Mellon Square Edges Get a Facelift

Mellon Square interpretive wall from Smithfield Street. Photo: Scott Roller.

Just over a year ago, Pittsburghers celebrated the complete restoration of downtown’s Modernist park masterpiece. (We were so jazzed, we wrote this blog and this blog and this blog about it!) We’re happy to say that there’s still so much excitement for this fabulous space.

This summer, we’re taking this revitalization to the streets. Namely, Smithfield Street.

“Mellon Square was designed from curb to curb.  It integrates a park, retail stores, and a parking garage,” says Parks Conservancy Parks Curator (and newly named honorary member of the American Society of Landscape Architects) Susan Rademacher. “Every square inch of this world-renowned place should be special.”

Visitors at Mellon Square’s grand reopening last May.

So what’s happening on Smithfield? The retail signs above storefronts along the street have been updated and a new interpretive wall has been installed to welcome and educate park visitors. The wall alerts pedestrians to Mellon Square’s presence above and provides a brief history of Pittsburgh’s first Renaissance and the park. Dylan, Talbott and Henry Simonds, the grandsons of Mellon Square’s designer John Ormsbee Simonds, funded the creation of the interpretive wall.

“This garden plaza is an oasis of calm and openness, where visitors can experience relaxation, renewal and reunion with the natural world,” say the grandsons. “People should be proud of a design that serves us all so well. We are.”

Stay tuned as this space continues to improve, possibly with street enhancements such as new curbing, sidewalk planters, benches and trash receptacles.

Visit the “square in the triangle” all season long. Need even more reason to visit? There are free classes, concerts, fitness events and more happening throughout the week! Find the full calendar here.

Successful Cities, Fabulous Parties, and the Rededication of Mellon Square

Exploring a city for the first time can feel like making your way through a party.

There are all those new people around you, yes. That’s an easy comparison to draw. And the senses — smells of cooking foods, seeing new faces and places, noise and music.

What I’m talking about is the less obvious ways we experience these new settings: The excitement of being somewhere unfamiliar; feeling welcomed or lonely; sensing that you’re a stranger in a strange place or like you’re somewhere you belong.

Photo by John Altdorfer

Listening to a recent TED talk by Amanda Burden, New York City’s chief city planner, I remembered that I often forget that so much of a city’s experience has been designed (much like a party). The way one feels in a city — welcomed, hurried, gritty, safe, what have you — is shaped by the hands of those who created that space.

Pittsburgh is not New York. New York is not Pittsburgh. But listening to that TED talk, all I could think about was how one wonderfully designed Downtown space fit into so much of what she said.

“When I think about cities, I think about people. Where people go and where people meet are at the core of what makes a city work. So, even more important than the buildings in city is the public spaces in between them.”

Photo by John Altdorfer

How could she not be talking about a space like Mellon Square? Amidst four walls of skyscrapers, this public greenspace’s roof reaches to the sky, yet is cozy enough to be called “an elegant outdoor living room” by the architectural historian James van Trump. An elegant outdoor living room that is loved and used by so many people year after year, at that.

Mellon Park’s timeless and welcoming design makes it a true treasure in Downtown Pittsburgh, and a place to recharge and appreciate. Currently, the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy is putting the finishing touches on a complete renovation, giving this public space the attention it deserves. Amidst Ms. Burden’s stories of creating New York’s High Line and Battery Parks, she throws the audience a pearl of wisdom: “Public spaces always need vigilant champions, not only to claim them at the outset for public use, but to design them for the people that use them, then to maintain them to ensure that they are for everyone, that they are not violated, invaded, abandoned or ignored.” The Parks Conservancy’s renovation of Mellon Square will be completed next month — the continued maintenance of that space will keep it shining for years to come.

Ms. Burden finished out her talk with a fantastic point that I’d like to echo. She says, “I believe that a successful city is like a fabulous party. People stay because they are having a great time.” People definitely want to stay in successful cities like Pittsburgh. Successful cities also warrant fabulous parties. Next month, we invite you to join us for the rededication of Mellon Square on May 29th. We’ll be celebrating our successful city and the rebirth of an iconic public space.

Lauryn Stalter for the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy

The original party in Mellon Square. The dedication of the Square, circa 1955. Photo courtesy the University of Pittsburgh Archives.

Wednesdays in Mellon Square

I recently had the chance to spend a bit of time with park docent Sam Webb.  Sam leads Mellon Square’s lunchtime tours and a few of the Walks in the Woods sessions in Schenley Park that focus on trees.  History isn’t my focus at the Parks Conservancy, but it is something that I’ve always loved. 

While Mellon Square currently offers an audio tour about park history and design, Sam’s tour dives into greater detail, showcasing the park’s significance and the impact of the Mellon family.  I have always thought of Mellon Square as a green escape for downtown workers, but Sam showed me an additional purpose for some of the horticulture.  He mentioned that between the park edge and the interior, there are 25 feet of trees and landscaping that muffle traffic noise.  Sam is a soft-spoken man, but he is able to lead the Mellon Square tours without a microphone because of this feature.  The difference in noise level inside the Square and out on the street corner is really quite dramatic.

