Public workshop to reveal plans, seek input for Spring Avenue Park in Greensburg

Greensburg officials are hopeful renovations planned for Spring Avenue Park in the Fifth Ward will serve as the beginning of revamping the city’s parks.

On Monday, officials involved in the redesign — which has been underway for about a year — will hold a public design workshop. Draft plans for the park will be presented and community members can give their input regarding design and construction priorities. Plans developed so far include a basketball court, space for outdoor seating, green space and gardens that could include sculptures and art installments.

“When you look at this park, it has such potential,” said Glenn Moyer, city facilities manager. “It’s a good space, and it’s a growing community. To be able to put something there that has value is going to be a huge part for the community around it.”

Plans for the park largely started last August when city leaders expressed interest in renovating the 1.4 acre space, located at the corner of South Spring Avenue and Grove Street. By September, the city hired Environmental Planning and Design of Pittsburgh for $45,000.

A renovation kickoff party was scheduled for October, however, a surge in covid-19 cases forced city leaders to move public comment efforts online. At the time, officials with the city and Environmental Planning and Designing launched an online survey and planned a series of online workshops in order for residents to give their input on the project.

Officials also collaborated with the Amos K. Hutchinson Elementary School to have students submit park designs and with D.S. Kinsel, who is working to bring art elements into the final design. D.S. and Anqwenique Kinsel in October became the first resident artists at The Westmoreland Museum of American Art.

In his role, D.S. Kinsel has interviewed several people in the community — from legacy residents to students — and hosted a site exploration day in the park where they gained on-the-ground feedback. Through those outreach efforts, Kinsel worked to find ways artists can be part of the final design while also focusing artistic efforts around the basketball court.

After receiving community input, Environmental Planning and Design created three possible designs for the park, which were submitted to the 22-person steering committee. The committee combined elements from the proposals into the one that will be presented next week.

“One thing that really stood out to us is the park. It’s really the fabric of the neighborhood there,” said Katie Kovalchik, director of landscape architecture at Environmental Planning and Design.

She noted that porches of surrounding homes face onto the park, making the park feel like an extensions of the yards.

That “front porch concept” was woven into the final plan, Kovalchik said.

Monday’s event runs from 5 to 7 p.m. at Spring Avenue Park. Several activity stations will give attendees the opportunity to learn about the park plan and how it was developed. Attendees will be asked to complete a survey about the park design and construction priorities.

Other stations will engage attendees by telling and listening to stories about the history of the park and community while another will focus on the art aspects of the design.

Once input from the community is gathered, officials will start creating a plan for the first phase of construction, which is expected to begin in the spring.

For Lydia Kinkaid, the city’s recreation program manager, the Spring Avenue Park project is just the start.

“This really will be the beginning of what we hope to be a large overlook at all of our parks and (identifying) what we need to do and what we need to renovate,” Kinkaid said, noting that the city’s upcoming comprehensive plan will also help to identify which parks need to be renovated and how to prioritize those projects.

Sheila Brumley, city council member, agreed.

“It’s going to go back to what it used to be,” Brumley said of Spring Avenue Park.