PITTSBURGH — At 4:36 p.m. on Thursday, the Penguins called Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto's office with a problem.
The crowd outside Consol Energy Center, gathered to watch Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Final on a mobile screen at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Washington Place had hit capacity. Both sidewalks and the street, stretching from Fifth up to Centre Avenue, were filled — and puck drop was a little less than four hours away.
Crowd is almost a full city block deep. They're either going to have to turn people away or shut down another road. pic.twitter.com/TXVAvWzYe3
— Sean Gentille (@seangentille) June 9, 2016
So, given that thousands more people were en route to downtown Pittsburgh planning to watch a potential Penguins Stanley Cup clincher on a big, outdoor screen, the situation needed to be addressed, and the solution was simple enough: Add a second screen.
The natural choice was less than a mile away, at Market Square. It's a public space — yes, it's square — lined with restaurants, and it had hosted viewing parties before, for the 2014 World Cup. Advanced Visual Solutions had a second portable screen available.
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So, the process began, and around 6:15, it ended when the AVS trailer pulled up with a Port Authority police escort. It had been stuck in traffic and come across that particular unit at a corner.
And here it is. pic.twitter.com/6cIb8i0BsS
— Sean Gentille (@seangentille) June 9, 2016
If you build it, they will come. Market Sq big screen up in 1.5 hours. #BecauseItsTheCup @penguins pic.twitter.com/1YjSOxXHyc
— City of Pittsburgh (@CityPGH) June 9, 2016
No less than seven separate entities were involved in making it happen: the mayor's office, the Penguins, the Department of Public Works, the Department of Public Safety, the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership, the Market Square Merchants Association, Pittsburgh police and, last but far from least, the Diamond Market.
Barriers are going up. pic.twitter.com/EwqGOezX10
— Sean Gentille (@seangentille) June 9, 2016
Typically, Advanced Visual Solutions uses a mobile satellite to find a signal for whatever goes on their screens. In Market Square during the World Cup, that didn't work; there were too many signals and too much interference. On Thursday, they knew they'd need another hardwired connection — and Diamond Market, with two outdoor cable hookups, was closest to the screen site. The plan was to run an HDMI cable from the restaurant to the truck.
Before any of that happened, the screen had to show up. The crowd, already an estimated 2,000 deep, had spitballed where to start lining up — and a Cornhole game was going on, so the first row of chairs started behind the board.
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When the screen arrived, the Cornhole game ended, and the 20-foot push forward happened immediately. It was quick and stopped at the right time.
"That escalated quickly," said Katie O'Malley, Peduto's assistant communications director.
She was talking about the push, but it applied to the whole process. Ninety minutes — not bad.