Aspinwall Riverfront Park Master Plan

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania

Services

Master Planning
Sustainable Design
Site Design and Construction Documentation
Cost Estimation
Public Engagement
Project Team Management

Purpose

To design a Master Plan for a privately held publicly accessible Park including accommodations for the future development of the Erie to Pittsburgh Trail.

Client

Aspinwall Riverfront Park, Inc.

Sub-Consultants

NIPpaysage

Studio d’ARC architects, P.C.

Lennon, Smith, Souleret Engineering, Inc.

Zanetta Illustration

Awards

DCNR/PRPS 2018 Green and Sustainable Park Award

American Planning Association – Pennsylvania 2017 Great Public Spaces Award

Urban Land Institute 2017 Award for Excellence: Healthy Place

Situated along the Allegheny River in the historic Pittsburgh suburb of Aspinwall, the 13-acre Aspinwall Riverfront Park (ARP) provides the community with public access to its riverfront in more than 100 years. The Park is located on a working waterfront that includes a private marina, a federal lock and dam facility, a water treatment facility and a former metal scrap yard. The Master Plan leverages this working waterfront to create a fiscally sustainable development model by maintaining the existing private marina on-site. In addition to capitalizing on some shared amenities, revenues from the marina operations will directly fund maintenance costs for the park.

The ARP design concept, “Raindrops to River”, furthers the principle of sustainable development through the implementation of an artistic passive stormwater management and infiltration system, a landform amphitheater, a man-made wetland and a partnership with the neighboring Pittsburgh Water and Sewage Authority facility. This learning landscape will teach future generations about sustainable stormwater management and drinking water treatment.

ARP serves as an important link in the proposed Erie-to-Pittsburgh Trail and accommodates this future trail connection as well as provides over a mile of internal trails. Other key features include a sculptural playscape and public art.