Mary Schenley and the Making of Our Park System

By Susan M. Rademacher, Parks Curator, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy
Originally published in Squirrel Hill Magazine, Winter 2011 

Only two of our city’s four historic regional parks bear a family name.  Frick Park is named in tribute to Henry Clay Frick who, upon his death in 1919, gave 150 acres and an endowment to develop and care for a new park.  Frick Park is also a symbol of a father’s Iove for his daughter — Frick’s daughter Helen is reputed to have asked her father for the park property as a gift to the children of Pittsburgh.  This story is perhaps the better known of the two family-named parks, because the Frick home and museums at Clayton remain to embody the family’s presence and impact on Pittsburgh. 

Mary E. Schenley

Schenley Park, on the other hand, wouldn’t exist today if it weren’t for the forgiveness of a father in restoring his estranged daughter to her inheritance.   In what became the scandal of the day, Mary Elizabeth Croghan eloped at age 15 from her Long island boarding school with the headmistress’s 43-year-old brother-in-law, Captain Edward Schenley.  The newlyweds settled in London and Mary was promptly disinherited.  Her father, William Croghan Jr., couldn’t bear the break for long, visiting the young couple and the first of many grandchildren in London a year later in 1843.  His forgiveness is especially understandable, given that Mary was the widower’s only surviving child. 

William Croghan Jr., father of Mary Schenley

Croghan was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, at the fabled country seat Locust Grove.  His father was the Revolutionary War Quartermaster General William Croghan, married to the sister of General George Rogers Clark.    After the steamboat allowed passage upriver, Pittsburgh became a favored destination of Louisvillians.  It was on such an outing that William Croghan Jr. met the prosperous O’Hara family, marrying daughter Mary O’Hara in 1821. The couple started their family in Louisville with son William and daughter Mary Elizabeth born at Locust Grove on April 27, 1826.  That same year, William Croghan Jr. wrote his brother-in-law, “I am sick & tired of farming, incessant toil and anxiety & no profit….I am now firmly resolved so soon as my difficulties will allow to make arrangements for moving to Pittsburgh.”  Sadly, he would make that move as a widower, his wife Mary having died 1827.  In an 1828 letter from William’s sister Ann Croghan Jesup to her sister Eliza Croghan Hancock, Ann writes “Mr. Baldwin in Pittsburgh says Will Croghan is the finest boy he ever saw & Mary is a lovely child it did me good to hear him speak of those poor little children. Mary has quite recovered I sat up with her for two nights she was dangerously ill with Quinsy and inflammation on the Lungs.”  Young Will died only a month later. 

Picnic House

Father and daughter Mary Elizabeth soon moved to Pittsburgh to make a new life.  There, William Croghan Jr. was admitted to the Allegheny Bar.  And in August of 1833, Mary writes to her Aunty Lucy Jesup, “Next year Papa is to build his cottage.”  This fine Greek Revival-style home atop Stanton Heights was named Picnic House, and contained 22 rooms.  Croghan died at Picnic in 1850, but his will preserved the home and furnishings for the use of Mary and her children until 1931, when Mary’s daughter Hermione, Lady Ellenborough, sold the furnishings.  The house was demolished in 1955, and its grand ballroom and foyer were transplanted to the University of Pittsburgh’s Cathedral of Learning where they remain a major attraction.

Mary’s inheritance of O’Hara properties from her mother’s estate made her the largest property owner in Allegheny County.  Her Pittsburgh landholdings included slums at the “Point” and she was severely criticized as an absentee landlord and exploiter of the wretched by Pittsburgh’s Labor Tribune and the Chicago Daily Tribune in the late 1880s.  Her redemption came in philanthropic form.  Significant gifts to several important institutions helped shape the cultural, social, and physical landscape of Pittsburgh as we know it today.

Among her major gifts were:

• Land for building the West Penn Hospital;
• Property for the Western Penn Institute for the Blind;
• A large lot for the Newsboys Home;
• A $10,000 subscription toward the purchase of land for Riverview Park; and
• The gift of the Old Block House and adjoining property, (the original Fort Duquesne) to the Daughters of the American Revolution. 

While the City of Pittsburgh had been attempting to buy or take Schenley properties for an Oakland park since 1869, it wasn’t until 1889, after Captain Schenley died, that the land for Schenley Park was finally acquired.  It was through the enterprising efforts of the “Father of Pittsburgh Parks,” Edward Manning Bigelow (1850-1916), that Mary was persuaded to donate 300 acres, giving an option to buy another 100 acres.  Bigelow, named the first director of the new Department of Public Works, envisioned a park system for the city.  When he heard that a developer was heading to London to broker a deal with Mrs. Schenley, he promptly dispatched an attorney to get there first and secure a donation.   Mary had just two conditions: that the land be used for a park named after her and that it could never be sold.  The City soon purchased an additional 144 acres, including the present-day Schenley Plaza and part of the Carnegie Library for much less than its tax value.

