Proposal to name park over Pittsburgh's Crosstown Blvd. after activist Frankie Pace advances

A proposal to name a park over Pittsburgh’s Crosstown Boulevard after the late community activist Frankie Pace is one step closer to gaining final approval.

City Council on Tuesday advanced the proposed resolution to name the 3-acre park after Pace. The resolution could receive final approval as soon as next week.

The park is being built as part of a larger, $32.3 million Interstate 579 “cap” project, in which the park over the highway also known as Crosstown Boulevard will serve as a link between Pittsburgh’s Hill District and Downtown. The two areas were separated when Crosstown Boulevard was built in the 1950s.

Born in 1905, Pace was a longtime community activist and head of the Hill District Community Council. She also owned Pace Music Store, according to Historic Pittsburgh. She died in 1989.

Naming the park after the Hill District activist had been the idea since the project was in the design phase, said Councilman R. Daniel Lavelle, who sponsored the legislation. As the project nears completion, it was time for City Council to formalize that idea, he said during a public hearing Monday.

The project is on track to be finished next year.

The park will feature pedestrian pathways and bicycle routes, along with recreation and educational areas, rain gardens and design elements developed by local artists.

Pace also will be featured on a story wall celebrating her life. A second story wall will honor abolitionist, journalist and educator Martin Delany, another Hill District icon.