Mission Ground Truth:21 – Parks as Classrooms (part two)

Last week, we got a bird’s eye view of our Mission Ground Truth:21 program teacher training. Mission Ground Truth is an inquiry-based experiential science curriculum that gives middle school students the opportunity to investigate the health and value of forest and freshwater stream ecosystems. Combining classroom and field sessions, Mission Ground Truth gives students a glimpse into the everyday life of an ecologist.  Programs like these show the impact of learning both inside and outside of the classroom.

 

Students surveying the stream

Parks as Classrooms

For the Mission Ground Truth:21 program, teachers are responsible for leading 3 discovery activities that introduce students to the concepts they’ll be testing and analyzing on their field day. During these sessions, students use Google Earth to investigate the landscape they will be studying in the field to make predictions about its health, identify interacting organisms within woodland food webs, and practice making predictions about water quality based on different human impact scenarios.

Propel students sampling the stream

All of these activities lead up to the field session where students have the chance to be scientists for the day. The all-day field session is taught in Frick Park by Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy staff. Students spend 3 hours hiking through Frick Park’s woodland and 3 hours wading through the Nine Mile Run stream using hands-on scientific methodology and instrumentation to gather and analyze data about the health of these ecosystems. They’re learning that science doesn’t just take place in the lab, it’s happening all around us and it’s relevant to our everyday lives.

Bailey Warren is the Education Program Assistant at the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy through a 10-month apprenticeship with Public Allies Pittsburgh AmeriCorps program.

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Mission Ground Truth:21 – Educational Partnerships (part one)

Despite the frigid temperatures, the wind chill, and a two-hour delay to boot, 10 teachers showed up to the Frick Environmental Center for our first ever Mission Ground Truth: 21 teacher training. Mission Ground Truth is an inquiry-based experiential science curriculum that gives middle school students the opportunity to investigate the health and value of forest and freshwater stream ecosystems. Combining classroom and field sessions, Mission Ground Truth gives students a glimpse into the everyday life of an ecologist.  After piloting the program in the spring with the 7^th grade science classes at Propel Montour, we have expanded our reach this school year to include Propel Homestead, Propel McKeesport, Winchester Thurston, The Ellis School, and the Environmental Charter School.

Educational Partnerships

Propel teachers learn how to use dichotomous keys to ID tree leaves.

Teacher trainings are an important part of developing a partnership between informal educators and classroom teachers. We have different styles, different objectives, and different experiences to bring to the table. The training was a chance for everyone to get to know each other, establish appropriate roles and expectations, and to introduce new teachers to the content of the program. We wanted to provide a space where they could ask questions, give feedback, and learn from Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy staff and teachers who have previously gone through the program.

Many of the teachers had limited experience teaching outdoors and wanted some tips to prepare their class and themselves. As an informal educator myself, two of the most integral aspects of a successful program are ensuring that students are dressed appropriately for the weather (nothing is more distracting than discomfort) and having an enthusiastic and involved teacher on board. Really, it all comes back to communicating expectations to others. We had a great conversation about how helpful it is for the teacher to model the good behavior we expect from our students. As much as the training is for the teachers to become comfortable and acquainted with the program, it was also a space for us to get feedback on the curriculum content. From these discussions, we developed an Environmental Education tip sheet to share with all of our program partner teachers.

Calculating the area of Frick Park using Google Earth

At the end of every discovery activity simulation, we always came back to the overarching goal:  We want the kids to have hands-on experience outdoors doing what scientists do. They’re getting the chance to see what it means to be an ecologist. That means doing research and making predictions, then going out into the field to test those predictions and analyze their data. Both elements are essential. Once they understand that, then they can work through the details that make it all happen.

Be sure to check out part two of our blog next week to learn more about Mission Ground Truth:21 and how we use parks as classrooms.

Bailey Warren is the Education Program Assistant at the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy through a 10-month apprenticeship with Public Allies Pittsburgh AmeriCorps program.

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Life goes wherever water flows – Keeping our watersheds healthy

Watersheds play an important part in maintaining healthy biodiversity in our local environment. Watersheds can carry sewage, pesticides and other harmful elements that can damage our ecosystem. What many people may not realize is that we all live in a watershed. Nine Mile Run and Panther Hollow are two examples of area watersheds the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy are working to restore in partnership with the City of Pittsburgh and other area non-profits.

Through the Carnegie Science Center’s “Take a Hike!” program sponsored by The Sprout Fund, our own director of education, Marijke Hecht, shows us what we can do in our own backyard to help keep area watersheds clean and thriving.

For more information on the Nine Mile Run Watershed or Panther Hollow Watershed, visit our website www.pittsburghparks.org. To learn how you can get your own rain barrel to help divert extra water from the sewer systems, visit the Nine Mile Run Watershed Association website at www.ninemilerun.org.