Schenley's gift is memorialized in the Mary E. Schenley Memorial Fountain at Schenley Plaza.

Her invaluable gift is memorialized in the Mary E. Schenley Memorial Fountain at Schenley Plaza. 

Sculpted by Victor David Brenner, with the granite base by architect H. Van Magonigle, the memorial was entitled A Song to Nature and dedicated on Labor Day, September 2, 1918.   The memorial was restored and lit in 2008 by the City of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy.

When she died in 1903, the New York Times observed, “The death of Mrs. Mary E. Schenley, which occurred at her home in Hyde Park, London, was made known in Pittsburg [sic] to-day.  Mrs. Schenley has been Pittsburg’s benefactress for many years….Mrs. Schenley was the heroine, sixty years ago, of the greatest romance in Pittsburg’s early history….The affair created an immense social sensation at the time, and the house was preserved for many years in precisely the shape that it was in at the date of the elopement.”

Mary returned only once to Pittsburgh before her father’s death in 1850, and rarely after that.  As an asthmatic, the smoky city was not a healthy environment for her.  How fitting that our park system was created, in part, to improve the health of our people while changing the image of the city from gray to green.  Schenley Park, along with all the parks and greenspaces of Pittsburgh, has more than fulfilled that early promise, thanks in no small part to the spirited benefactress Mary E. Schenley.

Sources:
A century and a half of Pittsburg and her people, by John Newton Boucher; illustrated. Vol. 2.
Frick Fine Arts Library: Schenley Plaza, Schenley Park &Environs, Library Guide Series, No. 11.
Grove Gazette, Winter 2011.   Historic Locust Grove, Louisville, Kentucky.
“Fountain of Forgetting: Mary E. Schenley (1827-1903),” by Don Simpson, University of Pittsburgh.
Mandy Dick, “The Storyteller,” Clarksville, Indiana, 502-500-8899.
The New York Times, November 6, 1903.
The History of Pittsburgh: Its Rise and Progress, by Sarah Hutchins Killikelly.  B. C. & Gordon Montgomery Co., 1906: Pittsburgh, PA.

 

As Parks Curator, Ms. Rademacher preserves and promotes the cultural significance of the Pittsburgh parks.  Contact her at (412) 682-7275.

Prune Young Trees in Winter

Bryan Dolney and Angela Masters pruning trees in Mellon Park

It may seem odd to see Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy staff and City DPW crews out in the bitter wind of January, but the winter months are actually the ideal time to give your trees a little attention. In fact, winter pruning ties into our Tree Action Plan as an effective way we can manage the current threats to our urban forest. “In winter the fresh cuts have time to dry out,” says Angela Masters, Parks Conservancy horticulturalist. “When the insects and diseases become active in spring the wood isn’t susceptible to colonization.”

Pruning young trees on your property is beneficial in a variety of ways. Proper pruning helps the tree send its resources to the good strong branches, so that it grows stronger and is less of a liability during a storm or bearing the weight of heavy snow. In addition, “A well maintained tree will serve the community best through storm water management, carbon capture, erosion control, and shade,” says Parks Conservancy Field Ecologist Bryan Dolney.

A branch diseased with fungal spores

Before you pick up the limb loppers, make sure the timing is right. A homeowner should feel comfortable doing developmental pruning, which means that the tree is more than one year old, no more than 20 feet in height, and 3-5 inches in diameter. “Don’t prune your tree in the year immediately following its planting,” advises Phil Gruszka, certified Arborist, and Parks Maintenance and Management Director for the Parks Conservancy,” unless it has one of the four D’s.” Limbs that are dead, dying, diseased, or damaged. This first year is when the tree’s root system is reestablishing itself and unnecessary pruning will disrupt its growth. Equally important is not attempting to prune a tree that is too large because it can become dangerous and should be left to professionals.

While it may be tempting to prune your tree into a pretty sphere, the primary purpose of pruning should be done with the tree’s structure as the paramount concern. Angela also warns to resist the impulse to “limb the tree up,” or cut away at lower branches while neglecting the higher ones. “Try not to remove more than 25 percent of the tree’s live branches while pruning,” she adds. When you’re decided which limbs will stay and which will go, keep your eye out for these primary issues…

Codominant stems with "included crotch"

Codominant stems. Codominance is when two or more stems are competing to become the dominant leader. Codominant stems grow parallel from one another and form a ‘U’ or ‘V’ shaped crotch. 

