PHL - PPC ERA

(Spoiler alert: This page was prepared by FOPHL, not the Pittsburgh Park's Conservancy, although most of the information was taken from the PPC's website and blog.)

Pittsburgh’s recreational/cultural assets hit hard times during Mayor Sophie Masloff’s term in the early nineties. Phipps Conservatory, the Schenley Park Golf Course, the National Aviary and the Zoo were spun off to non-profits as the City sought to shed expenses. More budgetary blows were on the way for Pittsburgh’s heirloom holdings.

In the early 1990s, Parks Maintenance merged with the Department of Public Works (DPW), which over time reduced the dedicated park-only workforce. Then in 2003, the City fell under the control of the State's Act 47 team for financially distressed municipalities. That led to the temporary closing of many recreational facilities as parks were not considered to be a core City responsibility.

In response to the gathering storm, the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy (PPC) was founded in December 1996 by citizens concerned with the deterioration of Pittsburgh's historic city parks. A nonprofit organization, the Parks Conservancy works with the City under a 1998 public-private partnership agreement to restore the regional parks.

One of their goals in the 2000 Regional Parks Master Plan, was to “Rehabilitate Panther Hollow and Panther Hollow Lake as a woodland/watershed preserve and major destination amenity.”

The PPC put together a pair of big-ticket projects for the park, the 2001 restoration of the Visitor’s Center & Cafe and the 2006 opening of a grand entranceway and gathering spot to the park, the Schenley Plaza. They also were working under the radar on the Panther Hollow watershed and its myriad issues.

The Conservancy’s first big PH watershed project began in 2004. They restored Phipps Run creek at both ends by recreating the old streambed and adding retention pools. They’ve kept busy in the Panther Hollow watershed by removing invasives, planting native vegetation, creating overflow basins & rain gardens/meadows, building swales & wattles, designing natural interception points and drawing on all sorts of green tactics to battle erosion and improve the watershed’s ability to capture rain and keep it in the soil rather losing it to a municipal sewer line.

Phipps Run creek under the Tufa Bridge from "Pittsburgh 'N At" blog.

They and the City rebuilt the crumbling Upper Trail lake steps in 2008 thanks to a donation by Alexander Speyer, dedicated to his wife Jean. In 2010, a major project renovated the Upper and Lower Panther Hollow Trails and restored Panther Hollow Run creek, including improving the WPA stone bridges and the walking path beside it. The group also stabilized the Steve Faloon Trail running beneath the golf course and Circuit Road. Storm culverts and retention ditches were added. Some of the improvements were washed out during an August 2011 storm, but the work remains generally intact.

In 2014, the PPC announced plans to make Schenley Drive a “skinny road” by creating a lane for bicyclists/joggers that is permeable with a green strip, again to improve water infiltration with the side effect of calming traffic and the dedicated lane for bike traffic was opened in August of that year. Down the road, the PPC hopes to convert Circuit and Serpentine Drives in a like fashion.

The Conservancy has also been busy pumping out technical reports with the results of various watershed monitoring metrics (and they do monitor quite regularly). Major studies released include the 2009 Four Mile Run Daylighting Report (expensive with a lot of tricky and probably deal busting location issues), 2011’s Watershed Restoration Plan with recommended interventions, 2013’s Green Infrastructure Report which deals with institutional and residential eco-friendly stormwater treatments and also in 2013, Villanova's Restoring the Health of Panther Hollow study with technical evaluations and suggested interventions.

The decade-long PPC focus has been almost entirely on watershed issues. Partially, this is to help collaboratively meet EPA requirements to reduce storm water entering the sewer system (the lake’s overflow basin is connected to the Four Mile Run combined storm/sewer outlet with 80,000,000 gallons of water flowing into the system yearly) and also because the group believes that lake remediation should be the grand finale, after watershed intervention, in the restoration of the Panther Hollow Valley, per the PPC’s Panther Hollow Watershed page.

In the meantime, the lake has gone noticeably downhill. The Daylighting Report began with “Panther Lake is a defacto stormwater treatment pond…”

A delta complete with reeds, trees and other vegetation has grown where the creeks merge and enter the lake, near where islets once rose above the waters. This actually may be a good thing; a water-filtering wetlands has established itself naturally, although it has covered the stone cascade that fed the Lake.