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Healthy Trail, Healthy Heart – Getting Fit in Pittsburgh’s Parks

Every time I lace up my sneakers and hit the trails for a marathon run through Pittsburgh’s emerald parks (okay, by marathon I actually mean about 3.5 miles…on a good day) I’m quickly brought back to April 2010. This was the month that not only catapulted me into the reality of mortality, but also altered my overall worldview of living a healthy, meaningful life. I sat in a hospital waiting room trying to unsuccessfully distract my mom as we waited for the surgeon to deliver the news of how my dad’s open heart surgery had gone. A day earlier he had gone in for a routine angioplasty, or at least I’m told they’re routine, and the next thing we knew they were loading him into an ambulance for emergency quadruple coronary bypass surgery at another hospital. The man I once thought to be invincible became more human than ever. That wasn’t a stranger on that stretcher. It was my dad. The day of the surgery was one of those odd days where time stood still while racing by all at the same time. We saw doctor’s come in and out speaking with other families in the waiting room and even overheard one doctor tell a family their loved had just had a successful quintuple bypass surgery. We didn’t even know that was possible! We held our breath as the heart surgeon walked toward us removing his surgical mask. My dad, being the stubborn old man that he is, really made the surgeons work for their dinner that day by ending up with sextuple coronary bypass surgery. He always did have to one-up everyone else. It turns out he had suffered multiple minor heart attacks throughout the year and didn’t know it, but the surgery was successful.

Three months after his surgery, I moved to Pittsburgh. I used this new beginning as a wake-up call. Between my dad’s surgery and my own heart murmur diagnosis in junior high, it was time to stop the legacy of unhealthy heart disease that ran rampant in my family. Instead of spending my free time watching reruns of Twin Peaks on Netflix, I hit the trails. I was definitely nervous as I started my way down Braddock Trail in Frick Park for the first time, but knowing my strong aversion to gyms and having learned the hard way that treadmills take at least some coordination, I knew I had to do something to keep my heart healthy.

Healthy weight management is the obvious benefit to any physical activity. The American Heart Association (AHA) states that 60-70% of Americans are obese, leading to a higher risk of heart disease and other medical issues. According to the AHA, chronic stress may also contribute to heart disease as it can weaken artery walls and increase blood pressure.  With heart disease consistently ranking as the number one killer in this county, it’s pertinent that people get out and start moving. Recently, there has been an onset of studies showing the benefits of exercising outdoors versus exercising indoors. A 2011 study performed at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom showed that participants who exercise outside experienced a greater positive influence in overall mood and reduction of stress. The participants were also more likely to repeat the activity and form a regular exercise routine. Additionally, exercising outdoors increases your intake of Vitamin D (everything in moderation of course so wear your sunscreen!), which assists in bone growth and calcium absorption.

A key take-away for me is the effectiveness of habit formation when exercising outside. Consistency is not my strong point so I had to make sure to pick an exercise that was engaging and kept me coming back. Seriously, what can be more engaging than feeding your senses through the 561 acres of winding trails in Frick Park? The trails not only boast a variety of wildlife and a majestic canopy of trees, but the changes in elevation also allow you to cater your workout to your skill level or just what you’re in the mood for that day. Since I’m not exactly the strongest runner, yet, I’ve created a confidence-boosting run for myself on days that I need a quick shot of self-assurance. It’s about a two-mile downhill run starting in Blue Slide Playground, meandering down Riverview Trail, along to Falls Ravine and making a leftie onto Tranquil Trail until it splits with Biddle. Be careful on this path if you have bad knees, but if you need to remind yourself that you can break through the runner’s wall, this is the way to do it. There are even drinking fountains along the way to keep hydrated and open bathrooms for when you’re a little too hydrated. It gets my heart to a comfortable cardiovascular workout rate, while still allowing me to control my breath and break a sweat. This route is what convinces me to continue on my quest for a heart healthy lifestyle and I always make sure to throw it into my weekly routine.

Whether you’re biking, walking, running or just playing in the parks, it’s a great way to begin and maintain a healthy lifestyle. Habits will form and you’ll soon begin craving your park the way I crave the dirt trails of Frick. When my dad comes to visit, we always make sure to take a walk on the trails through Frick Park. It not only gets the blood flowing and our legs moving, but breathing in the fresh air and feeling my heart steadily pump to the rhythm of our stride reminds me how precious life is and how happy I am that I’m still sharing it with my dad.

Holly Stayton is the eCommerce Development Officer for the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy.

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Education through Restoration – Creating Meaningful Service-Learning Projects in the Parks

I love breakfast meetings. First off, there is breakfast. Plus I am a morning person so I’m freshest and most engaged for these early morning gatherings. A couple of days ago I found myself at a breakfast meeting sitting next to a woman who works with youth through the Allegheny County Department of Human Services. I had just returned from a week-long training on service learning with the Community Works Institute so when she mentioned that her kids need to perform community service and asked if there was anything they could do in the parks my answer was a resounding “Yes!” – but with a twist. I said we had lots of opportunities for youth service projects in the parks, but that we aim to have our programs go beyond service to service-learning. She was clutching her coffee (not a morning person, perhaps) and looked at me with a quizzical what’s the difference? expression.

I immediately leapt into a quick overview of how ‘service learning’ builds on ‘community service’, enriching the participant experience significantly. I stressed that if her kids came out into the parks with us they would not only complete a great project, they would actually be given the opportunity to understand more about the why of the work. We would help make connections between their on-the-ground efforts and the larger needs that they are helping to address. Perhaps most importantly, though, they would have the chance to reflect on the impact they were having – and the impact the work was having on them.

