Thanksgiving News

Public Meeting

December 10 at 6:30 pm at the Phipps Garden Center in Mellon Park

Phipps will share its latest plans for the Garden Center. 

The meeting is hosted by the Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition.  

Attend if you can.  

The Agenda

• Welcome and Introductions - Mardi Isler, President, SHUC
  
  

• Slide Presentation Describing Proposed Renovations - Richard Piacentini, President and CEO, Phipps
  
  

• Description of Garden Center Renovation Team - Ken Doyno, Senior Principal, President, Rothschild Doyno Collaborative
  
  

• Q & A - Audience Participation
  
  

• Thank you and Next Steps - Lori Fitzgerald, Chair, SHUC Built Committee

New Drawings

 Phipps recently met with representatives of The Friends of Mellon Park, The Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition, and the Point Breeze Organization. They shared new drawings that show progress in the proposed Garden Center designs.

We look forward to learning more about Green Building options and about possible excavation throughout the park and its impact on mature trees.

Inventory of Trees in Mellon Park

Friends of Mellon Park (FOMP) is working with TREE PITTSBURGH  and the City of Pittsburgh to create an inventory of trees in Mellon Park as well as a pruning and treatment plan for them.

Educational Meeting

To those who attended our Educational Meeting on October 29, many thanks! More than 80 of you showed up to hear about landscape architecture, green buildings, historic preservation and mature trees – the better to respond to future plans at the Garden Center.

Educational Meeting Summary

For those of you who were unable to attend the Educational Meeting, notes and takeaways from the Meeting are attached below.  Here’s a brief summary:

• Cindy Berger, representing the Friends of Mellon Park, described the legal process by which Phipps may be allowed to lease park land from the City of Pittsburgh.

• Fred Bonci, landscape architect and principal at LaQuatra Bonci, spoke about the importance of landscape architecture and design in the historic landscape architecture of Mellon Park and referred to the restoration of the Walled Garden there as a model for future renovation in the park.

• Matt Plecity, Carnegie Mellon University adjunct professor of architecture, spoke about the many ways to make buildings “green”, about the several levels of LEED certification, and about the stringent requirements of the Living Building Challenge.

• Matthew Falcone, president of Preservation Pittsburgh, addressed city and federal historic designations that may provide protections for Mellon Park.

• Lindsay Totten, horticulturist and a founder of the Pittsburgh Botanic Garden, spoke about mature trees and risks to their health, especially at construction sites.

Full Notes of the Meeting.

Tell others to visit us, join our email list, and learn more.

Thanks for all of your encouragement and for your commitment to the preservation of Mellon Park.