Category Archive: Landscapes
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Fund Set Up to Pay for Pittsburgh Monument Maintenance
By Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Last updated: 1:33 pmPittsburgh City Council today approved setting up a trust fund to bankroll maintenance to monuments and war memorials in the North Side.
Establishing the account was part of several bills introduced last week by Council President Darlene Harris after people and veterans groups complained that many of the markers had fallen into disrepair.
Harris set aside $40,000 from money left in a 2001 account for projects in her district and money originally dispersed in 1996 for community development for her district.
Council also approved a measure charging the city’s Public Works, Parks and Recreation and City Planning departments to prepare an inventory of the war monuments and memorials throughout the city in order to create a 10-year maintenance plan to be included in the 2011 capital budget.
There are more than a dozen monuments and war memorials in Harris’ district of 13 neighborhoods and more than 60 citywide.
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Fountains, Graffiti Wall Suggested for Mellon Park Overhaul
By Adam Brandolph
PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW
Tuesday, June 15, 2010Water fountains, more seating, new sidewalks and a graffiti wall were some of the ideas mentioned Monday night as residents met with city officials and community leaders to plan for a major overhaul of Mellon Park in Shadyside.
Despite recently completed work and projects in the planning stage, the meeting at the Third Presbyterian Church in Shadyside brought together interested parties in a single setting for the first time since the original plan was completed in 2002.
“We know this is a park for Shadyside, Squirrel Hill and Point Breeze. … But it’s also a park for Homewood, East Liberty, East Pittsburgh … and people who get off buses to enjoy this park,” said City Councilman Bill Peduto.
The 35-acre park was bequeathed to the city by the Mellon family estate. Its location at the intersection of Penn and Fifth avenues makes the park easily accessible by public transportation.
Recent upgrades include new lighting and a public art installation. Work is nearly complete on a wall garden, and officials spoke last night of new restrooms and a spray park for children.
“Designing a process for a master plan depends on what you want to get out of it,” Susan Radermacher, curator for the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, told about 60 people at the meeting. “Always, it should start looking at the history of the place, how it’s being used today and what we’d like to see moving forward.”
Residents voiced concern over noise from the park and limited parking.
“I really hope they can take advantage of all the beauty and the great location of the park,” said Marie Schnitzer of Shadyside. “It’s a wonderful community asset and I think residents not only have plenty of suggestions, but probably the answers.”
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Thousands to Take to Ohio’s Banks Saturday for River Sweep
By Rossilynne Skena
VALLEY NEWS DISPATCH
Monday, June 14, 2010
Litter covers the hillside below Garvers Ferry Road in Parks Township, which will be targeted Saturday during the River Sweep for the Ohio River and its tributaries. Volunteers will clean up near Carnahan Run, a tributary of the Kiski River. Jason Bridge | Valley News Dispatch
Pat Walters grew up on the Allegheny River. She remembers a time when she swam the river every day.
As the public has become more aware of the river’s dangers, however, people don’t do that anymore.
Still, Walters is passionate about the river and about keeping it clean. She is secretary of Natrona Comes Together Association and organizer of Natrona’s river sweep.
On Saturday, she’ll be one of thousands of volunteers to participate in River Sweep. Volunteers will descend the banks of the Ohio River and its tributaries, spanning six states to the Ohio River’s end in Illinois, said Betsy Mallison, the state’s River Sweep coordinator. The Ohio River Sweep program began in 1989.
Over the years, Walters has noticed an improvement in the riverfront. Volunteers are keeping it clean, and they’re not finding tires, toilets, bicycles and shopping carts along the riverbank anymore.
Mallison said water quality has improved, fish have come back and more people are using the river.
But even today, she said, trash is left behind by people using the rivers and by contractors.
“While we’ve seem river conditions drastically improve over those 20 years,” Mallison said, “we still need to do some work out on the rivers and their banks.”
This year at the Natrona site, volunteers will paint guardrails, cut grass and pull weeds, Walters said. Volunteers with the Natrona Comes Together Association have already planted about a dozen wooden planters of flowers and shrubbery, she said.
Dennis Hawley, president of the Crooked Creek Watershed Association, said he’s found everything from car fenders to couches in his 10 years taking part in river sweep. His area covers Crooked Creek, a tributary of the Allegheny River, which is, in turn, a tributary of the Ohio River.
John Linkes, director of the Kiskiminetas Watershed and Roaring Run Watershed, said he began volunteering in 1999, after realizing how illegal dumping contaminated local waterways and well water. In his time volunteering, he’s seen tires and refrigerators dumped near local waterways.