Shelburne Farms

Before I began CWI’s Institute on Service Learning EAST at Shelburne Farms just outside of Burlington, Vermont, I felt sure that our educational programs were already using service learning. Joining me at the training were Taiji Nelson, the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy’s Education Program Coordinator, and two Naturalist Educators from the Frick Environmental Center, Lydia Konecky and Eva Barinas. The Parks Conservancy Board of Directors had generously agreed to fund this professional development opportunity for all of us in order to build our team and strengthen our education programs in anticipation of a new Environmental Center that we hope to begin construction on in 2013.

The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy has been working closely for several years with the Environmental Center staff to knit our environmental education programs together. We are all using the theme of education through restoration as a guiding principle and are jointly giving folks of all ages the chance to learn about the local environment as they do meaningful, hands-on work in Pittsburgh parks. Still, before the training if someone had asked me what exactly I meant by service-learning or how that was different from community service, I would have fumbled. As a team we have been delivering our programs using well-honed instincts developed over years of doing outdoor education with youth and adults. This was our chance to build on this knowledge by examining best practices in the field of service learning, critically looking at our existing programs, and taking time to consider how to apply these ideas back home.

Now, after 40 hours of training including 8 workshops, daily work with my incredibly thoughtful peer discussion group, more daily work with my Best Practices Study Group, an icy-cold dip in a Vermont stream, walk and talks with my fellow Pittsburghers, fantastic lunches prepared with local foods by Shelburne Farms, and reflection, reflection, reflection…not only can I articulate how our environmental education programs use service-learning or why that is important – I now have concrete ideas for how to make our programs better.

My big a-ha moment for the week came during the workshop Reflection: An Essential Ingredient. We already include reflection in our High School Urban EcoStewards program through daily journaling and end-of-year presentations. This year’s students did everything from create a Tree ID game to illustrate a watercolor book on how to plant a tree. But I realized during the workshop that we could be infusing all of our programs with reflection, even our one-day volunteer events. Last year we had more than 1,500 volunteers contribute time to the parks. What if every volunteer day included time for fun and simple reflection, helping people gain a deeper understanding of the value of their work? This could be as simple posing questions for people to consider as they carry tools back from the work site such as, “What does this project mean to my community? To the park? To our rivers?” We could also ask for reflection on the day in follow-up online surveys.

The Institute also made me realize that we could do a better job revealing our educational goals to our students. Last summer we worked with 3 teachers to develop the Big Ideas for our High School Urban EcoSteward program and map the program to the PA State Standards. Why not share these directly with the kids – let them know what we thought was important for them to learn and why? Our High School students do so much fantastic work for the parks (just this past year they planted close to 300 trees), but have we dialogued enough with them on how each tree planting connects to improved water quality? We certainly present this information at the beginning of our sessions, but I’m looking forward to giving our students more room to explore their sites and develop their own observations and questions about the impact of their stewardship.

In many ways, though, the single most important part of the week was bonding with our Pittsburgh team. A few of my favorites moments: early breakfasts with Eva (also a morning person); searching the shores of Lake Champlain for the most beautiful rocks until our hands were overflowing; racing to our car through a magnificent summer downpour at the end of a day; and spending evenings huddled on lawn chairs in the cool Vermont air sharing stories of past travels around the world.

Our Pittsburgh Pack

It was these in-between times where I really got to discover more about each of our backgrounds and our visions for the future. It was great confirmation of what I already knew: we have an absolutely incredible group of environmental educators here, people who are committed to connecting people with nature and making our City even better. The workshop was the perfect chance to practice lifelong learning together, prepare us for another year of our growing environmental education programs, and reaffirm what we all believe – that giving students a chance to not just learn about our local environment but actually improve it is the key to fostering the park stewards and engaged citizens of the future.

Marijke Hecht is the Director of Education at the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy. Please visit our website for upcoming volunteer days and updates on the development of the new Environmental Center at Frick Park. If you’re interested in making a donation to the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy to help us continue our education through restoration, please visit our Donate page on our website.

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Pittsburgh’s Central Fire – Finding Common Ground through the World’s Green Spaces

As crowds of people slowly began filing into the Lighthouse at Chelsea Pier in New York City for the kick-off of the Greater & Greener International Urban Parks Conference, Peter J. Madonia of the Rockefeller Foundation remarked, “It’s like Woodstock for parkies.” A rumble of laughter filled the room and the largest urban parks conference in history was underway. Looking around the crowd, it was obvious this was more than just a few environmentally and community-minded folks getting together to gab about green spaces. The City Parks Alliance brought together over 850 people from 210 cities and 20 countries to participate in more than 100 workshops focusing on topics including environmental advocacy, development, and management. Experts in their fields from major organizations, foundations and government intermingled with people and small organizations committed to promoting the influence parks have on our communities.

Staff from the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, City of Pittsburgh, Mount Washington Community Development Corporation, Riverlife and many other organizations attended the conference. Determined to not only gain new ideas, but to share success stories and strategies of how our urban parks have contributed to Pittsburgh being consistently named “most livable city” year after year. Keynote speaker, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, got the first full day of workshops started by discussing how parks have become a “powerful catalyst for community development.” This became one of the three overlying themes of the conference: community development, public health and future technological advancements. The conference slowly unveiled a more enlightened and deeper value for urban green spaces other than their beauty.

