Small parklet above wall planned for Ardmore Boulevard
Once-blighted area eyed for green space
The borough of Wilkinsburg is moving forward with plans to turn the once-blighted area above the Ardmore Wall, an 8foot span along Ardmore Boulevard between Penn and Franklin Avenues, into green space.
Representatives from Herbert, Rowland and Grubic Inc. (HRG) of Cranberry presented ideas for the 950-foot-long parcel above the wall at a July 25 meeting at Community Forge in Wilkinsburg.
The green space, which will include a parklet, benches and sidewalks, will coincide with renovations to the wall itself with the project totaling $1 million to 1.2 million. The borough has received about $725,000 in grant money for the projects, including a $475,000 Keystone Communities Grant.
“We’re still very early in our planning stages,” said Jim Feath, a landscape architect with HRG, who has been working with the borough on the project.
Wilkinsburg Councilman Patrick Shattuck said the land above the wall will be a “passive green space,” and not actually a park, but will have benches and a lighted pathway.
While the main structure of the wall will remain and be repaired, its crumbling parts will be replaced. The wall also will be re-coated with a stucco-like finish.
Two houses and an apartment building on Dell Way, a lane that runs above the wall adjacent to the proposed green space, will remain.
In the plans that were presented, the lane that currently exits onto Franklin Avenue will become a dead end street with a turnaround at the end.
A pedestrian/bike sidewalk lane will be added along the Dell Way side of the park.
Mr. Feath said the sidewalk will “re-establish that pedestrian connection to bring people safely behind the wall.”
Bollard-style lighting, which will be lower to the ground is proposed to light the sidewalk.
Mr. Feath said the lighting also will be visible to drivers onArdmore Boulevard.
“It is really going to create an attractive gateway to the borough,” Mr. Feath said.
A neighborhood welcome monument sign will be placed above the wall at the beginning of the parklet space near the intersection of Ardmore Boulevard and Penn Avenue.
A decorative fence will be built above the wall with alcoves for benches. Another overlook is proposed in the middle of the green space on the Dell Way side that will feature a patio and benches.
“How nice is it now that vistas are opening up?” Mr. Shattuck said. Several buildings have been demolished over the past year or so to make for better views.
Some scrub trees will be cut down to make way for the green space, but Mr. Shattuck assured residents that the borough’s shade tree commission determined that there were no viable trees in that area.
New ornamental trees like crepe myrtle, serviceberry and dogwood will be planted in the space, as well as shade trees such as bur oaks and Japanese zelkova.
A “green carpet” will be planted on the site. Mr. Feath said the “carpet” will be a low-maintenance, low-growing, perennial ground cover like monkey grass or Japanese spurge. He said the ground cover also will help to stabilize the ground from erosion.
While the new area will be open for people to enjoy, Mr. Feath said topography is a limiting factor on how many people may use the space because of how steep the slopes are in the area.
However, Mr. Shattuck said he has spoken with some of the residents on Dell Way and they are excited about having green space nearby.
“Parents can watch their kids ride bikes,” in the area, which will become safer once Dell Way becomes a dead end street.
“It’s not so much of an active park, but the neighbors loved the idea of it,” Mr. Shattuck said.
Resident Dionna Rojas, who lives on Marlboro Avenue, said her part of the borough never gets attention and she is happy that something positive is happening in the neighborhood.
“This community went from heaven to hell, but now a little bit of heaven is coming back,” she said. “It’s really nice for this part of the corridor to have some type of beautification occur,” she added. “I welcome anything that’s going to make things nicer.”
Mr. Shattuck said the wall and park construction will go out to bid as separate projects at the end of this year.