Riverlife to Open Park Memorial Day

With crews still working on the new section of riverfront park near the SouthSide Works, Riverlife took a few people on a tour to show of its creation. A piazza at street level overlooks the park and an amphitheater that flows 30 feet down to a stage. Cutting through the entire 790-foot length of the park is the riverfront hiking and biking trail. Along with views of the river and the Pittsburgh skyline, the stage will be backed by a steel and fabric sculpture.

Riverlife civil engineer Edward Patton says the $12.5 million dollar park will incorporate artifacts found on the site including a 160 thousand pound ladle and an old pump house. “Inside here were all the major pumps that provided water to the steel mill, says Patton. “There is an old discharge pipe where there is actually going to be a lenses put on there and the inside is going to be lit so you can actually walk up and look inside and see what was inside the pump house.” The top of the pump house will be used as an overlook.

Five rusty steel ingots were also found on the site during construction and will be set upright at the down-river entrance to the park. “It is unusual to have these kinds of ingots laying around and primarily why you would find then on a steel mill is that perhaps somebody perished in an accident and may have been cast in one of the ingots,” says Patton. The smaller ingots weigh about 10 thousand pounds and the larger are twice that.

The final phase of the project is still under design and will include boat docks for private and commercial craft.

Rendering by EPD, image courtesy of Riverlife

Watch an audio tour and slideshow of the park here.

Riverlife Presents at International Conference

Riverlife Executive Director Lisa Schroder will be showing off the transformation of Pittsburgh’s waterfronts this week at the Transatlantic Cities Forum on Waterfront Development. The organization was asked to make the presentation in Genoa, Italy after being nominated by the German Marshal Fund. Riverlife Spokesperson Stephan Bontrager says Pittsburgh has become a great surprise story around the world. The city was put into the international spotlight with the G-20 and will stay there in the environmental community through next month when the city hosts World Environment Day. Bontrager says Schroeder will tout the region’s ability to turn the industrial riverfront into a place where the city can connect to the rivers through recreation. He says Schroder will talk about the cooperation that was needed to create the new riverfront landscape and the money that has been invested in the last 15 years including work on the Northshore, Mon Warf and the Southside. Schroeder will also talk about what is left to be done.
Also presenting at the event is Copenhagen, Denmark. Representatives from 20 international cities will be on hand. Riverlife began in 2001 following a public planning process that gathered input from thousands of areas residents. A plan to develop 13 miles interconnected waterfront park is 70% complete. The project has gathered more than $4 billion for the work.

Ribbon Cutting at Mon Wharf Landing

Riverlife held a ribbon cutting ceremony this morning on the recently completed Mon Wharf Landing, which has converted some parking spaces along the edge of the Monongahela River to a landscaped trail with mooring for river craft. The project is the first of three phases that will connect the Smithfield Bridge and Pt. State Park.

Riverlife Executive Director Lisa Schroeder says it's possible for the hearty to access Pt. State Park from the landing now via a ramp under the Ft. Pitt Bridge, but it will be much easier when the park and a special ramp are finished in 1-1/2 to 2 years.

The project is designed to withstand the flooding that occurs several times a year, according to Schroeder. The deck is slightly sloped and a little bit higher than it was, and the native plants will tolerate submersion in water. Special fire hoses are in place to clean up mud and silt after flooding.

Half the $3 Million cost for the project came from the federal Department of Transportation, and Congressman Mike Doyle is also requesting funding for Phase II, which will be a ramp from the Smithfield Bridge down to the wharf level.

Other funds came from Riverlife, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, PennDOT, the Mabis McKenna Foundation, the Heinz Endowments, and the Richard King Mellon Foundation.

G20 Delegates Will See Riverfront Development

There's a great view of the riverfront parks, trails and green spaces up and down the Allegheny River from the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, where G20 participants will gather September 24th and 25th.

Riverlife Executive Director Lisa Schroeder says the master plan for Three Rivers Park--13 seamless miles of riverfront park--is 75% complete with five projects at various stages to fill in the gaps. By the end of 2010, the park should be 85% complete. As soon as the G20 summit ends, the river landing at the convention center itself will be joined to trails into Point State Park downriver and the Strip District upriver. The convention center was built closer to the river than design guidelines would allow today.

Schroeder says Pittsburgh is ahead of many other cities evolving out of an industrial past because public and private entities, including mayoral administrations and foundations, have rallied around big ideas and pushed to get things done.

In the future, she hopes to see all three "sisters" bridges illuminated--only the Clemente Bridge is currently lighted, and she expects future waterfront park projects to include storm water retention and cleansing, as the new Casino riverfront park does. Listen to a longer version of this story here.