Plans move ahead to redevelop East Liberty's Enright Park

Pittsburgh’s Planning Commission on Tuesday approved plans to redevelop East Liberty’s Enright Park.

Plans include a basketball court, a playground, picnic tables, a pavilion and lawn space, said Andrea Ketzel, a senior landscape architect with the city’s Department of Public Works who is managing the project.

She said the park also will have spray features, including a popular spray whale that had been at the park before, along with a rain garden, pavement games, a grill, a drinking fountain, benches and bike racks.

Also planned are standard swings and ones that are accessible for people with disabilities, as well as a court for bankshot, a basketball-style game that is meant to be accessible for people of all ages and abilities, she said.

The Department of City Planning in 2018 worked with community members to craft a master plan for the redevelopment of Enright Park, which became part of a debate about redeveloping the Penn Avenue site where Penn Plaza apartments once stood.

A new developer at the site ultimately agreed to provide $1 million in funding for the park, while the city is providing $300,000.

Officials expect to take construction bids within the next few months.

The redevelopment plans earned approval from the Civic Design Committee of the Art Commission in March.

“It means a lot to the neighborhood, as all playgrounds do,” Commissioner Becky Mingo said.