The site of Schenley Plaza was originally a deep gully which was called St. Pierre Hollow as it was near the end of St. Pierre Street (now Bigelow Boulevard).[3] In 1898, a stone arch bridge called the Bellefield Bridge was built over the hollow, which together with the Schenley Bridge provided an entrance into Schenley Park from Forbes Avenue.[4]
Eventually, sentiment arose that Bellefield Bridge was not a sufficiently impressive park entrance. Also, in 1911, a place was being sought for a monument to Mary Schenley, patroness of the park. The idea grew that a great public square, both for the memorial and the park entrance, was needed. A national competition elicited 45 proposals for the site, and in June 1915, judges selected the plan of Horace Wells Sellers and H. Bartol Register, both of Philadelphia. According to the judges, the winning design afforded "the simplest and least confusing plan of driveways; the circulation is good; and provision is made for automobile parking space."[5] It was one of only two entries to provide parking as this was not mentioned in the brief for the competition.[4]
Schenley Plaza, at lower left, as it appeared c. 1923
Between 1913 and 1914 St. Pierre Hollow was filled in.[6] The fill has been popularly said to be earth removed from Downtown's infamous "Hump" on Grant Street, but the supporting historical information for this story is disputed.[7] The Bellefield Bridge remains buried here and supports some of the weight of the Mary Schenley Memorial Fountain, which was dedicated in 1918.
The plaza was built in 1921 with some modifications from Sellers and Register's winning design. It consisted of a wide driveway running from Forbes Avenue to the Schenley Bridge around a central oval, with grassy areas on either side planted with rows of London plane trees. The Schenley Fountain stood at the far end. Some planned elements, including a pair of ornamental gateposts, were not built.[4]
By the 1930s, the plaza was starting to be used primarily as a parking area to accommodate demand from both university students and fans at Forbes Field, then home to the Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Steelers, which stood on the west side of the plaza. In 1990, the city removed the central oval from the plaza to accommodate more cars, effectively turning it fully into a parking lot.[4]
From 2004–2006 the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, in partnership with the City of Pittsburgh oversaw a major renovation of the plaza, funded in part by the Oakland Investment Committee, restoring it as a grand entrance to the park. It now offers green space: a 1-acre (4,000 m2) lawn, ever-changing ornamental gardens, and landscaping featuring plants native to Western Pennsylvania. Other features include benches, public programming, food kiosks, amenities such as free wireless service for computers, and a Victorian-style carousel as a featured family attraction. In 2009, the Schenley Plaza renovation won the Silver Award in the Environmentally Sustainable Project category at the 2009 International Awards for Livable Communities held in the Czech Republic city of Plzeň.[8]
Schenley Plaza is operated by the non-profit Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and is maintained in partnership with the City of Pittsburgh's Department of Parks & Recreation (CitiParks) and Department of Public Works. It is open dawn to dusk.
^ abcdLowry, Patricia (October 14, 2003). "New Schenley Plaza plan could benefit from earlier schemes". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Clippings of the first page and second page via Newspapers.com. Retrieved August 24, 2022.
^Description of a historical photograph of Bellefield Bridge: "Between 1913 and 1914, the ravine was filled in and the bridge was buried, allowing for a larger park space to be completed by 1923."
Kidney, Walter C. (1997). Pittsburgh's Landmark Architecture: The Historic Buildings of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County. Pittsburgh: Pittsburgh History & Landmarks Foundation. ISBN0-916670-18-X.
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