‘U’ shaped crotches are strong, there are wood cells growing in the bottom of the ‘U’ which connect the limb to the trunk, keep these whenever possible.

‘V’ shaped crotches are not strong because there are no wood cells growing at the point of attachment. ‘V’ type crotches frequently capture outer bark as the tree grows.  This bark, called an “included crotch” becomes included in the growth, preventing wood cells from connecting the limb to the trunk.   If a tree continues to grow in this manner it will eventually split, potentially causing serious damage on your property.

Damage from rubbing branches

Rubbing branches. Think of the way a bow rubs against the strings of a violin. Like water to a stone, the branches rubbing against each other over time will cause damage and eventually, fallen limbs.   

Dead branches. It’s pretty simple, dead branches can fall causing damage to both your property and other branches. They can also potentially be diseased and damage the health of your tree.

Deformed branches. If it doesn’t look right, it probably isn’t.

Angela removing suckers

Suckers. Also called water sprouts, suckers are small limbs that grow vertically in patches either off of a branch or out of the ground surrounding the base of a tree. They are aptly named as their primary dysfunction is that they suck resources away from larger, more vital limbs on the tree. Suckers on your tree are an indication of poor health (often because of improper depth when planted) so you should consider having an arborist take a look at it.

Cut one of the codominant branches as close to the point of the "V" as possible

Now that you know what to prune, how to prune it? “Cut a branch where there is a new shoot or a new branch coming out,” advises Angela. A tree is not a bush, instead of hedging the whole outside of the tree, make decisive reducing cuts to the branches. In the case of a codominant or V shaped stem, select the healthier looking branch to become the new dominant stem and cut the other as close to the point of the V shape as possible.

Ultimately proper care of trees on your property is a benefit to both yourself and the community. Proper pruning at the right time will help slow the spread of disease and insects in Pittsburgh’s urban forest where we currently stand to lose more than 60% of our urban tree population to threats like the Emerald Ash Borer and Oak Wilt disease. Healthy trees also ensure that we receive their maximum benefit to the environment. Finally, taking care of your trees in the first three years of their life will save you expense resulting from property damage and arborist expenses for years to come.  

Want to learn more about how to care for your trees? Join our friends at Tree Pittsburgh and become a tree tender. Also check out the Shade Tree Comission and TreeVitalize.

Ask us your tree questions @pittsburghparks on twitter or on facebook. To help save our urban forest, consider making a donation to our Emergency Tree Fund.

ADA Accessibility Standards Now Include Parks

At the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, we believe that public parks are our city’s most democratic spaces because they are free to all of its citizens. We also know that this is only true if these wonderfully free green spaces are accessible to everyone as well.  With some help from the Pittsburgh Community, we’ve been uncovering and studying the challenges that some people face when visiting our parks.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) passed in 1990 and was a huge step toward addressing the needs of disabled persons in this country. In the 20 years since the Act passed, many questions and issues arose, and in 2010 the Department of Justice revised the requirements and created the 2010 Standards for Accessible Design (2010 Standards).

The 2010 Standards represent a bit of a landmark in our field of parks restoration since it is the first time that we have formal accessibility standards for recreation facilities such as playgrounds, pools, and amusement rides. We welcome this expansion of standards here at the Conservancy as it will allow us to improve the accessibility of our park projects.

Susan Rademacher, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy Parks Curator at a meeting of the accessibility advisory group in 2011

The March 15, 2012 implementation deadline will enforce the 2010 Standards to all new construction as well as to alterations or additions to existing facilities. The Department of Justice does not mandate that all existing facilities meet these standards by this deadline; however, readily achievable changes should be made and a plan should be put in place to accomplish accessibility.

The goal of accessibility for everyone is complex. “Everything has to be looked at through multiple lenses,” says Susan Rademacher, Parks Curator for the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy. While it seems obvious that a goal in the design of a new playground is to allow a disabled child to play easily with other children, less obvious is the fact that a disabled parent also would need to be able to reach her child (disabled or not) in case she falls or gets hurt.

Removing barriers to accommodate wheelchairs can be problematic for a person who is visually impaired and needs signals that they can detect in a cane sweep. A good example of this would be a drinking fountain which juts directly out of a wall with nothing around it – a visually impaired person may not know it’s coming since his or her cane would pass below the fountain as if nothing were there, but a person using a wheelchair would appreciate the ease with which they could get a drink.    

