Pittsburgh looks to spend $2.6M on playground projects in Schenley Park, Lincoln Place

Pittsburgh is planning to spend $2.6 million to renovate one city playground and build another.

The city’s Department of Public Works is removing all playground equipment from Schenley Park’s Anderson Playground to clear the way for a renovation project there this summer.

Also known as the Dinosaur Playground because of the theme of some of its equipment, the playground is in the east end of Schenley Park and serves families in neighborhoods such as Squirrel Hill, Oakland, Greenfield and Four Mile Run.

The playground was last renovated in 1995, city officials said. Out-of-date equipment there “poses a risk to public well-being,” according to a statement from Mayor Ed Gainey’s office.

The city is planning a $1.25 million renovation, funded through an Allegheny Regional Asset District grant.

Pittsburgh’s Lincoln Place neighborhood could get a new playground.

City Council gave preliminary approval Wednesday to a plan that would shift $1.4 million that had been designated for the now-scrapped Mon-Oakland connector shuttle project to pay for a new playground and improvements at a local recreation center. There is $6.7 million in the Mon-Oakland connector fund.

Councilwoman Barb Warwick, D-Greenfield, proposed using $1 million to pay for improvements at Burgwin Recreation Center, which is need of a new heating system, and $400,000 to build a new playground for Lincoln Place.

Warwick said the growing number of children and families in that area do not have a playground conveniently located nearby. If approved, she did not offer a timetable for when the new Lincoln Place playground might be built.