Schenely Plaza unpaves parking lot to put up paradise

Pitt may be a somewhat greener place this time next year.

Plans are underway to… Pitt may be a somewhat greener place this time next year.

Plans are underway to transform the parking lot between Hillman and Carnegie libraries into a three-acre park, complete with flower beds, movable chairs, a stage for concerts and other events, and, to put a high-tech slant on the old concept of city parks, wireless Internet access.

The area will be called Schenley Park Plaza, because it will be an extension of nearby Schenley Park.

Construction was scheduled to begin this summer and to end in May 2005. The project’s planners say that neither the construction nor the parking spaces sacrificed for the project will significantly inconvenience drivers.

The plaza construction, which is a joint project of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and the Pittsburgh Parks Conservatory, has been in the planning stages for months, and was given preliminary approval by the Pittsburgh City Council May 12.

Gov. Ed Rendell has awarded $5 million to fund the project, which will cost approximately $11 million. Private sources will fund the remaining budget.

Gene Ricciardi, president of the city council and sponsor of the resolutions approving of the plaza, is pleased that private partners are assisting in the project, given Pittsburgh’s current budget deficits.

“At a time when the city does not have any funds to invest in capital improvements, community and private partners are joining with the state to make a major investment in Schenley Park,” Ricciardi said in a press release. “This project sends an important message that Pittsburgh is looking forward.”

Construction on the plaza is set to begin on June 28 and will continue through December, when it will halt for the winter. Construction will resume in March 2005, and the plaza is expected to open sometime in May.

“It doesn’t bother me one way or another,” said Clarence Bush, 70, an attendant at the parking lot. Bush, who has seniority status at the Pittsburgh Parking Authority, which controls the lot, said that he will likely be moved to another lot.

Still, he said, patrons are likely to be upset about the spaces that will be lost to the park.

“Nobody confronts me with it because there is nothing anyone can do; it’s too late,” he said. “But look how many people park here every day, and [soon it will be] all gone.”

Thus far, the project has failed to gain popular support. A May 5 poll by KQV 1410 AM found that 77 percent of the more than 300 people who called in to vote said they did not approve of the project.

Two hundred seventy people responded to the station’s online polls, and 88 percent said that they did not support the project.

According to Wanda Wilson, a senior planner at the Department of City Planning, the closing of the lot and the construction of Schenley Park Plaza will have little effect on traffic.

She said that no major roads will be closed because of construction, although there will be some detours and partial closings for work on roads that will surround the plaza.

Wilson also said that the loss of the 280-space parking lot between Hillman and Carnegie libraries will not have a significant effect on the availability of parking on campus.

“As part of the roadwork, we will be adding 110 additional metered parking spaces to the streets around the plaza,” she said.

Wilson also said enough Oakland spaces are left unoccupied during the peak parking hours of 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays that the 170 parking spaces lost for Schenley Park Plaza will not be missed. She said a study by the Department of City Planning’s Oakland Task Force found at least 170 spaces are usually unoccupied during peak parking hours used in privately owned garages and institutional parking facilities, such as the one under Soldiers and Sailors Memorial.

“The Oakland Task Force understands that parking is a big issue, but we like to point out that it is only an issue during that peak time period,” she said. “On weekday evenings, there are at least 500 spaces regularly available in Oakland; on weekends, there are 900 spaces regularly available.”

Wilson said the idea to provide Internet access to park-goers who bring their laptops came about during the plaza’s early planning stages and was inspired by Bryant Park in New York City.

“In 2002, we completed a programming study that determined the elements we wanted to have in the park to make it a success,” she said. “One of them was Wi-Fi — wireless Internet access.”

Wilson hopes that other amenities, such as concession stands, clean public restrooms, movable seating, gardens, concerts and constant, scrupulous maintenance will add to the park’s success.

– Staff Writer Rochelle Hentges contributed to this report.