Allegheny County Executive Dan Onorato and U.S. Steel Chairman and CEO John Surma announced today that Christine Fulton, a longtime fundraising and real estate expert, has been named the executive director of the Allegheny County Parks Foundation.

Mr. Onorato launched the foundation -- which Mr. Surma chairs -- last year to raise private money to renovate the county's nine regional parks. He earmarked $10 million in county capital funds to match a hoped-for $10 million in private funds to address deferred maintenance issues, recreational improvements, facility upgrades and other issues within the county's 12,000 acres of parklands.

Ms. Fulton, 47, of Mount Washington, has been a fundraiser for Pitt's McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the University of Chicago and Northwestern University. She worked for the Soffer Organization, which redeveloped the former LTV steel site into SouthSide Works, and worked on a public-private redevelopment effort on a 1,700-acre suburban development in Bridgeport, W.Va.

The county currently spends $35-$40 million on parks maintenance and programs. Ms. Fulton's task will be to identify upgrade projects in each of the parks and raise the money to perform them, while working with existing park supporters and volunteers.

She answers to a parks board led by Mr. Surma and vice-chair Carol Brown, the former president of the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and onetime county parks director.

Last year Mr. Onorato held public meetings at all nine county parks to gather user input for a system-wide action plan on park needs.

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