By SHARON EBERSON
Pittsburgh is getting ready for its closeup with a multifaceted, environmentally conscious, spiffy new public space in the Pittsburgh Cultural District.
A partnership of elected officials, business leaders, foundations and the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust announced on February 6, 2025, that the area bordered by 8th and 9th Streets, and Penn Avenue and Fort Duquesne Boulevard, Downtown, will hence be known as Arts Landing.
At a press conference Wednesday morning at the Greer Cabaret Theater, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust leader Kendra Whitlock Ingram vowed that the space would be ready in 12-18 months, in time for the tens of thousands of visitors expected to descend on Pittsburgh for the 2026 NFL Draft. Such an undertaking would normally take from 3 to 5 years, she said.
Mayor Ed Gainey noted that state funding for the project was the result of a collaborative effort that so impressed Governor Josh Shapiro, that he commented that it was “the first time he had seen the West on one page.”
It also was announced that the Allegheny County Regional Asset District had kicked in an additional $5 million toward the $600 million Downtown revitalization’s cornerstone project, previously known as the 8th Street Block Civic Space.
Speakers at the press conference included Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato and Mayor Gainey, bottom left and center, Linda Tziona Switkin, bottom right, a partner at Field Operations, the award-winning urban designers of Arts Landing, plus David Holmberg, chair of the Trust’s Board of Trustees and Allegheny Conference on Community Development’s Board of Directors, and President and CEO of Highmark Health.
The river-view space (see below) that until recently was dominated by a parking lot will include a “Great Lawn,” band shell, visitor’s center with restrooms, artful play area with equipment made of natural materials, public art installations, 100 new trees and plantings with native fauna.
Categories: Arts Funding, Feature, Feature Stories, Our Posts, Venue
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