Other improvements can be as simple as installing insulation around hot water pipes under sinks so that they won’t burn the legs of a wheelchair user, or making sure that trash cans aren’t left to block the path of travel by maintenance crews.  

We are passionate about everyone’s right to public parks. We are actively teaming up with experts in the accessibility field help us meet, and where possible, exceed, these new standards in future projects, as well as focusing on ways to improve current obstacles to the universal use of our parks. Our awareness has been heightened by this process and we will bring a more informed accessibility lens to all of our future work. We welcome discussion on this important issue and are actively seeking advice from park goers about what would make their parks better. For more information, contact Susan Rademacher, Parks Curator, at srademacher@pittsburghparks.org.

 

Learn more about the American Disabilities Act on their website. View the 2010 Standards for Accessible Design here, or call the toll free ADA information line: 1 800 514 0301 (voice) 1 800 514 0383 (TTY) 

Pittsburgh to Host the Garden Writers Association in 2014

Pittsburgh will have an unprecedented opportunity to show off its green self when the Garden Writers Association (GWA) descends on our fair city for its annual symposium in 2014.

Schenley Plaza Garden in Summer

I was first made aware of this national group in 2007 while working as the director of marketing at Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens. The GWA is comprised of garden professionals including book authors, staff editors, syndicated columnists, free-lance writers, photographers, landscape designers, television and radio personalities, consultants, catalog publishers, and others interested in advancing communications about horticulture, gardening and the environment.

The annual gathering was in Oklahoma City in 2007 and I attended with Jessica Romano, Phipps’ marketing communications coordinator (and now the Parks Conservancy’s marketing manager). Since 2007 the Symposium has been held in Portland, Raleigh, Dallas, and Indianapolis, putting Pittsburgh in good company.

A typical GWA symposium lasts three full days, but is bookended with story tours, special interest seminars, and photography junkets.  When the Pittsburgh-based GWA members first met about the opportunity to host the symposium, the concern was coming up with enough locations and activities to keep 500-600 garden professionals engaged.  After a couple meetings, it became clear to us that our real problem would be narrowing the options, so the application proceeded with a positive outcome.

Panther Hollow Lake

Not only will the GWA Symposium benefit Pittsburgh economically as all national conventions do, but the long-term positive impact of hosting hundreds of professional communicators and showing off our City’s love and appreciation of horticulture and the environment is immeasurable.

For our part, the Parks Conservancy is looking forward to showing off the fragile diversity of the Panther Hollow Watershed, the popularity of Schenley Plaza, a restored Mellon Square, a rebuilt Environmental Education Center, and other park features that make Pittsburgh unique, green, and a fantastic place to live and work.

Michael Sexauer is Director of Advancement for the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy

Wintertime Planters Display Holiday Cheer

Planters serve as eye catching horticultural art displays most of the year, but during the winter months they are often left empty and sad. Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy gardener Angela Masters got tired of looking at vacant, dirt filled pots until spring, so she has created beautiful winter planter displays at Schenley Plaza and the Schenley Park Café and Visitor’s Center. Her designs are easy to emulate and require little maintenance for upkeep. Next time the family’s in town for the holidays you can show off your green thumb, even with snow on the ground.

Three tier groupings of plants create a full look.

When designing a planter (no matter what the season) Angela likes to use a three tier grouping. For the center of the planter she uses a tall, upright plant. Around this focal point she will put in a shorter upright plant, and along the outside of the planter she ideally likes to put in something that will hang over the edges.

The planters she has created at the Visitor’s Center are a perfect demonstration of this ideal grouping. The Red Twig Dogwood she has placed at the center of the planter creates the highest point of the design, as well as adding some holiday color to the display. Around that she has placed White Pine seedlings (with the fluffy looking needles) and Hemlock seedlings (yellowish in color), at the outside edge a Christmas Fern spills over the planter making the display look full and lush.

Blue Princess Holly surrounded by Bearberry

At Schenley Plaza, her planters display two plants, with a focus on the beautiful Blue Princess Holly in the center complete with bright red berries. Surrounding the Holly she has put in a groundcover called Bearberry.

These wintertime planters do more than just look good, they incorperate evergreens for us to put into the parks! Angela has deliberately chosen plants (with the exception of the Blue Princess Holly) that are native to our area so that when it comes time to change the planters to spring flowers, these seedlings can be transplanted to the natural wooded areas. “Using natives is a challenge because there are so many beautiful evergreens that I’d like to use, but we don’t want to be putting invasive plants into the parks,” says Angela.

