Returning sophomores and incoming freshmen will experience a vastly different Pitt from the Pitt I knew as an underclassman. Returning sophomores and incoming freshmen will experience a vastly different Pitt from the Pitt I knew as an underclassman. Soon, a new dormitory will tower above Bouquet Gardens, a green space will occupy the site of the old Children’s Hospital, the University will construct yet another large dormitory at University Place and a year-round, yet-to-be-named indoor/outdoor restaurant, which broke ground a little more than a month ago, will occupy Schenley Plaza.

Although Schenley Plaza and Pitt operate independently, the space is undeniably a centerpiece of our campus, surrounded as it is by several university buildings, including the library and the Cathedral. In 2008, in fact, we students voted the Plaza as the “Best Place to Hang Out” as part of The Pitt News’ yearly “Best Of” competition.

What can students expect from this new restaurant? Perhaps more than anticipated.

When the news dropped that Eat’n Park planned to build a restaurant on plaza space, I, like many people, reacted violently, retching obscenities to the heavens. But even students who are on the fence about the in-progress restaurant might come to embrace it like greasy food during a hangover. The more I read about this project, the more I begin to like the idea of the place.

Eat’n Park Hospitality Group expects to invest $2 million in the project, the Post-Gazette reports. These are private taxpayer-free dollars, and tenants will pay a fee for using park land, which will help maintain all Pittsburgh Parks. Although Eat’n Park-owned, the restaurant will not be called Eat’n Park: One year ago, the Post-Gazette reported that paperwork filed with the city listed the restaurant’s name as “Currant.”  But this has not been confirmed since.

The restaurant will have its own menu, though much like Eat’n Park, it will specialize in American cuisine. (Like many yinzer children, I pray that smiley cookies make the transition.) If this has yet to sweeten the deal, the proposed establishment will also apply for an alcohol permit, and plans to include bar service along with dinner. Considering it is illegal to drink with an open container anywhere in Allegheny, sipping a margarita or lime-wedged Corona while sunbathing is unfortunately not a likely possibility. Whether it will be a 24-hour establishment has yet to be confirmed or denied, though if I were a gambling man — and I’m a poor gambler — I’d guess that it will somewhat mirror park hours and close around sundown.

But what surprised me most of all is that the building will almost certainly be green in appearance and in practice. Current plans call for glass walls and a green ceiling, including what’s been dubbed a “living wall” featuring plants growing along the structure, the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy wrote on its blog.

Eat’n Park has already accomplished progressive work to increase its sustainability practices, replacing incandescent light bulbs with compact florescent light bulbs, recycling 100 percent of its fryer oil and buying $12 million of its produce from local suppliers, Restaurant News reported. Considering Schenley Plaza has already received international recognition for the city’s effort to convert it from a parking lot to a vibrant green space only two years ago — winning the Silver Award in the Environmentally Sustainable Project Category during the International Awards for Liveable Communities in the Czech Republic — it would be hard to imagine that this new restaurant would be allowed to operate on park grounds if it did not at least meet Eat’n Park’s above-average standards.

Studying a year ago in London, a city home to the most ornately beautiful and rigorously maintained parks I’ve ever seen, I can confidently say that restaurants in parks are actually quite smashing. Of course, at the time I couldn’t afford to indulge in any of the food offered, but still, the buildings there were often classically beautiful or designed to integrate into the landscape, just as this building is proposed to do.

Students at Pitt will witness a lot of changes over coming years: a new football coach, new dorms and an uncertain budget. This restaurant, slated to open by the year’s end, just might be one of the good ones.

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