dialect to visitors, explaining, for example, that "yinz" means "you" when spoken by a Pittsburgher.
Other proposals are in the works, some drawn from three public brainstorming meetings sponsored by the city. Some of the more conventional ideas -- flying flags of G-20 countries downtown and hanging welcome signs on streets -- are being considered. One that probably won't float: having delegates bring water from every G-20 country to dump into a downtown fountain.
Write to Kris Maher at kris.maher@wsj.com