Wintertime planters in front of The Porch Restaurant in Schenley Plaza

Maintenance of wintertime planters is easy breezy since you are using plants accustomed to the cold weather. “As long as the planter is in a place where it gets rained and snowed on, it will be fine,” says Angela. “If the planter is under an eve of your house or some other covering you may need to water it a little once in a while.” She does add that having the planter closer to a building (while not necessarily covered) will give it a better chance of survival by protecting it from harsh elements like cold wind.  

Your imagination is the limit when it comes to the design of a wintertime planter. You can decorate the planters a multitude of ways. Angela recommends looking for some dried materials like lotus pods and artichokes to add texture and color. You can find such things at craft stores and they can be spray painted in metallic shades to add a little bling to the display. If you really want to spruce them up for the holidays try adding some ribbon.

There are a multitude of evergreen plants that will work beautifully but a few of Angela’s favorites are various kinds of Junipers (there are varieties that stand upright and some that drape), Gold Thread Cypress, Dwarf Alberta Spruce, and the native Winterberry Holly.         

 

Kathleen Gaines is a Development Associate for the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy

Dedicated Volunteers Made a Huge Impact in 2011

Our volunteers donated 6,543 hours of service in 2011

2011 has been an amazing year of volunteers with the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy!  Volunteers play an absolutely critical role in our mission to improve the quality of life for the people of Pittsburgh by restoring the park system to excellence.  Through the efforts of our volunteers, the City of Pittsburgh Department of Public Works, our many partner organizations and Parks Conservancy staff, our city’s parks rival any across the country. 

Here is a breakdown of the 2011 volunteer program outcomes:

 

Volunteer days

In 2011, we had 75 work days where 1,543 volunteers gave 4,961 hours of service.  They volunteered as individuals or with community, religious, school, and corporate groups. They worked rain or shine, through blazing heat and freezing cold – lifting, digging, and pulling to improve the places that we all love.  Some of their outcomes include:

- Planting over 640 trees and shrubs, and over 1000 wildflowers

- Removing over 2 tons of trash and scrap metal and nearly 250 tires from illegal dumpsites

- Controlling erosion on hillsides and trails

- Removing invasive species plants that threaten habitat and biodiversity

- Maintaining and beautifying the park gardens

I’m amazed at the dedication and passion of our volunteers.  People are willing to give up their Saturdays and Sundays to get outside and work until they’re covered from head to toe in dirt.  To me, nothing beats seeing what we’ve accomplished after a hard day.  It’s instantly gratifying and what I love most about my job with the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy.  

Next year’s volunteer opportunities will be posted soon! To get involved on one of our 2012 volunteer days, check  the schedule here. 

 

Urban EcoStewards

Urban EcoStewards are individuals who take on long term stewardship of a quarter-acre of green space, agreeing to independently visit their site throughout the year to perform restoration activities.  The program is a collaboration between the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, Nine Mile Run Watershed Association, the Frick Environmental Center, Mount Washington Community Development Corporation, Allegheny Land Trust and Allegheny Cleanways.  There are currently dozens of EcoStewards across the city, who together donated 264 hours of service this year to improve the health and beauty of Pittsburgh’s green spaces. 

Our organizations provide EcoStewards with the necessary skills to tend their site by offering a variety of trainings throughout the year, which are free and open to the public.  Trainings cover topics including:

- Invasive species identification and control

- Planting techniques

- Wildflower and tree identification

- Erosion control

- Crew Leader Training and others

Next time you’re in the parks, be on the lookout for people in the brown EcoSteward t-shirt – they can be seen hauling bags of trash, cutting invasive vines, and pulling garlic mustard.  Make sure to tell them “thank you” for the amazing work they do!

For more information about becoming an Urban EcoSteward, visit here.

 

High School Urban EcoStewards

High School Urban EcoStewards show off their T-shirts

While some people may think High School students need motivation, we at the Parks Conservancy know better.  The High School Urban EcoSteward program, which builds on the traditional EcoSteward model, engages students in hands-on restoration work to develop their observation and inquiry skills, connect them to the land, give context and relevance to principles of environmental science, and train them to be the next generation of ecological stewards.  We work with students from:

- Pittsburgh Science and Technology Academy

- Perry Traditional Academy

- Pittsburgh Milliones, University Preparatory School

- The Ellis School

- Westinghouse Academy (YMCA Lighthouse)

- City Charter High School

Students visit their site monthly from October to June, rain or shine, to do restoration work and learn about the impacts that we all have on our urban environment.  In 2011, students gave 1,318 hours of service to our parks.

