New Section of Allegheny Trail Opens

Allegheny Passage Trail

A nearly three-mile section of the Great Allegheny Passage in the Mon Valley, described as one of the trail's most scenic, will open next Friday. Linda McKenna Boxx, president of the Allegheny Trail Alliance, described the new asphalt-paved segment stretching from Grant Avenue in Duquesne to The Waterfront complex in Homestead as "awesome".

But Ms. Boxx also said that a goal of completing the last remaining section of the Great Allegheny Passage, the piece at Sandcastle Waterpark, by November is not going to be met.  They just do not have all the funds.  More than $1 million has been raised toward the estimated $3 million cost, and trail advocates are hoping Gov. Tom Corbett releases a $750,000 grant that state Sen. Jay Costa got added to the capital budget. Once the Sandcastle section is complete, there will be 150 miles of unbroken trail linking Pittsburgh with Cumberland, Md., where it joins the C&O Towpath to Washington, D.C.
 
A 10 a.m. ceremony next Friday will open the newest trail segment, which features views of the U.S. Steel Edgar Thomson Plant, Braddock Locks and Dam on the Monongahela River and even the Westinghouse Bridge over the Turtle Creek valley. The ceremony will officially open up the section where two bridges were erected last summer -- a 110-foot-long span in the RIDC industrial park in Duquesne that crosses three sets of Norfolk Southern Railway tracks, and a 170-foot-long bridge in Whitaker over six sets of tracks operated by Norfolk Southern and Union Railroad Co. The section already has had its unofficial debut, as bicyclists and walkers have been checking it out.

The new Whitaker bridge will be the site of the ceremony. Rather than cutting a ribbon, the celebrants will raise a ceremonial railroad crossing gate.

Allegheny Trail Alliance

C&O Towpath

Cumberland, MD

Homestead

Metro Pittsburgh Real Estate

Sandcastle Waterpark

Waterfront Complex

More "Allegheny Grows" Gardens Sprouting Up

Millevale's Uban Garden

"Allegheny Grows" is itself growing with urban-agriculture projects spreading to three more communities:  Bellevue, Wilkinsburg and Penn Hills. This year is the second for the program designed to dress up empty lots, build community spirit, encourage local organizing, aid the environment and provide fresh produce for local food pantries.  The source of the money is federal community development block grants.  Allegheny Grows has a budget this year of about $75,000, and in addition to setting up the three new agricultural projects, the funds will be used to cover second-year costs for garden projects begun last year in Millvale and McKees Rocks.

Bellevue's project will be an urban farm on Davis Avenue on a 1-acre vacant tract owned by North Hills Community Outreach. The land had been donated in 2008 to the faith-based North Hills Community Outreach by the Amelio family for an organic garden. Most of the labor for the organic farming effort will be provided by volunteers, supervised by a part-time agency employee. Produce grown there will be donated to food pantries.

Wilkinsburg's urban farm is a 2-acre site in the city's Hamnett Place neighborhood. The land is owned by Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation, which already is involved with several housing renewal projects in the community. Allegheny Grows will be working with a citizens organization called Hamnett Place Community Garden Association to plant and care for the site.

Penn Hills officials are providing a water truck and leaf-mulch compost for its community garden on the site of a former municipal ball field. The tract had been planted as a garden last year by a youth group. Produce grown through this year's effort will benefit up to three local food pantries.

Second-year Allegheny Grows' assistance to gardens in Millvale and McKees Rocks will include providing both seedlings and some technical advice from Grow Pittsburgh. Millvale also will receive several rain-collecting barrels and McKees Rocks will get help in edging its garden beds and making them accessible to people with disabilities.

Grow Pittsburgh

Bellevue

McKees Rocks

Millvale

Penn Hills

Wilkinsburg

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Ohiopyle Winterfest 2010

 

Ohiopyle's Winterfest 2010 will take place this Saturday, February 6th, from 11am to 4pm.  Sponsored each year by Friends of Ohiopyle and Venture Outdoors, area folks are invited to enjoy the popular park during winter and to learn to be comfortable with winter sports that may be new to them. This year's fifth annual Winterfest offers free introductions to cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, sled dog demonstrations, sledding, horse-drawn sleigh rides, refreshments, a kids' zone and, oh yes, a warming hut.

A new "event" this year is the Human Sled Dog Race. You get a big cardboard box, someone sits inside and you tie a rope around the box. Four people pull the box sled, racing against other teams. Race participants will not have to bring their own cardboard box as all the outdoor-gear outfitters in Ohiopyle have been saving their cardboard boxes for this event.

Ohiopyle is just 1½ hours from Pittsburgh and the day should prove to be immense fun for the whole family.

Winterfest 2010

Ohiopyle

Venture Outdoors

Metro Pittsburgh Real Estate

A Day In The Life Of A Zoo Vet

Vet Weighs A Tiger Cub

The Pittsburgh Zoo will host a really fun and educational event for kids aged 13 and up.  "A Day In The Life Of A Zoo Vet" will highlight how keeping all the Zoo animals healthy is an enormous and challenging task. Kids will find out what a work day is like for Associate Veterinarian, Dr. Ginger Takle. Plans for the zoo’s new Animal Health Center will be discussed and everyone will get to go behind the scenes in one of the animal areas.

