Congratulations to our partners at Oxford Development Company on this week’s announcement of a $750,000 PA Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) grant to improve access to the Allegheny River. The grant will help create new sidewalks, a new road, and public plazas at Oxford’s 3 Crossings project between 27th and 29th Streets in the Strip District.
The RACP grant is significant in several ways. It’s another step forward in the community vision for riverfront public open space in the Strip between 11th and 31st Streets as outlined in the 2016 Strip District Riverfront Park plan, and the improvements at 3 Crossings will extend the Strip District public riverfront northeast by two blocks at 27th Street.
Combined with Riverlife’s “Completing the Loop” vision for public open space at the City-owned tow lot between 29th and the 31st Street Bridge, and partner plans for railbanking and extending the Three Rivers Heritage Trail through the site, there’s momentum building to fill a significant gap in Pittsburgh’s riverfront experience.
Finally, the RACP is also a step forward for our plans with Oxford to activate the 150-foot industrial “hopper” structure at the site as a beacon of public art and a gateway to ArtWalk on the Allegheny, a 2-mile public art experience along the Allegheny River between the Strip and Point State Park.
Progress on these big-picture projects can be incremental, but the results are well worth it. We applaud all our fellow community partners working hard every day to bring more public open space to the Strip riverfront for everyone to enjoy.