We had 75 volunteer work days in 2011

In total, our 2011 volunteers gave 6,543 hours of service, which equates to a donation of over $139,750.  This number is mind blowing and gives us all reason to be proud of Pittsburgh and the people who live here.  Thank you to the partner organizations and funders that make our work possible.  I hope you see as much value in the volunteers’ work as I do.  Finally, thanks again to our crew leaders and volunteers who turn out in the thousands, donating their time and effort to make a real difference.  It’s been a pleasure to meet and work with all of you.  See you in 2012!

 Taiji Nelson is the Education Program Coordinator for the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy

Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy’s Award Winning Gardens

This year the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society has recognized three of the gardens the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy has designed and maintains in partnership with the City with the Community Greening Award. The PHS grants this annual award to recognize “greening and beautification efforts throughout the region that have benefitted communities.” A panel of judges evaluated sites in July and August based on plant variety, design, use of space, and horticultural practices. The Highland Park Entry Garden, the Mellon Park Walled Garden, and the Schenley Plaza Gardens won the award which was presented to the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy in a ceremony that took place on November 19^th.

The award is especially gratifying for Parks Conservancy gardener Angela Masters who designs and maintains these treasured public gardens. “It feels great to be recognized,” says Angela, “but I can’t take all the credit. It takes a lot of work from a lot of people to make them so beautiful.” Angela notes the importance of the City’s work maintaining lawns, trimming plants, and removing debris. She also relies heavily on groups of dedicated gardening volunteers.

Highland Park Entry Garden

The Parks Conservancy completed its restoration of the Highland Park Entry Garden in 2005 and it now stands as the great Victorian entry to Highland Park it was intended to be. “Primarily consisting of perennials, the garden is meticulously maintained,” commented the PHS judges, adding that it is “a sight to behold.” The meticulousness of this garden is possible in part because of our “weeding Wednesdays” volunteer group who works in the garden with Angela in the Spring and Summer months with the support of Citiparks Highland Park foreman, Evan Jones.

Mellon Park Walled Garden

The Walled Garden in Mellon Park was restored in honor of Ann Katharine Seamans, who loved the garden her whole life. The garden re-opened in June of 2010. A public art display was added to honor Annie’s memory. Artist Janet Zweig created 7:11AM  11.20.1979  79º55′W 40º27′N which is a series of LED lights placed into the walled garden’s lawn to imitate the constellations over Pittsburgh when Annie was born. Pittsburgh landscape architecture firm La Quatra Bonci Associates designed and oversaw the installation of the garden.

“The plant material is extensive and the maintenance is flawless,” commented the judges. “A visit here leaves a lasting impression. This garden is truly one of the jewels in the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy.” With Angela’s guidance and the support of Citiparks Mellon Park foreman Dick Wilford, volunteers donate approximately 1,500 hours a year to the garden’s maintenance.  As a result of its beauty, weddings in the walled garden have become increasingly popular.

Schenley Plaza Gardens

Adjacent to the Cathedral of Learning in Pittsburgh’s Oakland neighborhood, Schenley Plaza was paved in 1949 and had been used as a parking lot ever since. In 2006, after a decade of planning, The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, in partnership with the City, restored the Plaza to the grand entrance to Schenley Park it was meant to be. One of the Plaza’s many charms is a series of gardens dispersed between beautiful Spanish cedar benches on the Forbes Avenue side. 

“The spacious garden area is surrounded by many natives and features plantings that are rotated several times a year to provide vibrant seasonal displays,” noted the judges. “Various green design techniques help the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy reduce landscape maintenance.” The Plaza gardens are where some of Angela’s most exuberant work can be seen, where planters allow her the opportunity to more frequently experiment with the color, texture, and style of the plants she features. She is supported by Schenley Park foreman, Bob Weid, and Citiparks worker Jeff Creighton.     

    

 Each of these projects has enhanced our city and recognition from so distinguished an organization as the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society is deeply gratifying. Please consider donating to the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy or volunteering your time so that we can keep these “jewels” in the crown of Pittsburgh sparkling. 

See a complete list of this year’s winners – which includes 10 other Pittsburgh gardens –here.

The Porch at Schenley – Schenley Plaza Gets a Restaurant

After much anticipation, The Porch at Schenley has opened its doors! The Porch is collaboration between the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and Eat ‘n Park Hospitality Group created to aid in the funding of free public programming in Schenley Plaza.

skillet cornbread

Located on the Hillman Library side of Schenley Plaza, the restaurant serves breakfastlunch and dinner seven days a week, and features a brunch on Saturday and Sunday. There is a takeout window that is ideal for a quick breakfast item or lunch pick up, or you can go inside starting at 11 am weekdays (10 am weekends) where you’ll order your food at the register and take the seat of your choice. At dinner, the restaurant switches over to full service – a hostess will seat you and one of the The Porch’s exceptionally friendly servers will take your order.

marinated olives

While the restaurant does not take reservations they have a wait list option for dinner located on their website. The wait list will tell you how long the wait for a table is and allow you to add your name via their website from the comfort of your home. You can then proceed to the restaurant with most of the wait already behind you.

