Squirrel Hill park’s plan to control stormwater

Sewer Authority, said it has the potential to collect 12 million gallons a year, possibly in a later phase with another round of funding.

“Theintent is to remove theexisting combined sewerinlets and replace themwith storm inlets that wouldgo into the park, capturedoff the street and managedin the park,” he said.

Water from adjacent streets will be directed into storm inlets that will convey it into the pool.

“The other option we are looking at is a green street,” he said, “where stormwater would be carried down” [Wightman] in runnels along the curb and incorporated into tree pits or into the park in a small network of streams.

Thepark’s construction willcost an estimated $3.6 million,a significant part of whichwill be the water featureand strips of bioswale alongthe Solway Street side.

The city is paying $2 million, the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority is putting up $1.2 million, and the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority is kicking in $365,000. The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources conveyed a $500,000 federal Land and Water Conservation grant.

The playground will be upgraded into two parts — one for younger kids, one for older kids — with accessible features for children who use wheelchairs, said Erika Strassburger, the District 8 council member.

The basketball court will be a half court.

Aboardwalk will be built oneach side of the wetland, onethat will weave along theedge, encouraging peopleto get close to the water. Theother will overlook the waterfeature from a picnic area.

“There were concerns about standing water or overflows, but we have worked through that,” said Sara Thompson, a landscape architect and principal at Pashek + MTR. “We are going to have a circulating pump [to aerate the water]. An outlet structure one level above the pool would handle overflow.”

Right now, the park is active with baseball games. The basketball court can be used, but some of the outdated playground equipment has been removed and the ramp from Solway Street is choked with weeds. A sign that blocks entrance to the ramp states it is closed for public safety reasons.

The Solway side is bounded by a chain-link fence and tall weeds, and the sidewalk is cracked and sprouting weeds. It’s clear the city has not wanted to invest in repairs that will be so short-lived, and that’s good sense.

The park borders Wightman and Solway streets and sits behind rows of buildings that face Wilkins and Negley avenues. Wightman Street is steep coming down to intersect with Solway, so the park is in a sort of bowl. Before people started tinkering with it, the site was fed by natural streams, where water often pooled. In the late 19th century and into the 1910s, the neighborhood used it as an ice rink.

The streams were diverted later, Ms. Thompson said, but the land knows what it wants to be. The water feature gives it what it wants, and it will give the public an amenity like no other park of that scale.