Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy
Encyclopedia
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...
, Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
: Frick Park
Frick Park
Frick Park is the largest municipal park in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, covering .The park began when Henry Clay Frick, upon his death in 1919, bequeathed south of Clayton, his Point Breeze mansion . He also arranged for a $2 million trust fund for long-term maintenance for the park, which opened on...
, Schenley Park
Schenley Park
Schenley Park is a large municipal park located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, between the neighborhoods of Oakland, Greenfield, and Squirrel Hill. It is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a historic district...
, Highland Park
Highland Park (Pittsburgh)
Highland Park is both a large municipal park and a racially diverse, mostly residential neighborhood in the northeastern part of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.The neighborhood has 6,749 residents according to the 2000 United States Census...
, and Riverview Park, although the Conservancy works in other city parks as resources permit.
The Conservancy was founded in 1996 by Meg Cheever, former publisher of Pittsburgh Magazine
Pittsburgh Magazine
Pittsburgh Magazine is a prominent lifestyle magazine covering the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. It has a monthly readership of 341,274. It produces the annual "40 Under 40" list of prominent young Pittsburghers in addition to the annual list of Pittsburgh's 25 Best Restaurants, Best of the...
, who modeled it on other private/public partnerships in Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
, New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, and Buffalo, New York
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
. It has a constituency of over 8,000 members.
The Conservancy raises funds to help the city maintain, repair, and improve the parks with environmental sensitivity, respect for the parks' historic landscape design, and attention to the recreational needs of modern users. After holding public meetings, the Conservancy and city published the Regional Parks Master Plan in 2000 as a 20-year blueprint for parks restoration. Work outlined includes capital projects and ecological restoration.
To date, the Conservancy has completed nine capital projects:
- The Reynolds Street gatehouse entrance to Frick Park
- The restoration of the Schenley Park Visitor Center
- The creation of a babbling brook to dechlorinate waste water from Highland Park's water filtration plant
- The ecological restoration of the Phipps Run natural area in Schenley Park
- The restoration of the Highland Park Entry Garden
- The conversion of Schenley Plaza from a parking lot into the grand entrance to Schenley Park
- The creation of a seasonal pools wetland habitat along Highland Park's Washington Boulevard
- The restoration of the Riverview Park Chapel Shelter and its surrounding landscape
- The restoration of the Mary E. Schenley Memorial Fountain in Schenley Plaza
The Conservancy is also involved in ecological maintenance of the parks, which includes control of invasive plants, seeding of native trees and shrubs, and the creation of sustainable trails. The Conservancy works with other environmental organizations as well as with volunteers, recording over 4,000 hours of volunteer labor annually. The Conservancy is heavily involved in the Urban EcoStewards program, where citizens receive training in ecological restoration techniques in order to care for a particular plot of parkland and monitor its progress over time.
In 2008, the Conservancy served as the local host for the 2008 International Urban Parks Conference, "Body and Soul: Parks and the Health of Great Cities." More than 600 park advocates from 10 countries and 31 states convened in Pittsburgh to explore the greening of the city and the crucial role parks play in the health of cities' people and economies.
Future Conservancy projects include building a new Environmental Center at Frick Park, replacing the former structure that burned in 2002; the complete ecological restoration of Schenley Park's Panther Hollow watershed and rebuilding of the boathouse at Panther Hollow Lake; and the implementation of a comprehensive trail and signage program in the four regional parks.