The Porch was designed specifically for Schenley Plaza with a seamless transition from the building to open space.

harvest pie

Sustainability was at the forefront of the restaurant design process. The building features a green roof, where Executive Chef Kevin Hermann will be growing items for the menu in season. Ingredients are locally sourced whenever possible and all the food is scratch made.

The Porch’s menu features unpretentious, quality food – from duck legs, to delicious burgers made with beef ground on site, to wood fired pizza’s, and a kid’s menu – there really is something for everyone. You can taste that everything is made right on site; the pizza crust is vying to be the best in town.

duck legs

The bar features a wine menu with options by the glass and bottle. There are also beers on tap and in the bottle, a selection of porch signature alcoholic drinks, and non-alcoholic drinks including a housemade seasonal soda. The desert menu has everything from cookies, to gelato, and a delicious cranberry chocolate bread pudding that they cook in the wood fire oven.

The restaurant is intended to be a favorite spot for the diverse Oakland

cranberry bread pudding

population, so whether you’re a student crawling out of the Hillman Library during finals week, a professional on your lunch break, or the parents of a student looking for a place to celebrate, come as you are. (With a shirt and shoes of course!) There’s a fireplace going and when the weather permits you can enjoy your food out on the deck overlooking Schenley Plaza’s beautiful emerald lawn.

To learn more about The Porch and to view their hours visit their website here, where you can also view their full menu, or sign up for the wait list on a busy night.

Mellon Square Reconstruction a Colorful Process

As construction in Mellon Square progresses, downtown inhabitants have no doubt noticed some colorful changes. The demolition portion of our First Phase of restoration in Mellon Square is over, “We’re on to reconstruction,” says Parks Conservancy maintenance and management director Phil Gruszka. “It’s all about the orange, black, and blue now. Then we start pouring concrete.”  

orange waterproof membrane

  

The orange Phil is referring to is a waterproofing membrane being laid under the concrete to ensure its longevity – especially in the planters which will be retaining water regularly. The black is a sealant applied to where the membrane overlaps.

The blue is lightweight construction foam. One of the focuses of our First Phase of construction is the implementation of a new terrace above the Smithfield Street shops. This new patch of green will increase the Square’s usable space by 15%. The construction foam will be placed followed by a lightweight concrete which will make the terrace structurally strong, but still light enough to be over the shops.

Blue construction foam

Learn more about our restoration of Mellon Square here. To make a donation of support to this project please visit our donations page, or call us at 412.682.7275. 

Follow our progress in photos at our flickr account’s Mellon Square set. 

All photos by John Altdorfer

With Rain, Love in a Garden Grows – A Mellon Park Wedding

When I woke up on my wedding day October 1^st – or rather got out of bed after roughly six hours of tossing and turning – the first thing I did was open the weather center app on my i phone. “Cold,” it read. “Rain and wind.” I disbelievingly threw open the hotel curtain only to be confronted with a pall of gray and navy sky. Water snaked down the window as the rain sputtered relentlessly from every direction. The screen of the phone in my trembling hand glowed “42⁰ F”. Five miles away 140 white folding chairs were being delivered at the Memorial Walled Garden in Mellon Park.

Photos by Elle and Arre Photography

When a character in a movie has an epiphany, their life often flashes before their eyes – this was kind of like that. Except I didn’t see my whole life, just the parts where I showed dozens of people around the stunning, newly restored Walled Garden, eagerly watching their faces for the moment of How did I not know this existed. I heard myself pontificating about the beauty of expressing love in nature. I saw my mother and myself standing in the grass on October 1^st 2010 at precisely 3:30 in the afternoon to observe the angle of the sun, lest our guests be blinded while observing my marriage. I remember being asked over, and over again, “So what’s your rain plan?” And I would laugh and say, “It doesn’t matter, I’m getting married in that garden.” And so I would, because I wanted to be a part of its magic.

Japanese Anemone in the Walled Garden

I first felt the magic of the Walled Garden in June of 2010, shortly after my engagement and only days after the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy had completed their restoration. Before the day my mother led me into this space, I had no idea it existed. I was instantly head-over-heels, dizzy in love with it. I couldn’t have known then that almost exactly one year from this moment I would show up for my first day of work as the Parks Conservancy’s new development associate. I didn’t even know they would be hiring. Kismet I believe.         