We took a moment and walked across the street to observe the Square from the front of Saks Fifth Avenue.   It was really remarkable to study the Square from the outside – seeing trees stretching up out of concrete and seeing people buzz past and through the park. 

One of the most interesting things I learned in my time with Sam was that the Square has similar lines to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater.  Apparently, Wright submitted an initial design for Point Park that was a parking garage with a park on top.  It was rejected, but RK Mellon remembered the design and asked Mitchell & Ritchey to use it for Mellon Square. 

Sam’s tour also focuses on the 1950s design of the space, highlighting the surrounding buildings – like the Alcoa building that is made of aluminum.   If you’re interested in joining Sam, meet at the AFL-CIO sign at 12:15pm to join this free tour on the third Wednesday of each month.

The Parks Conservancy is headed downtown

The terrazzo paving is a distinctive feature of Mellon Square, but today only two of its three shades are visible.

For the first time in its 14-year history, the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy is bringing its park management expertise to downtown Pittsburgh.  The Parks Conservancy will undertake a partnership with the City of Pittsburgh to oversee the restoration of Mellon Square by implementing a plan that will re-establish the park’s historic character and improve the user experience. 

The Mellon Square partnership will be similar to the strong and successful working relationship at Schenley Plaza.  The City’s Department of Public Works will provide basic maintenance, with the Parks Conservancy offering enhanced services such as periodic cleaning and sealing of the terrazzo paving.  The concert series organized by Citiparks will continue, and the Parks Conservancy will sponsor some additional programming, including docent-led lunchtime tours on the third Wednesday of every month.  (For a schedule of free Mellon Square programs, click here.)

Because of Mellon Square’s intricate design, overseeing its maintenance requires a careful eye for detail.  “It’s like a Swiss watch,” says Susan Rademacher, the Conservancy’s Parks Curator.  Many different components all need to perform in harmony to achieve the desired effect: plantings, drainage systems, irrigation, plumbing for the fountains, the condition of the tiles, etc.  And because the park sits above a parking garage, everything on top has to work together with what’s below, and things like the depth of a tree’s roots become even more important than they would in an ordinary landscape design.

But the Parks Conservancy is up to the task.  “Mellon Square is an extremely significant historic and cultural landscape, and we are excited to bring the Parks Conservancy’s experience to its care, restoration, and management,” Susan says.  “Everything will be done with an eye toward enhancing Mellon Square as an oasis in the heart of the city, as it was originally envisioned by its designers, Mitchell & Ritchey and Simonds & Simonds.”

The lower right section of the Square is slated for renovation during Phase One. (Historic photo courtesy of A. Church Photographers--click to see a larger version.)

Phase 1 of the Parks Conservancy’s restoration project will address the area from the top of the two staircases down to Smithfield Street.  Plans include:

• Renovating the stairs, which have sustained water damage and are stained with mineral deposits
• Restoring the fountain cascade at the corner of Smithfield and Oliver Streets and removing its heavy granite walls to restore its original light and refreshing character
• Planting a green canopy over the Smithfield Street storefronts
• Improving lighting and signage over the storefronts
• Installing permanent interpretive signage on the black granite at the corner of Smithfield and Sixth Ave.
• Creating a new open-air terrace to provide a new gathering space for events, dining, and socialization
• Cutting two passageways in the existing planter space that will allow easy access to the terrace

Present-day view of Mellon Square (click to see larger image)

The terrace is an exciting new component to the project and is an example of the Parks Conservancy’s philosophy of preserving historic design while working to serve the needs of modern users.  (A past example was the terrace added to the Schenley Park Café and Visitor Center during its restoration; though not part of the original design, the terrace is what really allowed the building to become a “window on the park.”)  The Mellon Square terrace is rooted in John Simonds’ design vision, however; the project team uncovered many drawings showing an open-air area filled with people in this location.

Susan believes the Parks Conservancy’s attention to detail will be apparent as some important design elements from Mellon Square’s history are re-implemented.  She points especially to the horticultural design.  “There are some important colors and textures from the original design that are missing,” she notes.  As the plants begin to fill back in and eventually flourish, the feeling of being in an urban oasis will only increase.  The fountains will eventually be repaired as well, adding a sense of liveliness that has been missing as they’ve been turned off for long stretches due to malfunctioning parts.

Now that an engineering study by the Pittsburgh Parking Authority has been completed, design work on the project is underway.  Construction on Phase One will begin later in the year.

The Mellon Square restoration project was made possible by lead grants from the Colcom Foundation and the Richard King Mellon Foundation, with additional funding by the W. I. Patterson Charitable Trust.

VIDEO – Mellon Square: A Modern Masterpiece

Had a great time last night at our reception for the opening of Marvels of Modernism and the tribute to John O. Simonds, who designed Mellon Square. We premiered a brand-new video celebrating Mellon Square’s importance to Pittsburgh and the many innovative elements of its design. Check it out below!