Three Rivers Park is a public urban waterfront

park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...

along the Allegheny, Monongahela, and

Ohio River The Ohio River () is a river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing in a southwesterly direction from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to its river mouth, mouth on the Mississippi Riv ...

s in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. The park, under development since 2000, is currently defined by the boundaries of the West End Bridge over the Ohio River, the 31st Street Bridge over the Allegheny River, and the Hot Metal Bridge over the Monongahela River. The wishbone-shaped loop of Three Rivers Park encompasses the Pittsburgh Peninsula and Point State Park at its center, and spans over 13 miles of interconnected trails and green space with over 800 acres of public open space.

Overview

Three Rivers Park is composed of several capital projects, with Riverlife, formerly known as Riverlife Task Force overseeing implementation of the park with the cooperation of public and private property owners and community groups. The park is being designed to open the three rivers to public access in a way that was impossible during Pittsburgh's

Industrial Age The Industrial Age is a period of history that encompasses the changes in economic and social organization that began around 1760 in Great Britain and later in other countries, characterized chiefly by the replacement of hand tools with power-d ...

. Three Rivers Park offers continuous trails and green space along a more than 13-mile waterfront loop. Contained within the project site boundaries are shorelines, public and private property, and several bridges. The Three Rivers Heritage Trail regional trail system runs through the park, as does the multi-state Great Allegheny Passage trail. The logo of Three Rivers Park is the outline shape of Fort Pitt, the 18th century outpost of the

British Empire The British Empire comprised the dominions, Crown colony, colonies, protectorates, League of Nations mandate, mandates, and other Dependent territory, territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It bega ...

at the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

of the Monongahela, Allegheny, and Ohio Rivers. The design aims to capture the historical significance of Pittsburgh, with added graphic elements of water and leaf shapes to acknowledge the region's

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

. The logo appears on

signage Signage is the design or use of signs and symbols to communicate a message. Signage also means signs ''collectively'' or being considered as a group. The term ''signage'' is documented to have been popularized in 1975 to 1980. Signs are any ki ...

throughout Three Rivers Park and mile markers embedded in the trail which reference Point State Park's fountain as Mile 0.

Completed segments

* North Shore Riverfront Park/ Roberto Clemente Memorial Park *

Allegheny Riverfront Park Allegheny Riverfront Park is a municipal park that runs along the south bank of the Allegheny River in Downtown Pittsburgh, Downtown Pittsburgh. It is a parcel of the Three Rivers Park, the city's grand urban waterfront park project along its ri ...

Point State Park Point State Park (locally known as The Point) is a Pennsylvania state park which is located on in Downtown Pittsburgh, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, US, at the confluence of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers, forming the Ohio River. B ...

* South Shore Riverfront Park * Station Square * Mon Wharf Landing * Strip District Riverfront Trail * Washington's Landing * David L. Lawrence Convention Center Riverfront Plaza * Allegheny Riverfront Park/Cultural District Riverfront

History of development

In 1999 Riverlife (then known as Riverlife Task Force) held an international request for proposals for the creation of a vision plan for the redevelopment of Pittsburgh's riverfronts. The winning firm chosen was Chan Krieger Sieniewicz of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Chan Krieger and Riverlife held dozens of public meetings to garner feedback from Pittsburgh citizens about the future of the riverfronts. The vision for Three Rivers Park was first unveiled in Riverlife's 2001 "A Vision Plan for Pittsburgh’s Riverfronts." The vision plan was accepted by the City of Pittsburgh.

References

Riverlife Task Force profile: story by Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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External links

Three Rivers Park website
{{Pittsburgh parks Parks in Pittsburgh Urban public parks Allegheny River Monongahela River Ohio River Regional parks in the United States Urban forests in the United States Redeveloped ports and waterfronts in the United States

Overview

Completed segments

History of development

See also

References

External links