Parklet proposed for Eighth, Penn avenues in Downtown Pittsburgh – Tribune

Downtown Pittsburgh may get another parklet to augment its mixture of parks, pocket parks and plazas that dot the Golden Triangle.

The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust intends to brief the city Planning Commission about the idea on Tuesday.

The trust wants to turn a grassy corner it owns at Eighth and Penn avenues into a parklet by paving it and installing metal benches, a water fountain, a bottle filler for water and carbonated water, and landscaping along Penn that would end at a parking garage.

The estimated $250,000 project would include a section for parking bicycles. Bike lanes are among the ideas Mayor Bill Peduto has suggested for remaking the city’s transportation network.

People seem to like the idea.

“It would be nice to have something like that. It does not look attractive now,� said Sarah Patridge of Uniontown, who was Downtown on Sunday to see the musical “Wicked� at the Benedum Center.

Ali Chain, a sophomore at Point Park University, says she’s always happy to see a park.

“I’m always for parks. There’s really nothing better than seeing a green space in the middle of a city, even if it’s small,â€� she said.

Downtown has three large parks — Point State Park, Mellon Square Park and the park built by PNC Bank opposite its operations center along First Avenue.

Other green spaces and plazas exist. PNC had a hand in making Triangle Park at Fifth and Liberty avenues, opposite its PNC Plaza 2, home of the Fairmont Hotel.

One early plaza is located at Sixth Street and Liberty Avenue, next to Heinz Hall. Another is at the EQT Tower on Liberty Avenue.

On Penn Avenue, next to the O’Reilly Theater, is Agnes R. Katz Plaza, which features sculptures.

Across Seventh Street, a small corner park contains sculptures that look like magnolia trees in bloom.

Recently, Point Park University, as part of its Academic Village, established a small plaza at Wood Street and Boulevard of the Allies.

Sam Spatter is a Trib Total Media staff writer. Reach him at 412-320-7843 or sspatter@tribweb.com. Staff writer Rick Wills contributed to this report.