Library Park envisioned on steep hill in Carnegie

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

The grassy lawn and oldgrowth trees that front the Andrew Carnegie Free Library & Music Hall are being studied as the starting points of a Library Park that would connect the historic building at the top of the Beechwood Avenue hill with Carnegie’s bustling Main Street below.

A $35,000 grant from the Allegheny Foundation has been used to hire a landscape architect firm that will develop a design concept and cost estimate by September.

Carnegie’s Main Street is filled with shops, bars, restaurants and plentiful parking. But getting from there to the library — where plays, concerts and other events are frequently staged — is difficult because the hill is steep.

Beechwood Avenue is also steep and curved and does not have sidewalks. The library parking lot is small, so for big events, the library staff has hired shuttle buses to get people up and down the hill.

Last week, staff of the library held a “charrette” to get community input about how the grassy hill could be developed and improved. “Charrette” is a French word for an intensive planning session.

About 45 people attended, including local elected officials and library patrons, said Maggie Forbes, library executive director.

They met with landscape architects from LaQuatra Bonci, which has offices on Pittsburgh’s South Side.

The lawn and trees “were called Library Park 100 years ago,” said Ms. Forbes, who indicated it could be called that again.

“Maintaining the essential character of majestic trees and expanse of lawn is important,” she said.

It would take 80 steps to connect Main Street to the library, but the steps would be steep and no one is suggesting that, Ms. Forbes said.

The hill might be terraced in some way, or a series of steps and ramps might meander at angles through the property.

It could include benches, for resting or reading, colorful plants and public art, people suggested.