As grants go, this one is huge. Not just in the dollar amount but also in terms of impact on Downtown and the Hill District.
The U.S. Department of Transportation recently awarded the Sports and Exhibition Authority (SEA) a $19 million grant to build a “cap”—actually a three-acre green space—over the Crosstown Boulevard and create a walkable connection between the Hill District and Downtown.
That makes Pittsburgh’s newest green space more than just a three-acre park. It will span the Crosstown Boulevard (I-579) and create a bridge between Downtown and the Hill District, a neighborhood long unconnected.
As planned, the green space will be filled with gardens, art, food kiosks, and places for concerts—all on top of a federal interstate.
The highway “cap” is a solution to reknit the connections between neighborhoods that were torn apart during the 1950s and ’60s during urban renewal and the construction of the federal highway system. Caps have been used in cities such as Boston and Dallas and they are planned for Chicago and Austin.
The $19 million award is part of the Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant program and will leverage an additional $7.4 million in state and local funds to allow the project to happen.
Putting it in context
The area surrounding the former Civic Arena site totals about 95 acres. The SEA owns about two-thirds of the land, and the Pittsburgh Penguins are planning to redevelop 28 acres with a mix of office, residential and retail-restaurant.
The Civic Arena was part of a planned cultural district complex that was never built so the land where the homes and businesses were demolished to make way for the project have remained surface parking for the last 50 years. During that time the Crosstown Boulevard was built and that created a trench between the Hill District and Downtown.
“Those two urban planning projects are what we are trying to correct or improve upon,” says Mary Conturo, executive director of the SEA. “The street grid is being reconnected at the Civic Area site. This three-acre green space will provide for a convenient and accessible pedestrian and bicycle connection between Downtown and the Hill District.”
The SEA and landscape architecture firm LaQuatra Bonci Associates conducted several months of outreach, presenting design ideas and hundreds of pictures from parks worldwide to help community members decide what they want in a park.
A major priority is to relate the park to the history and culture of the Hill District and what the Hill meant to Downtown. The plans so far include kiosks where food can be sold, possibly by Hill District business owners, and a “great lawn” and spaces for events and concerts.
Although the programming for the park is a work in progress right now, “our goal is to make it a good everyday park and if we do that it will be a success,” says Fred Bonci of LaQuatra Bonci.presented design ideas and 300 pictures from parks all over the world to help community members choose priorities for the park.
“It is in many ways attempting to right a wrong when that part of the Hill District was demolished and the economic core of the community was displaced,” says Councilman Daniel Lavelle. “Even more than the physical connection of the Hill and Downtown, it will economically reconnect those two communities. It is merging two economies and lifting up one that has been in dire straits since the destruction.”
Lavelle is credited with being instrumental as part of the team of local and state officials who worked together to bring these funds to Pittsburgh. Congressman Mike Doyle, a democrat representing the 14th District of Pennsylvania was also part of that team, and helped tell the Pittsburgh story to Washington and secure funds to get the project created. What does it take to secure a hotly competitive TIGER grant? Congressman Doyle weighs in.
What does the TIGER grant award mean for Pittsburgh?
The amount of federal funding available these days — because of sequester — is almost nonexistent. There has been no transportation bill for six to seven years, and the one that was passed is inadequate, so TIGER is one of the major sources of infrastructure funding still alive and available but it is highly competitive. There are 100-fold more applications than they have money for. Pittsburgh was competing with proposals from all over the country.
To get a TIGER grant is a huge accomplishment when you think about the scarcity of funds and competition. These are game-changer grants, these are all double-digit million dollar grants. It is really big for Pittsburgh to land this.
You have been instrumental in bringing these very competitive funds to Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh has previously received two TIGER grants—one for Carrie Furnace in Rankin and another for the East Liberty transit center). Can you explain what your role is in securing the funds for this pivotal transportation project and others?
Primarily there are two parts to this—the Pittsburgh part and the Washington [D.C.] part. The key is building community support around a project. No grant is going to succeed without community support from the community-at-large that will benefit.