Public Art at The High Line

Community Development

The Parks Conservancy supports and promotes the environmental benefits of parks, but also focuses on the tremendous community and economic development that comes from urban green spaces. When an urban park is designed or restored, it creates a chain reaction in community development and overall quality of life. It creates jobs both in the implementation and maintenance process. Home values around the park increase while access to trails and open spaces for recreational activities enhance public health. All of these factors combine to increase economic growth for the community. It can be difficult to show citizens not living directly within city limits the advantages to urban development when they can feel so far removed from it. Mick Cornett, Mayor of Oklahoma City, is responsible for leading his city towards an undeniable rebirth and discussed the need to put money and effort into the city infrastructure to benefit the entire metro area. He stated, “ The quality of life in urban areas is directly connected to the quality of life in the suburbs. You can’t be a suburb of nothing.”

The High Line Zoo

A visit to The High Line in New York City revealed another unexpected perk to urban parks and community development.  Strolling down the restored elevated freight line that has been repurposed into a modern public green space on Manhattan’s West Side, you’ll be greeted by a gorilla, an amorous sailor and a portrait of a young Native American child to name a few. A menagerie of public art has popped-up along the buildings and open spaces lining The High Line, intertwining the worlds of nature and art into one harmonious story of city culture.

Digging in the dirt at the Frick Environmental Center

Public Health

Park and nature prescriptions were buzzwords used throughout the conference. Daphne Miller, M.D. discussed the “disease of the indoors” and the Health Care Provider Initiative being implemented through the National Environmental Education Foundation (NEEF). The initiative educates health care providers on the importance of outdoor activity in the prevention of childhood obesity and diabetes, encouraging them to provide nature prescriptions in addition to traditional healthcare. “I think of parks as part of our healthcare system”, Dr. Miller said. United States Secretary of State Ken Salazar, who closed the conference, informed us that children only spend an average of four minutes outside a day. Access to parks and green space is an issue for children in some communities. Many have to walk through dangerous areas or cross highways to get to a park.  Dr. Miller discussed the idea of creating green corridors to connect parks throughout the community and provide “veins of access to green space” for children and others to safely enjoy the parks. The healthier we make our parks, the healthier the people of our community will become.

Playing tag in Highland Park

Technological Advancements

With the role parks play in the health of a society and way to get people outdoors, the topic of technology and the future of parks can often be a tricky subject to tackle. There’s no doubt that we are currently in the era of technology; however, there is still resistance to how technology can contribute to the park system and whether it belongs there at all. Many view the demons of video games, television, Internet, social media and smartphones as the antithesis to the mission of parks and the exact cause of what is keeping people holed up indoors. Garry Golden, Futurist and Founder of Forward Elements, Inc. spoke about the purpose of technology in the future of environmental infrastructure. “Technology doesn’t have to be at odds with simple design”, he explains. Workshop presenter Erin Barnes and her organization, ioby (In Our Back Yard), is a perfect example of how to incorporate technology with environmental advocacy. Ioby is an organization committed to bringing green initiatives to the local level by connecting people to fundraising resources via their website. It’s great to hear about organizations raising millions of dollars to fund environmental causes in the community, but this can at times seem inaccessible for smaller causes.  Ioby uses “crowd-resourcing” and “DIY activism” to empower the community to form their own small fundraising projects through their website.  On the ioby website you can search for projects using filters to discover the needs of a group and how you can get involved. Currently, there is an open project listed on the ioby website in the Pittsburgh community called the Homewood Agricultural Project. They are looking for both donations and volunteers for the project and it’s a great way to help out concerned citizens trying to better our community. Technology isn’t going anywhere, so many of us are embracing it to inform the public about parks and get people active.  The Parks Conservancy has welcomed technological advancements. We are currently developing a mobile app funded through a grant from UPMC Health Plan and the “Parks Are Free” campaign promoting use of the parks and public health within our own community.

Pittsburgh’s Schenley Plaza

Pittsburgh was well represented at the conference as presenters shared expertise in the field and highlighted successful restorations of our beautiful parks to their intended splendor. The Parks Conservancy Founder and CEO, Meg Cheever, served as a moderator for a workshop discussing the importance of public-private partnerships when developing and maintaining urban parks. Parks Curator, Susan Rademacher, sat on a workshop panel called, “People Over Cars” to discuss the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy campaign to restore a parking lot to its original purpose in the development of Schenley Plaza. Ilyssa Manspeizer, Ph.D., Director, Park Development & Conservation for the Mount Washington Community Development Corporation filled the crowd in on the “scrappy do-it-yourself ethos” that has helped transform a steep hillside in Mount Washington to the beautiful 280 acre Emerald View Park overlooking the Pittsburgh skyline.

Picnic in Schenley Park

Central Fire

As speaker after speaker discussed the role parks play in the development of a community, it was National Park Service Deputy Director of Communication and Community Assistance, Mickey Fearn that hit closest to home. He spoke of the “central fire where people used to come together to get warm, share stories and inspire and further community.” This immediately evoked images of our own Pittsburgh parks. Swirls of children sprinting to the playground on Schenley Overlook while families reunite at picnic tables. International students fresh off the plane meeting each other for the first time at the University of Pittsburgh international welcome picnic in Schenley Park. Neighbors who have never met swapping stories while their pooches splash mud at the off-leash dog area deep within Frick Park. High schoolers blushing as their parents embarrassingly take pictures of them at the Highland Park Entry Garden before they head-off to their Senior Prom. Our community coming together in our parks to share life and love, this is the central fire that has been burning in Pittsburgh for the past decade.

