Take a Tour of the New Frick Environmental Center

Like the unfolding of a page in a pop-up book, the new Frick Environmental Center has been growing from a flat architectural rendering into a real three-dimensional building since last August. In that time, the old, burnt building has been razed, construction has been progressing, and over 250 community members, government representatives, students, members of the press, and others have taken one of our free tours of the site.

Our final tour of the season having just passed, we wanted to offer everyone interested in the building a chance to get in on the ground floor (so to speak) and learn about the building. Missed the real thing? Read on for a virtual walk-through of this exciting project.

The new Center. Taken October 20, 2015.

Welcome to your park

Before we enter the site (and after we all put on our hard hats and construction vests – this is an active site, after all), let’s talk about the real reason why we’re building this new Center: Frick Park, and all those who come to visit it.

Summer campers in Frick Park.

Great cities deserve great parks, and Frick Park is a real gem. The new Center will be owned by the City, operated by us, and open to all. It will serve as a welcome center for what was designed as the park’s main entrance. Nestled beside an allée of black locust trees that will act as pathway from city to woodland, the new Center will invite park visitors to find new trails, learn park history, and much more with open doors. Park visitors will also be greeted by nearly 200 trees and more than 6,500 native plants planted throughout the new landscape and woodlands.

In addition to being a welcome facility, the new Center will serve as a springboard for the outdoor learning programs that have been taking place in Frick Park for years. We use parks as classrooms, and the building will be an invaluable tool for the programs that take place all year long.

The big idea

Geothermal tube hook-ups.

Only eight buildings in the world have succeeded in gaining the Living Building Challenge certification that the new Center aims to achieve. This building certification, which defines the most advanced measure of sustainability, is judged on seven performance categories, or Petals: Place, Water, Energy, Health & Happiness, Materials, Equity, and Beauty. During this tour, we’ll be focusing on how the new Center working towards three of the most difficult Petals: Water, Energy and Materials.

As if Living Building wasn’t enough, the Center will also be constructed to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) designation in the highest nomination, platinum. LEED is judged on points; earn some points by installing bike racks, earn big points by installing geothermal.

Living Building Petal: Net-Zero Energy

Radiant floor tubing spreads hot, cool temperatures throughout building. 

In order to achieve net-zero energy (the Center needs to make more or as much energy as it uses), ultra efficiency is needed. In other words, we don’t have to produce as much energy if we can cut the building’s energy needs. We project that we can use 40% less energy than similarly-sized buildings in our region with our more efficient design, such as a tight building envelope that will hold on to hot or cold air inside the building better than the average 100-year-old Pittsburgh home.

As we all know, our city’s seasons range from polar vortex to Sub-Saharan. While a traditional building would typically have to heat or cool indoor temperatures from whatever the thermometer reads, the Center will have a baseline 55°F to work from. How? An ancient-turned-modern technique: ground heat. With 18 wells bored 520 feet into the ground, we’ll be tapping into ground temperatures that are constant, no matter the season.

Living Building Petal: Net-Zero Water

Do you know how it sometimes rains in Pittsburgh? The new Center is going to be a celebration of precipitation. The Living Building Challenge requires net-zero water, meaning that stormwater must be captured on site and the building won’t depend wholly on municipal water.

Rendering of the Center’s rain veil.

This goal doesn’t just aid our city’s ailing sewer system; it’s a unique opportunity for us to make the new Center the place to be on a rainy day. The slightly slanted roof will send water cascading off of one side of the building to make a rain veil. An art installation similar to the water steps in front of Heinz Field will playfully send water to recharge park streams. When kids wake up on rainy mornings, we want them to come to the Center.

Not all rainwater will be used for show. Much of it will be captured in an enormous 15,000-gallon cistern for use in practical applications like watering plants and restrooms, eventually to be treated and released on site.

The 15,000-gallon water cistern before being put underground.

Living Building Petal: Materials

Every single material that makes up the new Environmental Center is painstakingly chosen based on certain Living Building criteria. Is it locally sourced? Is it a possibly health or environmental risk? Does it off-gas? Materials like PVC piping are on the red list, meaning they’re not allowed in the building. Even the hard hats are checked: the main ingredient in them is actually sugar cane!

Other fun features

There are so many exciting features of the new Center. But the building is not the whole story. Here’s what else you can expect from the project:

• A renovated fountain. Remember the old, busted fountain that sat unused on the site? We’ll be restoring this popular water feature that begs to be sat beside.
• Solar panels where you park. One important point that community members made during the planning process was preserving parking. Fear not! Parking remains, and with an added feature: a solar canopy. This will keep your car cool on sunny summer days while providing power and channeling water to the cistern.
• A new barn. The people have spoken, and they also want more restrooms. The new barn, near the parking lot, will also help us collect stormwater for use on site.
• Restored gatehouses. Originally designed by the esteemed John Russell Pope, the restored gatehouses will once again be brought back to their former splendor.

