Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy logo

Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to restore, renew, revitalize, and preserve the four oldest regional parks of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States: Frick Park, Schenley Park, Highland Park, and Riverview Park.

PPC was founded in 1996 by Meg Cheever, former publisher of Pittsburgh Magazine, who modeled it on other private/public partnerships in Louisville, Kentucky, New York City, and Buffalo, New York. It has a constituency of over 7,000 members.

PPC raises funds to help the city maintain, repair, and improve the four parks with environmental sensitivity and respect for the parks' historic landscape design as well as the recreational needs of modern users. After holding public meetings, the PPC and city published the Regional Parks Master Plan in 2000 as a 20-year blue-print for parks restoration. Work outlined includes capital projects and ecological restoration.

To date, PPC has completed eight 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

PPC 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. PPC works with other environmental organizations as well as with volunteers, recording over 10,000 hours of volunteer labor annually. PPC 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.

Future PPC projects include the rebuilding of the Frick Environmental Center, which burned down 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 signage program in the four regional parks. Additionally, PPC will serve as the local host for the 2008 Urban Parks Conference, an international convention of parks and recreation professionals that will convene in Pittsburgh in September 2008 to explore the greening of Pittsburgh and the lessons that can be learned from the environmental progress of this and other cities.