Pittsburgh council kills proposal to name soccer field after former Mayor Ravenstahl and family

Pittsburgh City Council on Wednesday effectively killed a resolution seeking to name a North Side soccer field after former Mayor Luke Ravenstahl and his family.

North Side Councilwoman Darlene Harris, who has long sought to dedicate the field in Riverview Park after the former mayor, proposed the resolution in the waning weeks of her term. Harris, who lost her seat in the May primary, will leave office in January.

The honorary naming of city property is subject to a public hearing and council vote. Harris was attempting to have the hearing scheduled before leaving office.

Council without comment postponed a vote for three weeks with only two meetings remaining in its current session, which effectively killed the resolution. Another member would have to propose it for reconsideration during a new session that begins in January.

Harris said the Ravenstahl family has a long history of public service.

“I think they deserve it,” Harris said, noting that Ravenstahl is a North Side native and ordered the field to be built on the site of a former Department of Public Works dump. “They’ve always been for children and always supported (youth) sports.”

Her proposal was to name the field after the former mayor; his late grandfather, Robert P. Ravenstahl Sr., a former state representative; father Robert P. Ravenstahl Jr., a district judge; and brother Adam Ravenstahl, a state representative.

Before Luke Ravenstahl left office in December 2013, the Parks and Recreation Department purchased a bronze plaque emblazoned with the words “Ravenstahl Field.” It cost $2,096.50.

Former city Operations Director Duane Ashley said at the time he requested it without council approval or Ravenstahl’s knowledge, and later volunteered to pay for it with personal funds.

Officials intended to dedicate the field before Ravenstahl left office, but never did it.

Harris had been storing the plaque in her office, but declined Wednesday to say if she still has it.

Harris, a former council president, battled often with Ravenstahl during his time as as mayor. She said political differences shouldn’t change the fact that he and his family served the city for decades.

“I can get mad politically with things, but as a person I like him,” she said.