November 2022

Dear Friends of Mellon Park,

The board of directors of Friends of Mellon Park is getting an early start in sending you every wish for the coming holiday season and all good things in 2023.

This newsletter is long overdue, and we have a great deal to report.

Most immediately, we hope you've seen the arborists in the trees in Mellon Park -- putting to work more than $36,000 toward tree care and maintenance that we raised with your help last year.

An anonymous donor has once again offered a matching grant in the amount of $10,000 for care of trees in Mellon Park.

Headlines

  • Fundraising for tree care in Mellon Park

  • Arbor Day Celebration

  • National Registry of Historic Places designation

  • Ongoing participation in the Mellon Park Action Plan

  • Saving trees near the tennis bubble and lobbying the City to include the whole community in design and approval of a new tennis office

  • Volunteer gardening in Mellon Park

  • Participation in the City’s ongoing planning process for the Marshall Building

  • Tree Pittsburgh Community Partner of the Year recognition

Into the Weeds — Newsletter Details

Tree Care in the Park

Last year we asked for donations for the care of trees on both sides of the park.

Our work to prune, feed and tend beautiful old trees – in collaboration with Tree Pittsburgh and the City of Pittsburgh – is under way.

There are still more trees that need care.

The same anonymous donor who offered a matching grant of $10,000 last year – the total amount raised was $36,000 – has offered another $10,000 match this year in hopes of continuing the substantial amount of work that the trees the Park require.

Arbor Day Celebration in April

We hope you had a chance to celebrate Arbor Day with us in Pittsburgh's first public arboretum. Residents from all the surrounding neighborhoods came together to enjoy the park, get to know one another, and learn about how important it is to care about trees and the environment. Mayor Ed Gainey, Councilpersons Erika Strassburger and Bobby Wilson, and the Obama High School Marching Band were among more than two dozen community representatives and organizations that participated.

We hope you will join us to celebrate Arbor Day on April 29, 2023. Stay tuned for announcements.

National Register of Historic Places

This designation, in addition to the City Historic Landmark Designation we received in 2021, offers additional opportunities to support and protect the landscape and hardscape of the park

Preservation Pittsburgh, the nonprofit organization that researched and supported this nomination, is a committed and resourceful partner for us. We are grateful to Matthew Falcone, Melissa McSwigan, and Angelique Bamberg.

Mellon Park Action Plan

Along with numerous community stakeholders, we are part of an active conversation with the City of Pittsburgh and the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy about the Action Plan, most immediately:

  • to make it safer to cross Fifth Avenue from one side of Mellon Park to the other;

  • to redesign the north side of the park and its parking lot;

  • to improve signage on the south side of the park so that all neighbors are aware of the park and feel welcome there.

Tree Rescue and New Construction at the Tennis Bubble

We worked hard this fall with several other community groups to help save at least six mature trees that were slated for removal during replacement of the tennis bubble.

With the same community organizations, including Point Breeze North Development Corporation, Squirrel Hill Urban Coalition, Point Breeze Organization, and Larimer Consensus Group, we continue to monitor new construction near the tennis bubble.

We have been promised a full community process before construction of any new buildings is undertaken by the City.

Because Mellon Park now has City Historic Landmark Protections, the City is required to publicly share and discuss changes to Mellon Park – on both sides of Fifth Avenue. Any new buildings in Mellon Park must be preceded by public process before the Arts Commission and the Historic Review Commission.

Volunteer Gardening Program in Mellon Park

We continue our ongoing work to maintain perennial plantings throughout Mellon Park. In addition to having our own crew of volunteers, we have partnered with the PPC and Phipps Conservatory volunteer groups. All told, there have been approximately 230 volunteer gardening hours lavished on Mellon Park in the past year.

The Park has not looked this well-tended and beautiful in many years.

Tree Pittsburgh Community Partner of the Year

Tree Pittsburgh, an outstanding local organization working to restore and protect our urban forest, recently recognized Friends of Mellon Park as a Community Partner of the Year.

City Planning for the Marshall Building

We continue to be part of the City’s process of determining a future for the Marshall Building, formerly Pittsburgh Center for the Arts, at the corner of Fifth and Shady Avenues. We will participate in a Parks and Recreation meeting at the Marshall Building in December to talk about plans for the building.

Additional Community Engagement

We are involved in a wide variety of activities that involve Mellon Park. We’ve met with Shawn Carter, Chief of Staff for City Councilperson Reverend Ricky Burgess. Reverend Burgess will represent the south side of Mellon Park beginning in January 2023. We meet with UpstreamPgh. And we are working with sophomore students at the Ellis School on a history project concerning Mellon Park.

What You Can Do to Support Mellon Park Right Now

Stay informed about Mellon Park and write letters and emails of support when they are needed.

Spread the word about Friends of Mellon Park and help us expand our mailing list.

Join us at our Arbor Day celebration on April 29, 2023. We’ll send out more information early next year.

Visit the park and enjoy it in every season.

And don’t forget to make a year-end donation so we can continue our commitment to care for the trees in Mellon Park. Become a Friend of Mellon Park!

With deepest gratitude for your commitment to Mellon Park and your support for the work that we all do together,

Elizabeth Seamans, President

Friends of Mellon Park