But, he said, he has a sense of well-being after having contributed to cleaning up the environment.
“For that one shiny, bright moment, those four hours, we leave that area a little bit cleaner,” Linkes said. “And the sun seems to be shining a little bit more.”
Sweeping the banksVolunteers for the Ohio River Sweep on Saturday should wear old, comfortable clothes and shoes or boots that can get dirty, according to River Sweep’s website. Close-toed shoes are recommended. Trash bags and gloves will be provided.
No pre-registration is required, but volunteers must sign a waiver of liability to participate, and anyone younger than 18 must have parental permission to take part.
Refreshments and a T-shirt will be provided.
Valley River SweepsHere’s a list of River Sweeps in the Alle-Kiski Valley on Saturday. Refreshments and a T-shirt will be provided.
• Natrona section of Harrison: Meet at the pavilion on Veterans Way
9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Bethel Township: Crooked Creek site at Rosston Boat Launch, off of
Ross Avenue
8 a.m. to noon
• Parks Township: Garvers Ferry Road
8 a.m. to noon
• Braeburn section of Lower Burrell: Chartiers Run, Braeburn Road
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Allegheny County Park Structure Inventory Requested Health, Safety Issues Concern Council
Thursday, June 10, 2010By Len Barcousky, Pittsburgh Post-GazetteAn old horse barn in North Park is a good example of a structure that has outlived its usefulness, according to Allegheny County Councilwoman Jan Rea.
“We have a lot of buildings in our parks that have not been used for as long as 20 years,” the McCandless Republican said. “Their windows are boarded up, and some pose a health and safety hazard to residents.”
Allegheny County’s nine parks are home to hundreds of structures, and council has asked the Parks Department to prepare an inventory of every one of them.
Council unanimously passed the building-survey ordinance last week.
It calls for preparing an inventory that will include information on location, condition and maintenance needs for every structure.
The final report is to include a recommendation and cost information on either maintaining or demolishing each building. The measure sets a 120-day deadline for completing the work.
Parks Director Andrew Baechle told council that members his department could make that late-September deadline. The county Department of Public Works is to assist in the effort.
“If it is cost-prohibitive to get a building into usable condition, we should take it down,” Ms. Rea said. “Some of them are crumbling, and they have animals living in them.”
Councilman Nicholas Futules agreed.
“We should know the condition and value of all our buildings,” he said. He is chairman of council’s Parks Committee, which recommended approval of the survey ordinance.
The parks department has a total of 341 rental facilities, which includes groves, shelters, gazebos, houses and other various buildings.
Hundreds of structures have to be painted, patched and updated. North Park, for example, has 119 picnic groves and shelters and at least two dozen other buildings.
The measure defines structures to include offices, barns, houses, picnic pavilions, swing sets, restrooms, changing facilities and locker rooms, greenhouses and nature centers. Creation of the oldest of the parks began in the 1920s and 1930s, and some structures from that era remain in use.
Maintenance is expensive and work on some structures has been deferred, Mr. Baechle said.
Restoration efforts involving one North Park landmark got a boost this month, thanks to a Hollywood movie company.
At the same meeting at which it approved the survey ordinance, council authorized DreamWorks Studios to film scenes for a science fiction movie called “I Am Number Four” in Deer Lakes and North parks.
The production company will pay the county a $10,000 fee.
Most of the money will be used to restore decorative terrazzo tile on North Park’s water tower. The 100-foot tower, or standpipe, was built in 1937 as part of the park’s water supply system. It is recognizable by its exterior spiral staircase that leads to a now-closed observation platform.
While the DreamWorks funds will help with renovation costs, additional work will be necessary before the platform can be reopened, Mr. Baechle said.
That work will include removal of lead-based paint and stairway repairs. The county has no timetable for the project, he said.
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Mechanics Retreat Park Receives Community Greening Award
PHLF News
October 27, 2009The Mexican War Streets Society reported receipt of the Community Greening Award from the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society for Mechanics Retreat Park in that neighborhood.
The Park was originally created with gifts from our late Chairman Charles Arensberg, John Craig, and PHLF and the Mexican War Streets Society. Congratulations to John Engle and a huge coterie of volunteers.
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Landmarks Funds Land-Use Study: Preservation Seeds Take Root
by Jack Miller, CFRE , Director of Planned Giving
March 1, 2009
PHLF NewsA Landmarks funded land-use study conducted by LaQuatra Bonci in 2003 has played a key role is preserving 161 acres of farmland at the Boys Home complex in South Fayette Township.
