Riverlife starts public phase of $30 million capital plan to revamp Allegheny Landing, develop other riverfront projects

Riverlife, the agency that oversees and encourages improvements on Pittsburgh’s riverfronts, announced Thursday it is starting the public phase of a $30 million capital campaign.

The agency said it has raised about $25.2 million for the next steps in its $246.8 million project to “complete the loop” of parks and trails around the confluence of the Monongahela, Ohio and Allegheny rivers.

“We have been involved in our quiet phase of raising money for about two years, and we have raised about $25.2 million so far,” said Matt Galluzzo, Riverlife president and CEO. “We are entering into the public phase now.”

Galluzzo said it is important to involve the public in fundraising because “it shows we are relentless” in efforts to improve riverfront property. This phase will allow improvements at Allegheny Landing on the North Shore, finish planning for a scenic walkway on the West End Bridge facing Point State Park and establish maintenance funds for finished projects.

The agency announced in March 2022 the goal to fill in gaps in the park and trail system from the 31st Street Bridge on the Allegheny River to the West End Bridge on the Ohio and the Hot Metal Bridge on the Monongahela. The 10-year plan is a follow up to the agency’s $4.2 billion investment along the riverfront in those areas over more than two decades.

So far, Riverlife has concentrated on the area between the Three Sisters Bridges, the nearly identical Roberto Clemente, Andy Warhol and Rachel Carson bridges crossing the Allegheny within four blocks of each other to join Downtown Pittsburgh with the North Shore. It began in March with the start of a $5.4 million revitalization of Allegheny Riverfront Park along the Downtown side of the river and in July it opened Shore Thing, a seasonal entertainment/activity barge on the other side of the river.

Next will be the upgrade to Allegheny Landing, the first sculpture park in the country that is between the Robert Clemente and Andy Warhol bridges on the North Shore. With changes like The Warhol Museum and PNC Park being added since the park opened more than 30 years ago, Galluzzo said it needs to be revamped to reflect the playfulness of the area.

That means easier access to the park and more play areas for children to go along with the sculptures. Galluzzo said events such as the sidewalk chalk festival have been tried there, but the space doesn’t work as well as it will when the renovations are done.

In the end, the agency envisions the two parks dovetailing with the Arts Landing public complex under construction in the cultural district across Fort Duquesne Boulevard from Allegheny Riverfront and the decorative lighting added to the bridge in the past two years. That will create what Galluzzo likes to call the “Three Sisters Experience” around the bridges.

The reason for the fundraising campaign now is that drawings for Allegheny Landing are about 90% complete and the project has received environmental design approval, but the agency doesn’t have quite enough money in hand to pay for the work and continue plans for the West End Bridge. The plan is to begin construction on park improvements next summer.

“That Three Sisters Experience is an important project that we want to have done as soon as possible,” Galluzzo said.

After that, next up will be what the agency expects to be a world-class tourist destination: a scenic walkway across the West End Bridge with new parks along the riverfront under both ends. The estimated $115.9 million project would double the width of the walkway on the bridge itself, add colorful lights at night, and install switchback ramps on each end to river-level parks in Manchester and the West End.

New trails would connect the West End with Station Square on one end and the riverfront with the Manchester neighborhood on the other end.

That project is a few years down the road and is expected to be done in conjunction with the next Pennsylvania Department of Transportation improvement project on the bridge.