Holly Stayton is the eCommerce Development Officer for the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy. Learn more about how you can get involved with Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy on our website. Also, keep up-to-date on how the Pittsburgh Greenspace Alliance has joined together to promote and improve Pittsburgh’s green spaces.

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Parks Tour – What We’ve Been Up To…

Let’s take a tour.

When I sat nervously in my now boss’ office to interview for my job a little over a year ago, I told him with heartfelt sincerity that I wanted to work for the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy because the organization had in one way or another touched the lives of everyone in this city. I touted my connections to various Conservancy projects – I lived in Highland Park as a teenager when the reflecting pool and fountain was filled in with dirt and drab shrubbery. I saw the Schenley Park Café and Visitor Center with its patina of cracked paint and vending machines standing where flower beds now lay. As a Pitt student I watched an Oakland parking lot’s metamorphosis into Schenley Plaza. Last year I was married in the newly restored Walled Garden in Mellon Park.     

Many Pittsburghers are familiar with the Conservancy’s numerous projects in our parks in partnership with the City or are connected to our volunteer and educational programs. What is remarkable to me in my three hundred and however-many-days with this organization is how the Conservancy’s reach continues to grow. Every once in a while, our office staff has the opportunity to power down our computers and go out into the parks to see the progress first hand. With the expertise of our Parks Curator Susan Rademacher, Parks Maintenance and Management Director Phil Gruzska, and Director of Education Marijke Hecht in tow, we get to discover new park spaces and connect to our current projects and the people they impact.

Since you and I have become such good friends, I thought it might be nice for you to come along as well to see what we’re working on…

McKinley Park

The historic stone wall and stairs at Delmont Ave. will be restored

I must admit that I’d never been to McKinley Park before this visit, but I could see immediately why it is so beloved by the Beltzhoover, Bon Air, and Knoxville neighborhoods that frame this lush green space. Once part of Melchoir Beltzhoover’s farm, the future park became a popular picnic spot with early German settlers. It was first known as “Butchers Grove” following an oxen roast held there by butchers and slaughterhouse employees on July 4, 1875. In that same year, the developers Benjamin McLain and Thomas Maple purchased the Beltzhoover Farm and began laying out neighborhood streets and housing lots. Soon, the land reserved for green space was dubbed Maple Park for Thomas Maple. In 1898, the historically German borough of Beltzhoover was annexed by the City of Pittsburgh, which also bought Maple Park from McLain and Maple. The park was given its current name following the assassination of President McKinley in 1901.     

Rendering of the proposed restoration of the Delmont Ave. entrance, by Carlos Peterson

For the past 16 years, the Parks Conservancy has focused its work in Pittsburgh’s four historic Regional Parks – Frick, Highland, Riverview, and Schenley while also working in other parks as our resources allow. Our current improvement plan for McKinley is a first step into this very special neighborhood park. The project will be focused at the park’s Delmont Avenue entrance serving the community center, playground, and basketball court. There we will repair the historic stone entry wall and steps. The project will also feature a first in Pittsburgh when we repave the parking lot using special porous asphalt which will absorb storm water, eliminating the need for piping and halting soil erosion. Strategically placed rain gardens will assist, as well as provide beautiful landscaping for the entry. Work in McKinley is currently slated to begin in September 2012.       

Mellon Square

On June 13, 2011, we broke ground on one of the Conservancy’s most ambitious capital projects to date – the total restoration of downtown Pittsburgh’s Mellon Square. In 1955 this 1.37-acre modern garden rooftop plaza was the first of its kind to be built in conjunction with a new parking garage. The Square was designed by the esteemed landscape architecture firm of Simonds and Simonds in collaboration with the architects Mitchell and Ritchey. Today the Square is a favorite gathering place for downtown residents and employees, but its shine has dulled significantly over decades of use. 

Terrace construction

We are in the process of restoring all aspects of the Square including the custom triangular graphic paving known as Rustic Venetian Terazzo, the planters and landscaping, both the Central Fountain and the Cascade Fountain, and lighting. Additionally, we are converting a former planter into a new Terrace above the shops along Smithfield Street creating 15% more useable space in the Square. This idea was included in one of the early design concepts from 1950 and we saw it as an excellent solution to a problem space. The new Terrace will also provide views of the dramatic Cascade Fountain not previously possible. 

The Central Fountain demolished

I hadn’t been inside the Square since our groundbreaking ceremony over a year ago and I was taken aback by the size of the vacant space that had once been occupied by the Central Fountain. This beautiful feature of the Square is being completely rebuilt, complete with its lightshow. The restoration of the fountain’s huge bronze bowls is safely in the hands of their creators at Matthews International. The complexity of the construction is also remarkable, with access to some of the Square’s plumbing as far as three levels deep into the underground parking garage.

Rendering of the completed Mellon Square by Robert Bowden

Final completion dates are directly tied to the moving target that construction often becomes. Currently the Terrace is slated to be complete in mid-August and the Cascade Fountain in mid-September, with total completion anticipated in the spring of 2013. We appreciate the patience and support of Mellon Square’s dedicated users as we complete this important project to benefit downtown Pittsburgh. You can watch our progress via flickr.

