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River task force hears from public
Tuesday, June 20, 2000 By Johnna A. Pro, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
It's hard to imagine, but just 100 years ago, Pittsburgh's three rivers, especially the Monongahela, were so dirty that the filth in them actually provided a public health benefit --- it killed off Typhoid germs.
A century later, the waters are abundant with fish. Kayakers, an occasional sailor, and award-winning rowers explore the channels. Restaurants dot the shorelines and people are thinking about the rivers.
It is the perfect time to talk more about them, according to the Riverlife Task Force, a year-old organization spearheading the effort to use the riverfronts more effectively.
To that end the group is holding a three-day symposium to get public comment about how the rivers' edge should be developed.
Free to the public, it opened last night and continues through tomorrow at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. Anyone who wishes may attend for an hour or for a day and discuss with planners ideas for the waterfronts. The groups will be there from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
For example, someone interested in bicycling might stop in and tell the recreation group that the final plan should include biking trails, said DavittWoodwell, the group's executive director.
Among those at the symposium is Alex Krieger, principal of Chan Krieger and Associates, the architectural firm spearheading the effort.
Krieger said that after a century of suburbanization, the country is experiencing a new love affair with its cities, including places like Pittsburgh.
"It's a wonderful moment in time in American cultural and urban history," Krieger said. "Tell us how we should think about the reuse of your riverfront. In the process, help us dream more broadly. Help us dream more boldly."
About 70 people were at the convention center last night for the opening three-hour session. Among those were architects, young people, environmentalists and others representing a cross-section of Pittsburgh groups and neighborhoods.
"People are interested in this. They see the future. They see the possibilities," Woodwell said.
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