New park a grassy spot in Marshall-Shadeland
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Just shy of an acre and ringed by young trees, a lawn of new grass officially became Washburn Square Park in Marshall-Shadeland at a ceremony Monday on Bartold Street.
The Brightwood Civic Group helped propel the transformation, which required the relocation of about 18 households and the demolition of 46 mostly vacant and dilapidated row houses.
"Hey, Mark, when was it that you first started coming to meetings about this?" Ed Brandt, former director of the civic group, asked Mark Masterson, executive director of the Northside Community Development Fund.
Pausing to think, Mr. Masterson said, "My hair wasn't gray then."
"It started 15 years ago when the Brightwood Civic Group was a few women who wanted to do something nice for kids," said Diane Annis-Dixon, current director.
Her mother and a few other women began looking for support to eradicate the blighted block. Their plan was for 17 new homes.
"The holdup was just coming up with funds," Ms. Annis-Dixon said. "The neighborhood begged every entity possible" for monetary support.
The Northside Leadership Conference teamed up with the civic group and the Urban Redevelopment Authority's Pittsburgh Housing Development Corp. partnered on the project.
Luke Ravenstahl, then a councilman, committed funds as did then-state Rep. Don Walko and state Sen. Jim Ferlo.
The URA scaled back the housing plan to three new homes in favor of providing more green space.
Dave Howe, manager of the Pittsburgh Housing Development Corp., a nonprofit arm of the URA, said replacement of blight with green space is "a different type of economic development" that will be replicated in places where population is dropping and housing is not in much demand.
The three new houses face the lawn. Mr. Brandt said those homes sold quickly at $135,000 each.
The entire project cost $3.1 million.
The row houses were demolished in 2006.
The newly seeded lawn slopes down from Bartold Street then levels out. Ms. Annis-Dixon said the civic group wants to promote community use including movie nights in the park.
Of the 25 people assembled for the ribbon-cutting, two young men live nearby.
Ken Hale remembers the properties as having been "pretty bad" when he moved to the neighborhood in 1998.
Travis Schenk said the green space "looks fantastic and I'm sure it will be an asset. I'm sure the homeowners around here are very happy, but there was some negative reaction to the displacement of tenants."
First Published October 25, 2011 12:00 am
