Allegheny Landing
Give us your feedback on plans for Allegheny Landing
Riverlife is currently working on a new design for Allegheny Landing. Tell us what you want to see in the park through this Engage Portal! Your feedback is critical to helping us create an artful, playful, resilient design that will transform the park for the next generation. Share Your Feedback Here
Allegheny Landing might be considered one of Pittsburgh’s most photogenic (and photographed) riverfront parks. Situated on Pittsburgh’s North Shore between the Roberto Clemente and Andy Warhol Bridges next to PNC Park, its location on the northern bank of the Allegheny River across from Downtown gives it breathtaking views of the water and city skyline. This is a park that appeals to urban romantics and Instagrammers alike.
The Landing was dedicated in 1984 as one of Pittsburgh’s first modern riverfront parks and one of the nation’s first riverfront sculpture parks. It was established in recognition of Pittsburgh’s riverfront potential for recreation and incorporating arts within the urban landscape. Over the past several decades, Allegheny Landing has become a well-used node of Pittsburgh’s riverfront trail system. But near-continuous use and deferred maintenance have left the park “loved to death” and in dire need of improvements.
Riverlife has been engaged in the restoration of the City-owned park since 2010. Starting with the replacement of the public dock (twice), and the relocation and repair of Ned Smyth’s Piazza Lavoro, riverfront landscaping and trail development, Riverlife has been gearing up towards a broader reconceptualization of the parks on either side of the Allegheny River.
The River Room is a broader concept that incorporates Allegheny Riverfront Park on Fort Duquesne Boulevard, the iconic Sister Bridges, and Allegheny Landing into a broader transformative destination in downtown Pittsburgh. Riverlife is currently working on the restoration of Allegheny Riverfront Park, and is about to embark on a full-scale redesign of Allegheny Landing. These transformations, combined with the decorative lighting that the County is installing on the Sister Bridges will incorporate history, light, art, and play to create an immersive destination in downtown Pittsburgh.
A New Vision for Allegheny Landing
Dock Restoration (2013-2014)
Artwork Restoration (2014-2015)
Lower Trail Restoration and Rain Garden (2016-2017)
“Show Us Your Shoes” Ribbon Cutting Event for Riverfront Trail (May 2017)
Broken Fountain Removal (2021)
Managing Partner
Allegheny Landing is owned and managed by the City of Pittsburgh. For more information on staging a special event at Allegheny Landing, please visit the City of Pittsburgh’s Citiparks Special Event Permitting page.
A renovation of Allegheny Landing led by Riverlife and the City of Pittsburgh with support from Carnegie Museum of Art and Friends of Allegheny Landing began in 2010. Highlights include:
- Boat dock restoration completed 2013
- Piazza Lavoro public artwork restoration completed 2015
- Lower trail restoration, native plantings and rain garden addition completed 2016.
- Upper plaza improvements and master planning process, 2021
- Public dock restoration completed, 2023
Allegheny Landing’s public boat dock was destroyed by an ice floe in 2018. In 2022, Riverlife contracted commercial diving and marine construction company Marion Hill Associates, along with a host of specialty engineers and contractors, to rebuild and restore the dock with resiliency at the forefront. The public dock is now open to the public, just in time for boating season.
RELATED BLOG POSTS:
“Public and Private Partnerships Help Restore Allegheny Landing Dock and Future Riverfront Projects” (October 2022)
“A new chapter for Allegheny Landing” (June 2016)
“Officials cut the ribbon on improvements to Allegheny Landing” (May 2017)
THE DESIGN PROCESS
After a competitive proposal process, Riverlife has selected dwg. to lead the design efforts for Allegheny Landing. Based in Austin, Texas, dwg. is a landscape architecture firm specializing in inspired, sustainable design and public open spaces like Springdale Green, SXSW Center, and Waterloo Park. The design phase will begin this month. Projected to be complete by the fall of 2025, Allegheny Landing will become a shining beacon with new programming, such as concerts, performances, and food festivals.
Riverlife is committed to deep and varied community engagement strategies to inform its work. During the design phase of the Allegheny Landing park’s restoration, Riverlife is installing a shipping container to serve as a hub for community outreach. The shipping container, outfitted as a storefront and filled with archival photos, relevant historic memorabilia, and in process design materials, will be the headquarters for on-site engagement for design preferences at Allegheny Landing–collecting feedback as the planning process moves forward.
DEVELOPMENT
Funding for the Allegheny Landing park restoration project has been generously provided by The Allegheny County Economic Development, Community Infrastructure and Tourism Fund, overseen by the Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County; The Pittsburgh Foundation; The Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission with federal assistance from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Sport Fish Restoration Program; Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development Greenways, Trails and Recreation grant from the Commonwealth Financing Authority Marcellus Legacy program; Allegheny Regional Asset District for restoration of the Three Rivers Heritage Trail; W.P. Snyder III Charitable Fund; Garden Club of Allegheny County; Friends of Allegheny Landing (The Pittsburgh Pirates, Burns White); Port of Pittsburgh Commission; and Roy A. Hunt Foundation.
Support for the restoration of public sculpture at Allegheny Landing park has been generously provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, The Pittsburgh Foundation, and the Public Art Fund of The Pittsburgh Foundation.
Partners:
Riverlife
The City of Pittsburgh
Allegheny Regional Asset District (RAD)
Pennsylvania Department of Community & Economic Development (DCED)
Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR)
Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Sport Fish Restoration
First National Bank
Duquesne Light Company
Lampe Financial, LLC
PJ Dick and Trumbull
UPMC Health Plan
Allegheny Foundation
EQT Foundation
Friends of Allegheny Landing
Richard King Mellon Foundation
The Buhl Foundation
The Jack Buncher Foundation
The Pittsburgh Foundation
Western Pennsylvania Conservancy
