The Monongahela Wharf might not be the only place losing parking space to green space in 2009.

Point Park University, aided by a $1.5 million anonymous donation, expects to begin work later this year to turn a surface parking lot at the corner of the Boulevard of the Allies and Wood Street into a small park.

The park, with an estimated cost of $4 million to $5 million, is part of Point Park's proposed $210 million Academic Village.

To assist in the park development, the university is seeking $250,000 through the Allegheny County Community Infrastructure and Tourism Fund, which will distribute $80 million in state slots revenue over the next decade.

City Urban Redevelopment Authority board members will vote tomorrow on whether to support the application. Earlier this year, Point Park received a $2 million grant from the Heinz Endowments to fund the design of the Academic Village project, to prioritize construction and to hire an architect/planner to oversee development of the plan.

University spokeswoman Mary Ellen Solomon said part of the funding will be used to help support the design of the park, which the URA called the "first significant element" of the proposed campus metamorphosis.

The $250,000 infrastructure and tourism grant, if approved, would go toward the park construction itself, Ms. Solomon added.

The park is expected to include a water feature and perhaps space for smaller outdoor concerts and similar activities. There also may be yet-to-be-determined "complementary retail elements," according to The Point, the university's alumni magazine.

Exteriors of two university-controlled buildings next to the park also may be incorporated into the design.

As currently envisioned, the Academic Village project would be built in phases over the next six years.