We hope you’re as excited as we are for this project. It is, after all, for you! Like what you’ve been reading? Support this project with a gift today!

Stay up-to-date on what’s happening with this project. Visit our site for weekly updates.

Local Change, National Opportunity: Be a Force for Change in Your Parks

Like so many “city kids,” Councilman Corey O’Connor remembers having gone to the Frick Environmental Center when it was an airy wooden barn off of Beechwood Boulevard.

Speaking on the construction site of the new Center.

Over the years, the Center, after burning down, became a danger and an eye sore. Although the building sat unused for a dozen years, the educational programs that had once taken place there continued on in makeshift locations throughout the park.

Fast forwarding to his inaugural  year on Council, O’Connor seized on an opportunity to leverage his new position to help secure valuable funding needed to rebuild the Frick Environmental Center. Hand-in-hand with the Parks Conservancy, this concerted effort channeled $5.9 million from the Frick Trust (not city taxpayer money) towards the construction of the new Center, now underway.

“It was a really good fight to have because we knew the importance of that asset [the Center]. More partners helped us get more accomplished. And I’m really proud of that. That was one of my favorite projects to work on.”

Supporters sign the final beam of the Frick Environmental Center before placement.

As Chair of City Council’s Committee on Urban Recreation, Councilman O’Connor, who holds a degree in elementary education, has a perspective on how projects like the Environmental Center impact every corner of Pittsburgh, and beyond.

O’Connor planting a tree in Frick Park.

“I see Pittsburgh’s parks as a huge regional asset that we need to continue to invest in, especially as Pittsburgh continues to grow. Parks can help to generate economic development. That’s why I like being a Committee Chair – you’re taking the park into a different conversation. Instead of, “Yeah, we’re going to go on the swings,” it’s more than that: you’re creating communities.”

Creating communities through national support: Help save the Land and Water Conservation Fund

The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) is like the Swiss Army knife of national funds. From the Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado to Sheraden Park right here in Pittsburgh’s Sheraden neighborhood, battlefields to ball fields, the LWCF has been an invaluable resource in supporting communities big and small across the United States.

Most of us won’t have a slam-dunk moment fighting to restore a favorite childhood park place, like Councilman O’Connor has had with the Frick Environmental Center. But, we do have a chance NOW to fight to save the LWCF, which is set to expire at the end of this month if not voted through again in Congress. That national funding source is the backbone of park funding nationwide.

Click here to tell Congress to keep the Land and Water Conservation Fund. 
(Note: Click the ‘TAKE ACTION’ button on the right-hand side of the page to get started)

Frick Park’s trails, one of the local projects that have benefited from the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

This fund, which has supported Grand Tetons National Park and the Everglades, has also made a big impact here at home. Here are just a few of the local projects that have benefited:

• Schenley Park Oval: $166,000 (1978)
• Schenley Park Fountain: $25,000 (1985)
• Frick Park trails: $77,000 (1987)
• Great Allegheny Passage Trail: $2,000,000 (2002 – 2006)
• Bloomfield Park: $40,000 (1973)
• Sheraden Park: $113,000 (1973)
• Cliffside Park: $52,000 (1975)
• McKinley Park: $88,000 (1972)

We can’t fight to put these important funds to work in Pittsburgh’s parks if they don’t exist. And it’s been a long time since Pittsburgh communities received their share of support through the LWCF. Help us change this. Speak up for this important funding by telling Congress it’s worth keeping around. Speak up here.

Thanks to Councilman Corey O’Connor for sharing his thoughts and experiences. Currently, the Parks Conservancy is leading two big parks projects in his district in partnership with his office and the City of Pittsburgh: the rebuilding of the Frick Environmental Center and the restoration of Panther Hollow Watershed. As Chair of City Council’s Committee on Urban Recreation, Councilman O’Connor has gotten to visit oodles of our city’s parks. A hidden gem park that he recommends? West End Overlook.

Action Alert: Make a Difference in Less Than 30 Seconds

This week on the blog, we’re asking you to take an extra simple, super important action:

Voice your support for the Frick Environmental Center.

In 20 to 24 seconds (based off of our somewhat scientific time trials), you can lend your name in support of significant state funding for the new Frick Environmental Center. Every voice counts, as demonstrating strong community support helps strengthen applications.

If you’re looking forward to a cutting-edge, ultra-sustainable Center where Pittsburghers of all ages can have access to environmental programming, please take a few moments to help bring these important state funds to our region.

Click here to sign the pledge to support the Frick Environmental Center.

 

Many thanks,
The Folks at the Parks Conservancy

Pardon the Dust: Park Projects in Progress

The new Frick Environmental Center

Back in 2002, fire consumed the much-loved Frick Environmental Center, the learning space that welcomed families and park-goers at the Beechwood Boulevard entrance of Frick Park. This week, twelve years (almost to the day!) after that fire, the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, in collaboration with the City of Pittsburgh, brought in the hard hats to begin phase one of construction of the new Center.

Hats off for the rebuilding of the Frick Environmental Center!