Panther Hollow Lake delta - photo from Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy

Other issues remain. The lake has silted so badly that it’s only one third of its original depth. It is a man-made body of water that sits at the end of a valley snuggled in a steep ravine; sediment will tumble into it as a matter of course, and there is no downstream outlet for the silt to escape. The PPC has had success with retention pools & infiltration ditches that trap sediment during storm events, and that appears to be a promising treatment, especially if extended from the stream beds to the ravine’s hillside water collection points. They've already added collection ditches to the lower Lake Trail.

Panther Hollow Lake was dredged in 1993 and 2001, but because of continuing storm runoff, groundwater recharge issues and its topography, sediment retention will be a constant problem. While the PPC is working on rainwater control, it does seem that a maintenance schedule of dredging on a regular cycle should be established.

Water quality is another issue. While the presence of heavy metals have tapered off, the 2007 Panther Hollow E-Coli Sampling found that “...results confirm that both streams as well as Panther Hollow Lake do not meet the standards required for fishing and recreational activities. The possibility of a leaking sewer pipe remains, but the most likely sources include urban runoff, animal sources, and dog waste. It is our opinion that the diffuse inputs preclude source reduction, and treatment prior to the lake will be necessary for the lake to meet the recreational standards.”

Deer overpopulation has been a county wide problem, and there appears to be little that can be done to eliminate their waste entering the watershed naturally other than improved infiltration. Runoff is being addressed by the PPC through various watershed projects. Also, Pittsburgh’s Water and Sewer Authority should determine if sewage infiltration is a contributing problem; some sewer lines in the lake area were laid by Edward Bigelow’s workers in 1909 and the lake itself was connected to the Junction Hollow sewer line back in 1904.

A final touch to provide some basic park amenities might help to make the lake a destination point in the park again. The relatively low cost of connecting the bicycle path (which is underway), step maintenance, and a few benches, picnic tables and a port-a-john should help drive traffic to the lake, as would a resolution of the century-old access problem caused by the RR tracks.

The PPC has done a commendable and consistent job of watershed/stream restoration. But we believe that a two-pronged approach would work best. Ten years have been spent primarily on watershed feeder projects; it’s time to bring some resources to bear on lake restoration, too. It’s been neglected for so long that many of the hipster generation don’t even know it exists, and those that do often turn their noses at what they see as a muddy, lifeless pond. Out of sight, out of mind.

We realize the complexity of the project. Beside the engineering and construction tasks of renovating the lake itself, the watershed quality issues will continue, and a way to provide safe access across the RR tracks will need resolved. Cost is of course also a major factor, and the funding will surely have to come from multiple sources. But it's been done before.

We think the lake is worth the effort.

Panther Hollow Lake was a major destination point not so long ago. A quick scan via Google images will show boaters, picnickers, fishermen, skaters and assorted frolickers enjoying the lake’s largesse through the seasons and decades.

Schenley Park has lost many attractions: The Casino, the Zoo, the Band Shell, Rutan & Russell’s shelters, the Merry-Go-Round, the Garden Center, the Oval’s Track & Stables, the Nature Museum...we hope that Panther Hollow Lake doesn’t join that list.

The lake is older than the park and holds much of its history and tradition...

(picture by Melissa McMasters of the PPC taken from Flickr)

PPC Projects Impacting the Panther Hollow Watershed:

Future Projects:

• Restore the Westinghouse Memorial Lily Pond. (late 2014, when the pond, pathways, and surrounding landscape will be restored and enhanced with a meadow and rain garden.)
• Extend the "skinny street" concept to parts of Circuit and Serpentine Drives. (no timetable announced)
• Plans for the restoration of Panther Hollow Lake will be determined by the pace and success of the PH watershed projects. (no timetable)
• Plans to rebuild the historic boathouse are being discussed as the final stage in the valley’s restoration. (no timetable)

Ongoing Projects:
Remove invasive plants, reestablish native vegetation, plant trees to prevent erosion and stabilize hillsides. Work is generally provided by PPC volunteers. There is continuous monitoring of various watershed metrics.

