Greensburg chooses design consultant for Spring Avenue Park renovation

Greensburg selected the planning consultant to help redesign Spring Avenue Park.

The city will pay Environmental Planning and Design of Pittsburgh $45,000 to oversee an 11-month design process.

The 1.4-acre space is mostly empty, containing a small playground and a basketball hoop. City leaders have plenty of ideas for how to improve it, and will spend the months ahead working out which of those ideas can be made a reality.

“Now’s when we really get down to it,” city planning director Jeff Raykes said. “It has to be practical.”

The construction budget for the project is $250,000.

The renovation will be a three-year project, with design work complete by January 2021.

The first step is getting feedback from the community. The city and EPD will schedule interviews and meetings with residents, employers, nonprofits and other key stakeholders located near the park to learn what they’d like to see from the redesign.

These meetings will likely be held virtually because of the coronavirus pandemic, Raykes said.

“Our firm believes that the people who live in the neighborhood and frequently use the park are the experts on their community and the green spaces in them” said EPD project manager Katie Kovalchik.

The city will likely hold events in the park this fall to drive interest in the project, Raykes said.

“We’re trying to get people on site, because it’s easier to get interested in something when you’re there,” he said.

The city chose EPD from among 12 applicants for the consultant job. Council unanimously approved the contract Monday.

It’s too early in the process to say what the renovation might entail, according to recreation facilities manager Trudy Ivory.

“I, personally, in my own mind, have 100 ideas I’d like to see,” she said.

She said Greensburg’s parks have been neglected for too long, but this is changing. The Spring Street renovation is hopefully just the first, she said. “We can’t just ignore them anymore.”