A soothing spot in South Park comes at the perfect moment

We’ve been hearing the holiday carols piped into supermarkets and shopping malls for weeks now, but none of them sing, “It’s the most stressful time of the year.” It can be.

Add to that the uncertainty over the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, economic worries and the prospect of winter dreariness setting in, and it’s fair to say we need a break.

Just in time, Allegheny County has unveiled the South Park Cascades, a serene spot for a brisk walk or a quiet meditation.

The waterfall feature was a fixture in the park for 50 years, but it has been dormant and buried beneath tons of soil for almost another 50.

It was designed and constructed in 1927 by renowned landscape architect Paul Riis, who also helped develop Yellowstone National Park. Numerous local foundations pitched in to pay for the $1.2 million renovation, and restoration work began in 2020.

In addition to removing all the debris and dirt that rendered most of its features invisible, the rebuilding required the use of some new stones and some of the original stratified rock that had been dug from a local quarry. Fortuitously, a stash of leftovers that had been stored and forgotten in another part of the park recently had been found.

Today, the water feature looks as it should.

Braden Meiter, the lead supervisory park ranger for Allegheny County Parks, described the four cascading pools best:

“It is in the Prairie-style architecture theme, which really integrates manmade structures into a naturalistic design, so that it appears that this manmade structure is coming out of the ground and has always been here. If you stand here looking at it, you really get the feel that you’re immersed in nature, immersed into the outside.”

We’re feeling relaxed already just reading that. Fortunately, a modern stone bench has been added to contribute to this peaceful spot.

So thank you to the foundations, park and county officials and the volunteers who brought the cascades back to life.

Ahhhhh.