Cliffside Park    

Cliffside Park’s current play space

The aptly named Cliffside Park descends from Cassatt Street in Pittsburgh’s Hill District neighborhood to overlook the Allegheny River. The space beams with potential for gorgeous views and a reprieve from the hustle and bustle of the city above. A favorite community space for birthday parties, quilting clubs, and family gatherings, the park has fallen into an unfortunate state of disrepair. Limited accessibility through a single steep park entrance, overgrown plants, and deteriorated equipment have all marginalized a space that should be a part of the Hill District’s outstanding regeneration. 

Rendering of proposed restoration of Cliffside Park, by Carlos Peterson

The Parks Conservancy became involved at Cliffside as a result of our partnership with the Hill House Association in producing the Greenprint plan for the Hill. Current design plans for Cliffside include making the entire park universally accessible, managing storm water through a runnel and rain gardens to prevent further erosion of the hillside, redesigning the play equipment to take advantage of the landscape’s natural slope, constructing a half-size basketball court, landscaping, and establishing an Overlook by removing the overgrowth of invasive plant species and pruning trees. With additional funding we also hope to include a pop-up fountain similar to the ones found in PPG Place and the South Side Works, but on a smaller scale.

Plans are currently being finalized with enthusiastic community support.  We anticipate that we will be able to break ground on this exciting project early in 2013.

The Environmental Center at Frick Park

Located off Beechwood Blvd in Squirrel Hill

Frick Park has long been Pittsburgh’s premier natural classroom. In the 1930s, Helen Clay Frick funded the first Frick Nature Center. Its educational program earned national recognition as one of the most outstanding conducted by a park system in the country. The program moved from its original site in an old home along Beechwood Boulevard into a new building near the historic gatehouses in 1979.   

For decades, the program continued to thrive in its new home. Unfortunately, that building was burned by arsonists in 2002. For the past 10 years, a dedicated team of Citiparks educators have continued work out of the gatehouses and trailers to provide programming that puts kids in touch with nature. We believe the people of Pittsburgh deserve better.             

The current Frick Park Environmental Center workspace

The new Environmental Center at Frick Park will include both indoor and outdoor learning spaces, expanded staff, programming, and improved public access. The construction of the main building will take on the remarkable Living Building Challenge which requires (among many other things) that the building generate all energy and capture all rain water right on site.  We also plan to restore the two historic gatehouses and the landscape designed by Innocenti and Webel in 1927, including the circular fountain which is currently being used as a planter. Alongside the main building, amphitheater seating will be built into the natural slope of the hill to provide space for relaxing, classes, and performances. The parking area will be reconfigured with trellises which will shade cars while overhead solar panels simultaneously capture the energy needed to operate the Center.

Rendering of the proposed Environmental Center with amphitheater and wetlands, by Bohlin Cywinski Jackson

Most importantly, the new Environmental Center will continue the long tradition of outdoor education in Frick Park. The current program serves approximately 3,000 visitors annually. Our hope is that we can increase this number to 20,000 by the fifth year of operation in the new Center.  We will all benefit from this greater impact because these young people will establish meaningful connections with nature which encourages them to become citizens who conduct their lives with thoughtful consideration for their impact on the natural world.

We are currently in the final stages of design which reflects several years of community input through workshops and meetings. We hope to break ground on this vital project sometime in 2013, once final funding is secured and construction plans are completed. We are also working on an operating agreement with the City. You can see more images of the Environmental Center design by the firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson here.

 

Kathleen Gaines is a Development Associate at the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy.

Please visit our website to make a donation to any of these important park projects. Be sure to designate your gift to the project you choose, or become a member to provide vital operating funds. To learn more about our work in Pittsburgh’s Parks check out our 15^th Anniversary Magazine.   

 

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The Emerald City – How the Pittsburgh Parks Welcomed Me to My New Home

You would think, at thirty-something, telling your parents you’re moving over 800 miles away to Pittsburgh would be easier.  Being a close-knit, Midwestern family combined with the fact that I’m the baby, this was not the case.  I’ve spent my entire life listening to my dad’s stories of growing up in Pittsburgh.  How he painstakingly walked up steep hills ten miles one-way, typically in two feet of snow whether it was winter or not, wiping soot from his face just to get his mother some bread for dinner.  By this point in my life, the snow in his stories had gotten deeper, the hills steeper and he was barefoot carrying his little sister on his back. Though I knew my dad had a flair for the dramatic in his childhood tales, this was how I pictured Pittsburgh, black and cold.  My dad is a Marine and a retired Special Agent.  He’s tough.  So inevitably I predicted his hometown to be just as tough and wasn’t sure how I’d be able to find my place, but now it was my turn to create my own Pittsburgh story.

Schenley Overlook

My husband and I packed up our three-bedroom home, loaded the cats in the car and set out on our new adventure from Kansas City to Pittsburgh almost two years ago.  If I said the transition was smooth, I would be a big ol’ liar.  Though this would be the seventh state I’ve lived in, I’ve spent the past twenty-two years in a suburb of Kansas City.  It wasn’t incredibly exciting, but it was familiar and it was home.  We moved into a one-bedroom townhome that I swear, still to this day, is on top of one of the steepest hills in Pittsburgh.  Nothing looked familiar, I didn’t know how to get to work and I felt as though I was suffocating.

