Allegheny County Parks Foundation Executive Director Announced

The new Executive Director of the Allegheny County Parks Foundation, as announced this morning by County Executive Dan Onorato, is Christine Fulton.

Fulton is a Pittsburgher with 25 years experience in major fundraising—ten of those years with her alma mater Northwestern U. in Chicago and with the U. of Chicago—before she returned to Pittsburgh and worked with Pitt’s McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine and in the private sector, for the Soffer Organization at South Side Works.

Fulton says the county has one of the largest park systems in the state, with 12,000 acres in nine parks. Though the parks are well used, she says they're not affordable with taxes alone so many maintenance needs have gone unmet, and there have been no resources for new projects and programs.

The county is giving a million dollars to get the foundation going and ten million dollars to attract matching funds from foundations, corporations, and individuals or groups. The foundation will also explore ideas for generating revenues in the parks.