Kaitlyn Hughes & Charlotte Shields-Rossi | news editor & a& editor

Haven, an independent music venue in Oakland, has suspended all events at the venue until the foreseeable future.

The Haven team announced on Thursday in an Instagram post that they received a stop-work order from the City of Pittsburgh Department of Permits, Licenses and Inspections.

“We are heartbroken that we have to cancel a whole season of programming, but we are left with no real choice,” the post said.

The site Haven is located at was formerly a church, but it was transformed by Post Genre, a music arts organization cofounded by Eli Alfieri, Adam Klenovich and Mark Riggio. They first used the venue for three concerts in February 2024 before officially opening its doors in January 2025.

The founders have been working with the Pittsburgh Innovation District, their landlord and the City of Pittsburgh to obtain the proper long-term permitting, according to the post.

The venue was granted permission to operate as long as they took the necessary steps to obtain the required permit following the re-zoning of the building.

But unexpectedly they no longer are able to operate any more, according to the Instagram post.

“Our office has been in contact with the Haven’s project management. The stop-work placard was in reference to one part of construction on the property, not the whole building. The Department of Permits, Licenses & Inspections has been working closely with Haven over the past year and were in immediate communication last week to address the order,” city spokeswoman Molly Onufer said in an email to The Duke.

Onufer said that the City of Pittsburgh did not suspend all operations at the venue and can not speak to why Haven canceled a season of programming.

The stop-work order posted on Haven’s door said the placard was issued because the exterior stairs were constructed without building permit and inspections.

All ticket sales for the venue have been closed, and refunds have been initiated.

Alfieri declined a further request for comment. Klenovich and Riggio did not return a request for comment.

‘Bad for the entire ecosystem’

Gibson Musisko, the lead singer of a band called Poster Child, said his band played at Haven’s first show, and most recently they played at the venue on Jan. 31.

“This has been our home base,” he said.

Musisko said that the venue was not only a place where small music groups in the Pittsburgh area could play, but it was also a place for students to go on the weekend.

“I hope they are able to really make it come back stronger,” he said.

Aaron Kibler, Poster Child’s drummer, was devastated after hearing the news of the closing, having worked closely with the venue’s organizers.

“It is sad to see a community-focused and sober-focused place get shut down,” Kibler said.

Musisko said there are still other places for local music in the Pittsburgh-area. In late March, Poster Child plans to open a cabaret-style boutique where they will play every six weeks with another local group.

But Jesse Naus, who is the assistant professor of music technology at Duquesne as well as the owner and chief engineer and producer of Red Caiman Studios in Ross, said that a small venue closing has a greater effect on the music ecosystem in Pittsburgh.

“I’m a big believer that we need studios and venues of all different sizes to have a true music community,” Naus said.

He said venues like Haven provide opportunities for small artists, which sometimes leads them opportunities to play at bigger places like Stage AE.

“They’ve got to start somewhere,” he said.

As someone who owns a studio, Naus said the permitting process is tricky, and he often sees smaller venues close “time and time again.”

“It’s just bad for the entire ecosystem,” he said.

Kaitlyn Hughes can be reached at hughesk10@duq.edu

Charlotte Shields-Rossi can be reached at shieldsrossic@duq.edu