The new Environmental Center, to occupy the very same footprint of the old, burnt Center, will be filled to the brim with the awesome spirit of learning that our education staff inspires in everyone who visits the park. Built on a foundation of community input, the design of the new Center works in tandem with its woody setting, incorporating state-of-the-art sustainability design to soften its impact on the land. The building will:

• Meet Living Building Challenge and LEED Platinum standards.
• Use 40% less energy than a typical building of its size in the northeast.
• Power all electrical systems via solar panels.
• Filter and treat all wastewater before releasing it naturally on site.
• Be constructed using materials that are produced locally (whenever possible) and safe for both humans and the environment.

First grade summer campers planted flowers to make the temporary trailers they currently use for indoor camp time a little homier.

We will be posting regular project updates on our website and marking any trail closures around the site as they happen. For general information on the project, we invite you to read our Frequently Asked Questions page and explore our website.

While we work on this exciting project, we will still be teaching hundreds of Pittsburgh-area kids about stream ecology, tree identification, and enjoying the parks. Join in by attending one of our upcoming Urban EcoSteward trainings!

High school Young Naturalists pose with Mayor Peduto on a walking tour near the site of the new Frick Environmental Center.

Schenley Park green infrastructure

Since we last wrote about the bike lane installation in Schenley Park, the Beacon Street demonstration project has really started to pick up steam. After the recent installation of the meadow (establishing itself now), the next step, infiltration trenches, has begun.

The infiltration system that is being installed between Beacon and Bartlett will capture and hold rainwater longer than if that water was allowed to keep rolling downhill. During big rain events, the trenches will help to sop up and slowly percolate this water back into the surrounding meadow, lightening the burden on overworked sewers.

These improvements — the meadow and trenches — are part of the larger effort to restore the Panther Hollow Watershed in Schenley Park. By using soil and plant roots to naturally filter water, we are preventing pollutants from roadways and sewers from finding their way into our water system and helping to address the issue of combined sewer overflow.

Watch as this project moves along quickly this summer! We’ll be posting regular updates of the Beacon/Bartlett site project on our website, as well as updates on greening the Bob O’Connor Golf Course greens, the next step in the Panther Hollow restoration.

Redevelopment of Cliffside Park continues this month as well. Stay tuned for updates on this project!

Members’ support is crucial in park improvements like these. Consider a donation to the Frick Environmental Center!

Help us design Kate and Peter’s Treehouse!

The outdoor learning spaces will continue the mission of the Frick Environmental Center of Education Through Restoration.

Beginning in 2012, young visitors to Frick Park will have a new way to learn about nature when a new outdoor learning space is built near the Environmental Center. This innovative project, honoring Kate and Peter Ambrusko, is the first of several outdoor learning spaces proposed for the park. It will have a “treehouse” theme, and will be designed to enhance children’s experience of nature by incorporating scientific inquiry with play.

But first, we want your input—and your kids’ input!—to make sure that this is a space that is welcoming, fun, educational, and accessible to all. We’re hosting a series of three public meetings for kids, parents, and interested community members. Sign up for these meetings at www.pittsburghparks.org/naturespace.

Thursday, April 28, 5:30 – 7:30pm
Colfax Elementary School, 2332 Beechwood Boulevard

This session is all about the kids! We invite children, parents, and teachers to join us for a fun, hands-on session where we’ll learn what kids would love to see in the park. Space is limited, and light dinner will be provided.

Thursday, June 2, 5:30 – 7:30pm
Frick Environmental Center, 2005 Beechwood Boulevard

Everyone is welcome at this outdoor session, where we’ll be visiting the location of the treehouse and asking everyone for their ideas. Following this activity, the project team will begin to develop design concepts.

Thursday, July 28, 5:30 – 7:30pm
Location TBD

At this public meeting, the project team will unveil a preliminary design for the treehouse, and community members can provide feedback. We’ll have an activity room for kids while the parents attend the meeting.

About the Project Team
The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy will serve as project manager for the treehouse, working closely with a team that includes Pittsburgh’s Department of City Planning, Department of Public Works, and Citiparks. Together, this group selected the design team that will bring the treehouse to life.  We’re so excited about what these wonderful groups are going to bring to the park.

The project’s lead is Terra Design Studios, a Pittsburgh-based landscape architecture firm that specializes in creating outdoor spaces for children. Terra has built children’s gardens throughout the country with the philosophy that landscapes can support the growth of future stewards of the environment. The project architect and leaders in community participation will be evolveEA, a firm renowned for its expertise in sustainable design.

The final project partner is Urban Tree Forge, which turns wood salvaged from Pittsburgh’s forests into sustainable building materials. The craftsmen at Urban Tree Forge specialize in transforming this reclaimed wood into artistic creations. Their participation in this project helps the cycle of the forest to live on, as dead or dying trees will be repurposed to create this new park amenity.

Preparation of the treehouse site for construction is planned for fall 2011. Wrapup of construction and final plantings are tentatively scheduled for spring 2012.