The entire first week in our new city, I was stricken with anxiety that we had just made the biggest mistake of our lives.  Not willing to let me just wither away, my husband coerced me into getting into the car and taking a drive to warm-up to the city.  We drove through Shadyside and made our way towards Squirrel Hill.  As the car climbed up yet another hill and rounded a wide corner, we found ourselves in an open park overlooking the city skyline.  I felt my lungs open and the tension melt as I stepped foot for the first time onto Schenley Overlook.  With the skyline smiling at me and nothing but emerald surrounding me, I definitely wasn’t in Kansas anymore. This began my love affair with the Pittsburgh parks.

Clicking my heals through Frick Park

Elated to see what the other regional parks had to offer, it wasn’t long before I went on my first run through Frick Park.  I rounded my way down Braddock Trail passing over small wooden bridges and stone staircases feeling like I just stepped into my own personal enchanted forest.  The canopy of trees drizzled sunlight to illuminate my path along the way.  As I headed up the Falls Ravine Trail, every jogger I passed nodded with an out-of-breath smile, walkers said hello and playful pups trotted along without a care in the world.  No one knew I wasn’t an authentic Pittsburgher, nor did they seem to care.  We were all park lovers.  Like an underground society delivering our secret handshake as we passed one another, I was embraced like one of their own.

I quickly found my way to Schenley Park and onto Phipps Run Trail wanting to see if Frick Park was just a fluke or if my dad failed to mention the best part about Pittsburgh.  I ran longer than normal partly because I had to stop every two minutes to take a picture and post it to Facebook, but mostly because I couldn’t wait to see what was around the next corner.  There were less people on this trail, but the scenery wasn’t any less magical.  My feet propelled me forward past Panther Hollow Bridge overlooking Panther Hollow Lake towards Steve Faloon Trail.  I couldn’t believe this urban oasis was sitting in the middle of Pittsburgh.  Why were people not flocking to this city and more importantly, why had I waited so long to move here?  It was at that moment it hit me.  I was home.  These were my parks.  Not being able to make a choice between the two, I was able to work out a joint custody agreement between Frick and Schenley Park.  I see Schenley in the evenings after work and Frick on the weekend.  It’s worked out quite nicely with little to no jealousy between the two. 

I’m thrilled that I now have the opportunity to formally share my love of our parks through my role at the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy.  The parks have become my refuge.  They’re the backdrop to the stage I set when telling anyone about my new home.  I get it now when Carrie Bradshaw referred to The City as her best friend.  Frick and Schenley have become my closest confidantes and are always there even on my worst days.  Whenever the hustle and bustle of daily life gets to be too much, I know I can just head down to visit my friends in the park and pass along our secret handshake.  Pittsburgh…I think you’re stuck with me.

My new home

Holly Stayton is the new eCommerce Development Officer at Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy.  She manages the overall online presence of the Parks Conservancy.  Her responsibilities include website content management and coordination of our blog, social media and e-newsletters.  She doesn’t understand why her office can’t be on a bench in the middle of Frick Park.

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Mission Ground Truth – Teaching Science With Nature

Mission Ground Truth Team in Frick Park

Environmental education is one of the most fundamental investments we make in the future of our parks. At the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy we understand that through educating and engaging youth, we can grow a new generation of park stewards. Our High School Urban EcoSteward program takes students from six area High Schools out into the parks to learn ecological restoration and maintenance techniques. This service learning technique benefits the communities in which the students work. We are also preparing to begin construction on the new Environmental Center at Frick Park which will be a state of the art environmental education facility with a focus on hands on learning.

Our newest endeavor, Mission Ground Truth, is a collaboration between the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, the Frick Environmental Center, the CREATE Lab at Carnegie Mellon University, and the Schrader Environmental Center at the Oglebay Institute in Wheeling, West Virginia. The program will be tailored to middle school students with a foundation in scientific processes of discovery. In Pittsburgh, the course will pilot in April with Propel schools.

Special nets are used to collect bugs

On February 22, 2012, members of the Mission Ground Truth team met in Frick Park to finalize the curriculum which will focus on stream and forest health. “We want to teach kids what ecological services the parks are doing for us,” says Parks Conservancy Education Coordinator, Taiji Nelson. “We want to show kids that science is a real job and that they can do it, not all scientists are in white lab coats.”

When learning about forest health, students will focus largely on the composition of wooded areas. What type of forest is it? Maple, Oak, Hickory? They’ll learn about fragmentation which occurs when small areas of a forest are cut down, dividing a large forest into smaller pieces – this most often occurs for the creation of roads and walkways. Since different plants and animals favor forest interiors versus edge habitats, fragmentation can dramatically affect the ecology of a particular forest.

Collecting data with a Pasco GLX Xplorer

There are a couple of ways Mission Ground Truth students will evaluate stream health. One is through measuring the chemical characteristics of a stream using Pasco GLX Xplorers which Taiji says is like “taking the temperature” of the stream to determine its health. The GLX Xplorers will measure the water’s ph, dissolved oxygen, temperature, and conductivity which is basically the amount of pollution that is dissolved in the stream. Waterbots, which have been developed by CREATE Lab, will be placed at different points within the Nine Mile Run Watershed and take similar readings constantly to show the students how variables such as time, season, and rainfall affect the stream health.

