Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
20 November 2006
We humans, 98 percent water, are drawn to the stuff. We swallow it. We shower in it. We paddle on it. Now two Allegheny County councilmen want us to be able to wallow in it all the more.
Republican Dave Fawcett and Democrat Jim Burn are proposing the creation of what they say will be one of the longest parks in the world -- a ribbon at least 50 feet wide running 128 miles beside the Monongahela, Youghiogheny, Allegheny and Ohio rivers in Allegheny County.
They will ask their fellow council members tomorrow to approve an ordinance that would authorize county departments to map boundaries and dimensions for such a park and would authorize the Law Department to appraise that property and negotiate purchases if essential land were about to be sold.
The councilmen believe the park will be a magnet for recreation and a catalyst for economic development. They see three parallel swaths of pavement -- one for bikers; one for joggers, walkers and cross-country skiers; and one for those with wheels on their heels, like roller bladers and skate-boarders.
They see some wide spots along the park for picnicking, rock-climbing and sightseeing. They see places along the water for launching boats and kayaks and jet skis.
They envision all sorts of commercial developments along the park, from bike rental shops to ice cream emporiums. They believe apartments and condos will be constructed nearby and that the park will draw visitors who inevitably would drop by the downtowns of the 66 municipalities through which the park would run, stimulating businesses there.
Their vision is of a commercially and physically healthy Allegheny County riverfront.
The park would also stand as a visible symbol of the new Allegheny County. The old one was filled with steel mills and coke batteries that employed the masses, but also belched smoke into the air and pollution into the rivers. The new county, based more on a high-tech and health-care economy, would sport parks in place of vacant brownfields and boast scrubbed air and friendly waters.
The cost of the plan is estimated at $100 million and the money, which would come from public and private sources, is not in the county's pocket. That should not stop council from exploring the idea.
County Council should approve the measure to move ahead on the riverfront park. Along the way, Mr. Burn, Mr. Fawcett and park advocates will have to find the money to ensure that the idea is more than just a vision.