 
|
|||||||||||||||||||||
              
|
Confluence of rivers seen as city's treasure
Tuesday, November 14, 2000 By Patricia Lowry, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
They asked for feedback and, boy, did they get it.
Since March, consultants to the Pittsburgh Riverlife Task Force have been crafting a comprehensive plan designed to transform the area between Point State Park and the West End Bridge into a nautical central park alive with activity.
Here are the most significant recommendations of the evolving Pittsburgh Riverlife Task Force plan, which will be released in the spring:
-- Patricia Lowry
In three sessions yesterday afternoon and evening, the consultants presented their vision to more than 200 people who came to learn, to praise, to question and to complain. The event, dubbed the Riverlife Engagement, was the culmination of a public planning process that involved about 1,500 Pittsburgh residents in more than 30 meetings.
Architect Alex Krieger of Chan Krieger and Associates of Cambridge, Mass., outlined nine guiding principles and a dozen "priority initiatives," chief of which is creating the new "Confluence Park," a space defined by illuminated structures along continuous promenades.
"You don't need an arch like St. Louis or a Space Needle like Seattle," Krieger said. "You have the confluence," which the design team believes should become the new identity and symbol of Pittsburgh.
"Today is kind of a test for the consultant team," he said, "making sure that some of the suggestions we are making don't lie outside people's expectations and desires."
"We wanted to come up with a vision everybody could share," said task force Director Davitt Woodwell. "The purpose of tonight is to see if we got it right."
That depended on who was speaking.
"Thank you for some wonderful creative thinking," said Iris Nahemow of Squirrel Hill, who then asked the design team for structures "as beautiful as the new bridge in Bilbao," Spain.
Architect Kent Edwards urged the consultants to incorporate water into the structures that would line the promenades, creating "something we would become known for," because water defines Pittsburgh.
Power boaters, on the other hand, are not pleased with the task force's initial suggestion that the weekend and holiday no-wake zone be extended three miles up each river from the Point, which they say would greatly increase the amount of travel time and gasoline they need for pleasure trips.
"I pay a lot of money for gas and boat licenses," said Ed Atwood of Sheraden, a power boater since 1958.
As for the extended no-wake zones, Atwood said, "I ain't gonna pay no attention to no longer ones. Get the ticket book out."
Extending the no- or low-wake zone has emerged as the hot-button issue in the task force plan, and Woodwell said the group now is considering recommending it be extended one mile in each direction beyond the current boundaries.
"We need to figure out how to balance" the needs of power boaters and paddle boaters in skulls, canoes and kayaks tossed by roiling water that is aggravated by concrete shores.
In response to boaters' criticism of the promenades, Krieger said it wasn't the design team's intention to add more concrete to the shoreline.
In fact, "design new edges to diffuse wave reflections" is included under one of the nine guiding principles, which, in abbreviated version, are:
1. Reveal the history: Reveal old tributary streams and encourage re-use of buildings and bridges that commemorate the city's industrial past.
2. Celebrate the "City of Bridges": Give each bridge a clear identity through lighting and painting.
3. "Enhance the shoreline experience": Create quality public art, layers of floating barges, natural gardens and public moorings.
4. Reinforce the "Power of Place": Take full advantage of the dramatic influence of the confluence.
5. Connect to the river: Establish a water taxi system; connect neighborhoods to the river.
6. Activate the water sheet: Establish a harbor that offers safe, fun and environmentally friendly water space for all users.
7. Extend neighborhoods to the rivers: Prioritize housing on the riverfront.
8. Develop strategic sites: Identify priority projects and move forward with a specific set of investments.
9. Apply sustainability values: Use native plants and trees within the flood zone; make new construction energy-efficient.
The task force's "Grand Vision Plan" is expected in March, but for now, Woodwell said, its specifics are still evolving.
"We hope that this is a dialogue that will continue well after today," he said.
|
||||||||||||||||||||
Establish a new identity for Pittsburgh by creating a nautical central park, defined by a series of illuminated structures and promenades stretching from the Fort Pitt and Fort Duquesne bridges to the West End Bridge. The functional structures of "Confluence Park" would have different designs, purposes and locations, with some built on the riverbanks and some floating along the edge. The two most prominent would be at the base of the Duquesne Incline and on the North Shore, between the Carnegie Science Center and new Steelers stadium.