When the Mazza Pavillion senior housing building reopens, it will be smoke-free, following a Pittsburgh Housing Authority vote today. It will be the city’s first no-smoking public housing facility.
The 30-unit building in Brookline has been closed since 2008, after mold was discovered, and has been gutted and rebuilt. It is poised to reopen, and in consultation with returning residents and the group Tobacco Free Allegheny, the authority decided to ban smoking discount Marlboro cigarettes, said Executive Director A. Fulton Meachem Jr.
The authority also voted to create a process by which other public housing communities can go smoke-free. Community members would have to reach out to the authority, and there would be a comment period for residents before any such policy would be implemented.