Since its inception thirty years ago, PHMC’s Keystone Historic Preservation Grant program has supported a variety of historic places, from barns to bridges to buildings. I recently had the opportunity to tour some grant projects in Pittsburgh’s local park system.

Valley Refuge Shelter

One of the projects selected in the last round of the Keystone Grant program was a project of the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy to rehabilitate the Valley Refuge Shelter, a contributing structure in Riverview Park (PA-SHARE Resource #2020RE00142) one of the city’s many National Register listed parks.

While this project may seem out of the ordinary for PHMC’s grant program; the shelter has a truly interesting history.  It was originally built in 1940 by the National Youth Administration, an agency sponsored by Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) during his presidency as part of the New Deal and was focused on providing work and education for American youth between the ages of 16 to 25.

Riverview Park itself developed decades before construction of the shelter.  It was created in 1894, but many of its buildings, structures and landscapes were designed by Ralph Esty Griswold (1894-1981), an accomplished landscape architect who served as Pittsburgh’s Superintendent of Parks from 1934-1945.  His work coupled with federal dollars from the Works Progress Administration developed several improvement projects that created the cohesive landscape seen today.  The WPA-funded walls, stairs, shelters and landscapes show the influence of the WPA Rustic style, showcasing local Pittsburgh materials, low silhouettes and minimal demarcation between built and nature features.

One-story stone building along a paved road and surrounded by grass. People are gathered at one end.

Valley Refuge Shelter. Photo by PA SHPO staff, October 2024.

In addition to its association with the National Youth Administration program, the public support of the Valley Refuge Shelter is what captured the attention of the Keystone program.  The shelter is a popular destination in the park and is often rented out by community members for picnics, family reunions and other celebrations.  These Keystone grant-funded repairs will ensure that the pavilion continues as a city park asset as it was historically intended.

The Valley Shelter’s future rehabilitation highlights the collaboration required to maintain Pittsburgh’s Park system. The partnership between the City, the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and the numerous organizations and community volunteers ensures that the parks may be used and enjoyed by residents of all ages.

Highland Park

The Keystone Grant program supported several projects in other parks as well.  In 2017, Preservation Pittsburgh secured a Keystone Grant in the planning category to nominate and list Highland Park (PA-SHARE Resource #2001RE01538) in the National Register of Historic Places.  The preservation advocacy organization wanted to celebrate the significance of these treasured landscapes, better understanding of the park’s history and the importance of Pittsburgh’s public spaces. Indirectly, the public will benefit from the presence of an incredibly powerful planning tool that a number of stakeholder organizations may use to help preserve the park’s integrity and unique historical resources.

Founded in 1889, Highland Park traces its origins to the then Public Works Chief, Edward Bigelow (1850-1916), as a part of the network of parks and connecting boulevards in the east end of the city.  Designed in a romantic landscape tradition, the park has a very carefully cultivated “natural” appearance.  In addition to housing Pittsburgh’s oldest operating zoological park, the landscape includes a hilltop reservoir with attractive trees, shrubs and flowers.

A dominate feature to the park is the elaborate welcome entrance at the crest of Highland Avenue dominated by a 56’ tall neoclassical gateway with a pair of granite shafts and several bronze sculptural groups thought to be designed by Chicago architect Joseph Lyman Silsbee (1848-1913) and additional figures by Guiseppe Moretti (1857-1935).  Behind this monumental entrance is a plaza attributed to landscape Francis Xavier Berthold Froesch (1867-ca. 1920).  The plaza was rehabilitated in 2005 with assistance from a Keystone Grant to the city.

Two large columns with statues on either side of a two-lane road.

Highland Park gateway. Photograph by Angelique Bamberg, Clio Consulting.

A more recent Keystone Grant project of the city was directed at one of the historic stone tunnels that carries pedestrians safely under park’s road system.  Two of these tunnels survive including the smaller 12-foot stone arch (PA-SHARE Resource #2021RE01644) that carries the Gingko Trail footpath through the arch, just west of Reservoir Number. One.  This tunnel’s condition became jeopardized by drainage issues from Reservoir Drive above.  The City of Pittsburgh received a Keystone Grant in 2019 to repair the arch and reset dislodged stones.

Elaborate stone walls surround a tunnel opening. A paved path and steps lead to the tunnel.

Pedestrian tunnel in Highland Park. Photograph by PA SHPO Staff, 2024.

Westinghouse Memorial in Schenley Park

There are far too many historic buildings within the park to list by name but one of the more picturesque projects within the park system is the Westinghouse Memorial (PA-SHARE Resource #1985RE00140) located in Schenley Park (1985RE00090).  Located just west of the intersection of Schenley and West Circuit Drives, this 1930 memorial is a collaboration by architects Henry Hornbostel (1867-1961) and Eric Fisher Wood, Sr. (1888-1962) with sculptor Daniel Chester French (1850-1931).  The panels show the many innovations and accomplishments of George Westinghouse (1846-1917) in a very idyllic setting.

In 2012, the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and the City of Pittsburgh rehabilitated not only the monument itself but features of the Memorial’s landscape context, including the pond, circulation, vegetation, and stormwater infrastructure with support of the Keystone Grant program.

Group of masonry panels, steps, and statute between a paved path and water.

George Westinghouse Memorial. Photo by PA SHPO Staff, 2024.

There are countless other organizations who remain steadfast in their commitment to Pittsburgh’s Park system, its historic landscapes and features.  This energy is very much evident each time I visit the park, many of these are funded without PHMC grant funding but through the tireless fundraising and sweat equity of others who see the value of maintain public parks. You can see their devotion and dedication in every corner of the parks as they maintain the lands into the recreational and cultural asset it is today.

Considering an Application to the Grant Program?

PHMC will again offer the Keystone Historic Preservation Grants in state fiscal year 2024-2025 to support preservation projects throughout the Commonwealth. The application opened on December 2nd in advance of March 3, 2025 deadline. Learn more about the eligibility information and guidelines here on the PHMC website. The grant program is open to nonprofit organizations and municipal governmental entities who own and operate historic sites that are eligible for or are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Tune in to our live webinar series for prospective applicants:

  • Those interested in capital (construction) projects should attend on Thursday, January 23, 2025 at 3:00 PM and you can register here.
  • Those interested in the planning category grants should opt for the Friday, January 24, 2025 program, also at 3:00 PM and you can register here.

Remember that all applications must be submitted through the Commonwealth’s Single Application for Assistance. Paper or emailed applications cannot be accepted.  Please reach out to our PA-SHPO grants staff at phmckeystonegrants@pa.gov for additional information.