Sound like a blast, so hurry to sign up.  The event is Sunday, Jan 30th, from 1:30 - 3:30 pm.  The cost is $22 for members and $26 for non-members.

Pittsburgh Zoo
Metro Pittsburgh Real Estate

911 Sounded For Our Trees!

Emerald Ash Borer

A type of Asian beetle that first appeared in Pennsylvania three years ago has made its way to Pittsburgh, a sign that the death of about 14 percent of the trees in the city's public parks is near.  The Emerald Ash Borer will likely kill as many as 45,000 ash trees in the city's parks within the next three to five years. 

The exotic beetles, with their metallic green wings and copper-colored abdomens, have been ravaging trees in Michigan, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois since the late 1990s. Because the borer invades a tree from the top and remains hidden inside the bark for most of the year, the tree's fate can be sealed long before any symptoms show. An infestation will kill a tree within three years.  While North American ash trees have no immunity to infestations, insecticides are available but expensive .... about $8 per inch of tree thickness.
 
Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy
Emerald Ash Borer 
Metro Pittsburgh Real Estate

Its Spring At The Phipps

Phipps Conservatory in Schenley Park

Tired of the snow?  Well, its spring at the Phipps as their Orchid and Tropical Bonsai Show opens today and runs through March 13.  Colorful orchids and plants from Phipp's tropical bonsai collection will be displayed throughout the historic glass house. The collection includes a Japanese Pittosporum which has been in training since 1991. The garden railroad will also be on display in the South Conservatory throughout the show.

Conservatory hours are 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily and until 10 p.m. Fridays. Admission is $12 for adults; $11 for seniors, 62 and older, and students with a valid I.D.; $9 for children 2-18; children under 2 are free.

Phipps Conservatory
Schenley Park
Metro Pittsburgh Real Estate

New Fox Chapel Libraray Opens Late Spring

Fox Chapel Park Map

The new Cooper-Siegel Community Library in Fox Chapel is slated open its doors in May. The $6 million facility sits alongside the Fox Chapel Municipal Building and has at least $1 million backing in borough money. The project got underway last summer, after several years of fund raising by the Community Center and Library Association. Plans call for a 24,000-square-foot facility that will triple the size of the current site, housed inside the Boyd Community Center in O'Hara.


The borough is sprucing itself up in other ways as well.  It is in the final stage of a five-year plan to upgrade borough recreation facilities. New playground equipment has been installed at McCahill Park, and signs were erected along Trillium Trail to educate visitors on the variety of native plants. The $300,000 project also included the rejuvenation of native wildflowers throughout the borough parks.

Fox Chapel Borough
Metro Pittsburgh Real Estate

National Aviary Gets A Face-Lift

The National Aviary on Pittburgh's North Side has been undergoing an $18.5 million dollar expansion and renovation for the last three years.  Final touches should be completed next month with the official opening of the expansion on October 9th.  "Wings!", the first show in the new theater, will debut at that time.  Read more ...

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Oakland's Panther Hollow Watershed To Be Restored

The Richard King Mellon Foundation announced a $1 million grant for the purpose of restoring Panther Hollow.  Improper storm water run-off has caused most of the problems, but crumbling public steps, a stagnant lake, dumping and trail overgrowth has added to the not-so-pretty picture.  It will take many years and many more millions, but the ultimate goal is to have the entire watershed completely restored.

Today's restoration plans are a far cry from past attempts which sought to change the locale into something more "architectural" rather than bolstering the existing natural environment.  Read more ...

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Robinson Home Honored In PG's Great Garden Contest

   
Each year the Post Gazette's "Great Garden Contest" usually focuses on flower gardens.  Every once in a while a well-laid-out vegetable garden sneaks in.  But after seeing the photos and reading the history of John & Patty Fitzurka's family vegetable garden in Robinson, they agreed that this was a garden worth their attention.  Read more ....

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Olde Allegheny Gardens

Urban gardens are certainly gaining popularity these days. What better way to turn lemons into lemonade than by transforming the unsightly neighborhood vacant lot into a fresh, green garden?

“Olde Allegheny Gardens” on Pittburgh’s North Side is an impressive example of not only reinventing the space in a productive way …. The transformation included careful attention to colorful details which added enormous visual interest to the fabric of the neighborhood.

The Gardens were started in the early 80’s and currently have 40 or so 10’ x 20’ plots which are individually maintained at a cost of $30/year per plot. The same people can keep the same plot from year to year so long as they continue to maintain it and some folks have had their plots for over 10 years. Benches are provided so as to encourage the general public to walk through and enjoy the green space. Located at 1311 Arch St, the Gardens received the Community Greening Award in 2008 from Pennsylvania’s Horticultural Society.

Next time you’re in the neighborhood, stop by and see what a huge impact a little community spirit can make!

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