The Memorial Walled Garden in Mellon Park is magical far beyond its most

The restored fountain

obvious qualities – a striking fountain with cherubs and turtles spitting water, beautiful stone paths, and a meticulously manicured garden surrounding a soft carpet of emerald grass. The garden – along with all of the rest of the park – was originally part of the Mellon family’s estate. Constructed in 1929 by the famed landscape architects Vitale and Geiffert, the Walled Garden retains its antique charm thanks to the Parks Conservancy’s commitment to historically accurate restoration in all projects, and careful maintenance by the City. Though it’s in a public park, the garden feels to the people who enter it as though it is a secret beholden only to those inside its walls. This sensation of ownership and belonging it creates is a flawless representation of our City parks’ most gratifying quality – that they do in fact belong to each of its citizens.

The renovation of the Walled Garden completed in 2010 was done in memory of Ann Katharine Seamans, who loved the garden her whole life.  To honor her, a public art installation was added during the restoration. 7:11AM 11.20.1979 79⁰55’W 40⁰27’N is the work of artist Janet Zweig. Each day as the sun goes down, a series of LED lights placed inconspicuously in the grass illuminate the garden’s floor to replicate the constellations of the sky over Mellon Park as they were the day Annie was born. The LED lights that were used were assembled by a crew led by a young man who did the work as his Eagle Scout project.

When my mother showed me the space she told me about this dedication cautiously, afraid that I would find the association too sad for my wedding, but it had the opposite effect on me. The garden was already beautiful, but it now had meaning, and weight, and art. The Seamans family had taken a personal tragedy and turned it into something that would enrich people’s lives. Through their grief they built something beautiful, and it felt in that moment that they had done it for me. I had the opportunity to say this to Annie’s parents, my voice quaking with an emotion that took me by surprise. This place would forever represent one of the greatest joys of my life.   

Each of these details is a tree ring in a history I wanted to be a part of.

A friend told us afterward that our wedding was like us - rain or shine

I got the first phone call at 10 am. It was my mother. My maid-of-honor and I had just opened the champagne to cope – there had been other problems, a bridesmaid with the stomach flu, another with a flat tire and still miles away, just to name a few – but despite it all we were laughing. What else was there to do? When I answered, my mother’s voice instantly took the tone of a good Samaritan trying to talk a stranger down off a ledge. She told me that the weather was not going to change, that the reception venue had graciously offered to let us have the ceremony there, they could flip the reception room during cocktail hour.

I was going to get married in that garden.

The hours that followed were a flurry of activity that required more than a few people to abandon their title as “guest” and become “umbrella distributor,” “tent setter-upper,” “wet seat wiper,” etc. People who had never met me donated the use of their pop up tents. At approximately 10:45 am my maid of honor received a text from one of the bridesmaids, it read…”how does Katie feel about rubber rain boots?” I felt very good about rubber rain boots, and so two of my bridesmaids went to Target and purchased seven pairs of black, rainbow polka dotted rubber rain boots. At the same time, in a Target across town, my father unknowingly purchased the matching umbrellas.

As the ceremony drew closer I began to worry to myself that people might not show up. That this might really be crazy. That I might be asking too much for our friends and family to join us while we got married in the cold rain. I consoled myself with the fact that this would be my bridezilla moment. This garden meant a lot to me, and so they would deal with it. It should be noted that my soon to be husband did not even ask if I wanted to move the wedding, he knew I wouldn’t.

"I felt very good about rubber rain boots"

As I walked down the aisle on my father’s arm, everyone I loved was there and smiling beneath a Technicolor canopy. Looking back at people’s pictures as I took that life changing stroll, I noticed that people who had never met sat huddled together under shared umbrellas. Guests told me of the sense of community that immediately developed as people took their seat – drying each other’s chairs with shared towels, taking care not to let the rainwater fall on their neighbor. When I reached the altar I realized that each of the groomsmen had each removed their jacket and given it to the bridesmaid they walked with, Ryin did the same when I met him before the minister. The magic of my garden settled around all of us and I became my husband’s wife.

Many of the moments I loved most about my wedding happened because of the rain. And with my fortitude I had joined the story of a place I love so much. I imagine that a person who was passing by might one day take a friend to that garden and remark, “This one time I saw a girl getting married here in the rain, with a smile on her face.”      

Elle and Arre Photography

Kathleen (McGuire) Gaines is a development associate for the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy. 

Permitting for the Walled Garden is handled by the City – the permitting office can be reached at 412-255-2370. More info about permits is here. To learn more about the restoration of the garden and its wonderful public art visit our website here.

All photographs taken by Elle and Arre Photography.