New Park Building @ Cowley-Goettmann Park
Our neighborhood has been working for years to get the City of Pittsburgh to commit to completing the now-stalled Cowley Recreation Center project. After serving as a community lynchpin for more than 60 years, this building closed in 2003.
In 2018, the City of Pittsburgh committed $2 million to a demolition and rebuild. That funding is unaccounted for as of March 2023. In 2021, the project was allocated $6 million in American Rescue Plan funding, which has since been reduced to $2.3 million. The community is concerned that those funds will be removed from the project as well.
Given that the rec center has now been closed for 20 years with very little material progress toward reopening, the Troy Hill community is calling on the city to do the following:
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- Clarify the sources and amounts of City financial support for the project from 2017 through today
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- Clarify spending plans for American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) with a focus on realistic timeline to get these funds under contract
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- Provide evidence of active progress on the Cowley site
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- Re-engage with the community for a reevaluation of the demolition and rebuilding plan
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- Take shovels-in-the-ground action by the end of 2024 to move this project forward
- Commit new funding beyond ARPA funds to complete this project
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City of Pittsburgh Project Planning Site
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Troy Hill Citizens facilitates community service projects of all shapes and sizes, in conjunction with our partner organizations and community volunteers.
Community volunteers are vital to the success of these projects, so please contact us if you see an upcoming volunteer event where you could make a difference, no matter how big or how small. We appreciate the help, and your neighbors do too!
Below are examples of previous or re-occurring community service projects.
Pitt Make a Difference Day (PMADD)
Every year, a bus full of eager Pitt students visits Troy Hill for a fun, productive day of service. Examples of past years work include:
- Landscaping
- Gardening and weeding
- Sidewalk tree pit maintenance
- Community garden maintenance and building projects
- Assisting community organizations with cleanup and organization projects
- Litter cleanup
- Staircase maintenance
A nice write up of our 2014 PMADD can also be found here. For full details, please visit the PMADD website.
Landforce/Gtech
On May 19th 2017, we held an inaugural collaboration between THC, neighborhood volunteers, Gtech and Landforce, a workforce development non-profit. In Troy Hill Citizen’s Park we weeded, mulched, pruned, removed invasive vines and planted several trees. Along Rialto St. we weeded, mulched, cleared the steps, and installed a section of concrete block retaining wall. On Elbow St., we painted a portion of the guard rail safety yellow to add a little flair to the neighborhood.
Tree Pittsburgh
Troy Hill didn’t always have so many lovely tree pits. But thanks to Tree Pittsburgh and so many wonderful community volunteers and certified “Tree Tenders,” beautiful trees grace now our sidewalks.
Although we try our best to provide notifications for all upcoming Tree Pittsburgh volunteer events in Troy Hill, for the latest details please visit the Tree Pittsburgh events calendar or subscribe to their mailing list. We can’t say enough about this wonderful Pittsburgh organization!