Equally important to understand the health of a stream is to discover what bugs and vegetation are present. Using special square nets, the kids will be responsible for cataloging the bugs (benthic macroinvertebrates) that are found in a one meter area. By disturbing the water and turning over rocks they will find and count the different varieties of bugs which they can identify using a guide provided to them. Since some bugs can survive select pollutants and others can’t, the final bug counts they produce will be telling.     

 Mission Ground Truth has been in operation at the Schrader Environmental

Cranefly larva found in Frick Park stream

Center for 10 years. The program is coming to Frick Park with the help of the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and the Frick Environmental Center and support from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation. Additionally, the Parks Conservancy is helping to refocus the curriculum, define learning goals, implement assessment tools, and find ways to make the data usable. The CREATE Lab at CMU will incorporate technology through the use of Gigapan and waterbot technology, as well as by developing an online platform to share data, stories, and questions.

Perhaps one of the greatest contributions Mission Ground Truth will make is that the information collected by our budding scientists and by the CREATE Lab waterbots will be made public. In this way the students will be learning and simultaneously contributing to a data pool that will help us to better understand the health of our parks. This new knowledge will be integrated into the management plans for the care of our parks by the Parks Conservancy and other organizations.

If you have questions about the program feel free to contact us. Visit our website at www.pittsburghparks.org.  

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Volunteers as Vital as the Rain They Work In

Park's Conservancy Field Ecologist Bryan Dolney explains the effect of invasive species

Volunteerism is a celebrated act, because how do you put a price on someone’s time and energy? I pondered this as I approached Frick Park on a rainy Friday afternoon to join Bryan Dolney, the Parks Conservancy’s Field Ecologist, and the dozen or so volunteers who were going to spend part of their day cutting down invasive species in the humid mist of Pittsburgh summer rain. You’re time is worth more if it’s raining right? Bryan and I waited at the top of the hill to Frick’s lower entrance in Regents Square, watching intently for the big yellow school bus that would deliver our young stewards of nature.

Five minutes late.

“I’m sure they’ll be here any minute,” says Bryan, who has at this point surrendered in defeat to the humidity and holds his rain jacket in one hand, his Parks Conservancy polo drenched to a new, darker shade of tan. This didn’t bother him at all. I clung to my little turquoise umbrella and thought about my dry cubicle.

Bryan shows the volunteers how to identify the invasive species, Japanese Knotweed

Ten minutes late.

“What happens if they don’t show up?” I ask. These kids are so not showing up, I think to myself.

Bryan explains two primary challenges of the volunteer program to me. One, volunteers are not free. A volunteer day requires staffing, tools, and training which all costs money. Two, there is absolutely no way volunteer days can be scheduled around the weather. If you sign up, you show up. “Unless there’s lightning,” he adds seriously.

Fifteen minutes late.

The volunteers we’re expecting are a group from the hundreds of Mennonites who came to Pittsburgh from all over the country for a convention. While holding their convention, they actively donated hundreds of hours of volunteer work to local non-profit and charities. I appreciate the attitude of leaving a place better then when you came. If only it were a more common human attribute. 

The bus finally comes winding towards the park entrance. They had gone to the wrong Frick entrance, an understandable mistake with a park as large as Frick. As they unload I’m told that they are from Kansas and Ohio. Yes, they’ve loved Pittsburgh. And yes, it does kind of stink that it’s raining outside, but its fine.

Bryan leads us all down a long trail to the place where several types of invasive species have begun to thrive. Bryan explains that we will make an “invasives sweep” which means that the group of volunteers will be working in a specific area to remove all of the invasive species. On this particular trip we were looking for Japanese Knotweed, Mutiflora Rose, Bush Honeysuckle, Grape Vines, Common Burdock, and Mugwort.

A stand of invasive Japanese Knotweed as volunteers get to work

So what’s the big deal? Why are seemingly innocuous plants with pretty names like “Multiflora rose,” and “Bush Honeysuckle” a problem? One of the volunteers is able to explain that an invasive species is one that is non-native to the area and competes with the other native plants for resources. But what’s the big deal? “If invasive plants are allowed to grow unchecked biodiversity is greatly decreased,” explains Bryan. “A biologically diverse park is a well balanced park. This means that the community supports a wide array of plants and animals and the system itself provides many tangible benefits.” A well balanced ecosystem can filter and infiltrate more stormwater, and a more biologically diverse hillside often contains more soil holding vegetation so it is less prone to erosion.  

Volunteers are imperative to the management of invasive species because of the large amounts of manpower required to remove them without having to resort to extremes like herbicides. “Without volunteers many of our wooded areas in the parks would be the same three or four plant species,” says Bryan. “Throughout the year volunteers work to remove invasive species one at a time and over the years we have seen areas of the park transformed from monocultures of invasive species to biologically diverse areas.”     

Japanese Knotweed after volunteers

After handing out gloves, followed by a short safety instruction, they were off. It was amazing to watch how quickly a huge stand of Japanese Knotweed could disappear at the hands of a few dedicated volunteers. They worked quickly and uncomplainingly even as the light rain continued on their backs. This Mennonite group definitely left an impression here in Pittsburgh. Their collective effort to leave their mark on the city hosting their convention is a tribute to how much can be done when we combine our efforts and take a few hours out of our day to make the world a little better. Though I had hoped fewer of them would have shown up to work in the park in flip-flops.

Kathleen McGuire is a Development Associate for the Pittsburgh Park’s Conservancy

To learn more about volunteer opportunities check here.

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