2008 International

Natural Partners – Restoring Urban Trails and Woodlands with Community Teamwork (Schenley Park)
Steep topography and years of deferred maintenance caused a widespread breakdown in Schenley Park’s drainage system. The hillsides and trail system were severely eroded, and the unique WPA-era tufa bridges had deteriorated. Multiple invasive species also threatened the park’s woodland habitat. Today, the park is undergoing a multi-million dollar ecological restoration effort in the 80-acre Panther Hollow to remove invasive trees and vines, replant native species, restore drainage systems, stabilize hillsides, and reconstruct trails and streambeds. This major project would not be possible without the time and energy of many volunteer groups.
     Mike Gable, Deputy Director, City of Pittsburgh Department of Public Works (DPW)
     Phil Gruszka, Director of Park Management and Maintenance Policies, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy
     Tamica Mickle, Regional Program Manager, Student Conservation Association
     Karen Lukas, Urban EcoSteward, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy

This tour will be worth 0.25 CEUs (2.5 contact hours).

Preserving Park History on Pittsburgh’s North Side – Allegheny Commons, Riverview Park Chapel Shelter, and the Allegheny Observatory
The North Side’s Allegheny Commons — designated as public grazing lands a year before George Washington became the nation’s first president — became a park in 1867.  Its design by the New York firm of Mitchell & Grant gave “breathing places” for the citizens of the sooty city of Allegheny. The park's original design is still visible in its north and east sections, where symmetrical paths flank the center walk and grand trees from the park's earliest years remain throughout. After decades of enhancements and deterioration, a master plan for the 80-acre park was completed in 2002 by landscape architect Marion Pressley which embraces and respects the park’s layers of design history.  The Allegheny Commons Initiative is implementing the $16 million plan.

Noted for its superb original growth woodlands, Riverview Park was donated to the City of Allegheny in 1894, encompasses 287 acres, and has the most extensive trail network of Pittsburgh’s parks.  This fascinating cultural landscape has many layers, among them a Native American stronghold and prominence in astronomy.  The tour includes a stop at the Allegheny Observatory, founded in 1859, and features the historic Riverview Chapel Shelter and its landscape, a recent restoration project of the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and the City of Pittsburgh.
     Christina Schmidlapp, former project director, Allegheny Commons Initiative, which is implementing a comprehensive park master plan for Pittsburgh’s oldest park
     Susan Rademacher, Parks Curator, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy
     Laura Cook, Marketing Communications Coordinator, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy

This tour will be worth 0.25 CEUs (2.5 contact hours).

From Slag Heap to Valued Landscape – Reclaiming an Urban Watershed in Frick Park
As early as 1911, Frederick Law Olmsted had identified the parkland potential in the Nine Mile Run Watershed, writing, "perhaps the most striking opportunity noted for a large park is the valley of Nine Mile Run ... it is so excluded by its high wooded banks that the close proximity of urban development can hardly be imagined ...." Sadly, the land was not turned into a park, but sold to a steel company that used it as a slag dump. Almost a hundred years later, the City of Pittsburgh, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Nine Mile Run Watershed Association, the Studio for Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University, developers, and others partnered to transform the mountain of slag into a new residential neighborhood called "Summerset." This past year, Nine Mile Run’s 100 acres, with its restored stream corridor, were officially annexed to Frick Park.
     Brenda Smith, Executive Director, Nine Mile Run Watershed Association
     Tom Murphy, Senior Resident Fellow, Urban Land Institute/Klingbeil Family Chair for Urban Development; Mayor of Pittsburgh, 1994-2006
     Edward (Ted) Muller, Professor of History and Director of the Urban Studies program, University of Pittsburgh
     Jake Milofsky, Field Ecologist, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy

This tour will be worth 0.25 CEUs (2.5 contact hours).    

 Compare and Contrast – An Olmstedian Campus Arboretum and the Uber-Green Phipps Conservatory
Chatham University’s 39-acre campus was planned by the Olmsted Brothers as a 32-acre arboretum featuring 115 different varieties of species, and incorporates grounds of the Andrew Mellon estate, also designed by the Olmsted Brothers, The Arboretum provides an outdoor classroom for students in the University’s Landscape Architecture and Landscape Studies programs. Chatham is a member of the American Public Garden Association (APGA).

Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens is a recognized leader in green building practices and sustainable operations, boasting the first LEED-certified welcome center in a public garden and the world’s most energy-efficient tropical forest conservatory.  Dating from 1893, today’s Conservatory is a showcase for innovative, energy-saving approaches and technology in its recent expansion and future plans in its pursuit to become “America’s Greenest Garden.”
     Richard Piacentini, Executive Director, Phipps Conservatory and Botanical Gardens
     Lisa Kunst Vavro, Assistant Professor and Director, Landscape Architecture/Landscape Studies and Director, Chatham University Arboretum
     Arleyn Levee, Landscape Historian and Olmsted Scholar
     Melissa McMasters, Online and Community Advocacy Manager, Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy

This tour will be worth 0.25 CEUs (2.5 contact hours).

4:30    A CELEBRATION OF URBAN PARKS in Schenley Plaza