The Boys Home, located on Battle Ridge Road, housed troubled youth and orphans until it closed in 1972. The property was left vacant until purchased by the Township in 1987. In 2003, the Township approached Landmarks for recommendations on how to cost-effectively develop more than 200 acres of farmland while maintaining its rural character. Under our Farm Preservation Program, we looked upon this opportunity as uniquely valuable.
Landmarks appointed LaQuatra Bonci, Pittsburgh landscape designers, and Landmarks Design Associates, architects, and worked a number of months and had several community meetings to ensure that the outcome would address the residents’ priorities.
The resulting study recommended preservation of the farmland and open space. This February, the Pennsylvania Farmland Preservation Board approved the Allegheny County Agricultural Land Preservation Program purchasing the development rights to 161 acres of Boys Home acres for $1.5 million, assuring that the land will continue to be farmed or left untouched in perpetuity. Another 57 acres will be developed as a park.
The Township and Landmarks’ Rural Preservation Program, using funds from a Richard King Mellon Foundation grant, split the $50,000 cost for the land-use study.
“This is a major accomplishment by this municipality in preserving open space and letting some of its current uses continue, said Landmarks President Arthur P. Ziegler. “We were pleased to be able to assist in the effort and hope that other local governments follow South Fayette Township’s lead.”
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Public Hearing Before Historic Review Commission on 4420 Bayard Street
PREPARED TESTIMONY OF
ANNE E. NELSON, ESQ.
GENERAL COUNSEL
PITTSBURGH HISTORY & LANDMARKS FOUNDATION
BEFORE HISTORIC REVIEW COMMISSION, CITY OF PITTSBURGH
PUBLIC HEARING ON 4420 BAYARD STREET, THE ELMHURST GROUP
OCTOBER 1, 2008
Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation has reviewed the Elmhurst Group’s plans for a new office building in the parking lot behind and owned by the First Baptist Church in Oakland. We appreciate the very good efforts of the Elmhurst Group in regard to the planning and redesign of the structure. In particular, the building’s height, materials, and setback on Bayard Street are in accordance with the other buildings on the street and harmonize the building with the Church. The higher portion of the building along Ruskin Avenue complements the Ruskin Apartment and its materials and to some degree its style.
However, we have the following concerns with the building:
1. The top portion of the seven-story building should be redesigned without the projecting central overhang, which is something of a cliché in modern design. We also suggest that the stringcourse be continued across the Bayard/Bigelow façade just as it does on the Ruskin Avenue façade and with the elongated windows eliminated. We believe that such detailing is inappropriate next to the architecturally-significant First Baptist Church, the Ruskin Apartment Building and the houses of Schenley Farms.
2. We recommend that the walkway around the building be planted with sycamore trees instead of columnar trees as shown. We would be happy to meet with the City Forester to discuss the matter of tree selection. A few columnar trees were planted years ago further west on Bayard Street and they are still nothing more than elongated toothpicks with a few leaves attached. Sycamore trees, used throughout Schenley Farms, arch up over the streets and provide a canopy of elegance, beauty, and shade.
We continue also to have a significant concern with the Historic Review Commission’s jurisdiction and ability to review new construction in historic districts. We hope this matter can be resolved or clarified so as not to cause issues with other new construction projects in historic districts.
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Repairs under way on Schenley fountain
By The Tribune-Review
Wednesday, July 30, 2008Restoration has begun on a landmark fountain in Schenley Plaza, the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy said Tuesday.
The fountain sculpture, titled “A Song to Nature,” created by Victor David Brenner, was dedicated 90 years ago to acknowledge Mary Schenley’s gift and later sale of land to become Schenley Park.
Brenner is perhaps best known as the designer of the Lincoln penny. The figures on his bronze fountain — his first large-scale public project — are an allegorical depiction of culture taming nature.
Conservancy president and CEO Meg Cheever said an inspection of the fountain found corrosion, staining and cracks. Its plumbing stopped functioning in spring.
The restoration, expected to be completed by October, will include repairs, cleaning, plumbing, paving and landscaping. A gift from The Benter Foundation will provide lighting for the fountain and plaza.
In addition to The Benter Foundation, money for the restoration is coming from the Allegheny Regional Asset District, the Howard E. and Nell E. Miller Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, The H. Glenn Sample Jr. MD Memorial Fund through the PNC Charitable Trust Grant Review Committee, and the Juliet Lea Hillman Simonds Foundation.