2014: Announced preliminary plans to continue "Skinny Street" project on Schenley Drive between Darlington and Panther Hollow Roads by making one bike/ped lane instead and adding permeable surfaces/vegetation buffers for infiltration.

2014: Narrowed Schenley Drive (the “skinny street” project) with a bike/walker lane of porous asphalt and include an infiltration bed to capture the runoff in the upper portions of the watershed. (in progress; bike lane established) Funding for these projects comes from Allegheny County Sanitary Authority's Environmental Protection Agency funds, Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, and the Department of Public Works.

2014: Established a meadow and dug an infiltration ditch at Bartlett/Beacon, allowing an estimated 600,000 gallons of rain water to infiltrate into the ground. Funding for these projects comes from Allegheny County Sanitary Authority's Environmental Protection Agency funds, Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, and the Department of Public Works.

2014: Sections of the golf course were given retentive grading, taller 'no-mow' lawn mix will be seeded and dead trees will be replaced across 13 acres of the course, which is estimated to capture another 1.12 million gallons of rain water a year. Funding for these projects comes from Allegheny County Sanitary Authority's Environmental Protection Agency funds, Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, and the Department of Public Works.
2013: Released the Green Infrastructure report recommending green interventions (disconnecting gutters, rain gardens, green roofs) for commercial and residential structures.
2013: Released the Villanova study Restoring the Health of Panther Hollow with technical information and suggested watershed interventions.

2011: The Watershed Restoration Report was issued, calling for physical alterations along Schenley, Serpentine and Circuit Drives, replacing various lawns with meadows, woodlands, rain gardens and various buffer systems,  improving the Westinghouse Memorial area and the golf course, wetland restoration and as the final step (#28 on the list), lake restoration.

2010: The Panther Hollow Trails, the Lake (Hollow Run) Trail and Steve Faloon Trail were resurfaced, new drainage systems added, the wall behind the Visitor’s Center restored, inlets and culverts were added built, and wattles/retention ditches placed. It was also part of the new signage project undertaken throughout all the parks. The work was funded by a federal grant, with approximately $700,000 raised by matching donations from the community, the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, local foundations and corporations. (The total cost was $3.8M, but was an overall regional park project not limited to Schenley Park.) Unfortunately, some of the improvements on the trail system were lost due to wash-out/collapse after a major storm in August, 2011.

20??: Panther Hollow meadow was established along the lower Lake (Hollow Run) Trail
2009: Released the Daylighting report with optional routes for an above-ground Four Mile Run stream, none of which seemed feasible because of Junction Hollow development.
2008: The steps from the Anderson Playground across the Upper Panther Hollow Trail and down to the lake were repaired by the Conservancy and City thanks to a grant from Alexander Speyer in memory of his wife Jean.

2007: A small meadow was established by the swimming pool, improving infiltration, providing habitat and reducing City maintenance.

20??: A small meadow was established by the Bartlett entrance to the Panther Hollow Trails, improving infiltration, providing habitat and reducing City maintenance.

2004: The PPC and the City's DPW began a restoration project in the Phipps Run area. The first phase of work was to redirect the upper part of the Phipps Run stream to its original design, build water basins along its path to control the flow of storm water runoff, and establish a stream-side trail to ease access along the run. In the lower part of Phipps Run, they recreated the stream channel and reestablished the surrounding wetland with plantings.

2002: The Visitor’s Center & Café was opened. Hillside work was done to prevent erosion (trenches, ditches, vegetation) and the VC&C back steps provides an entrance to the lake.

2000: The Regional Parks Master Plan was released, with plans to “Rehabilitate Panther Hollow and Panther Hollow Lake as a woodland/watershed preserve and major destination amenity.” The specific points to be addressed, per the plan, were to:

* Restore bridges and walks in Panther Hollow.

* Develop a hydrologic plan for the Panther Hollow Watershed to:

a) Restore baseflow in the creeks;

b) Improve water quality and maintain source flows to wetlands & and Panther Hollow Lake;

c) Improve visual quality.

* Renovate Panther Hollow Lake. Remove the concrete edge and channel to achieve a more naturalistic character. Reinforce the new “soft edge” treatment with native aquatic plant species.

* Study the viability of rebuilding the boathouse for recreational boating.