Buhl Community Park
At Allegheny Square
Buhl Community Park at Allegheny Square, a revitalized community resource for Pittsburgh's Northside, sits at the former crossroads of Federal Street and Ohio Street in front of the Children’s Museum. The park was revitalized from a neglected city park into a vibrant green space for the neighborhood in 2011/12 and opened on June 23, 2012. 
The park features a central plaze with tables and chairs, a large meadow with native grasses, benches, natural bluestone walls for seating, rain gardens for storm water mitigation, bike racks and drinking fountains for both visitors and pets. The centerpiece of the park is a piece of public art by Ned Kahn, Cloud Arbor, which emits a "cloud" of mist that rises, swirls and eventually falls onto anyone, especially children, waiting nearby. Cloud Arbor was made possible through a gift from the Charity Randall Foundation. See photos of Cloud Arbor and Buhl Community Park Opening in 2012.
Read a June 2015 DWELL Magazine profile of Andrea Cochran, designer of Buhl Community Park.
The park makes the neighborhood significantly greener with the introduction of lots of indigenous plant materials - more than 100 trees, 200 shrubs and 5,000 perennials - and a reduction in concrete surfacing from 89% to 37%.
Since opening, it has become a central location for community gatherings and private events. Permits are available through the CitiParks Department.
The Children’s Museum led the $6.1 million collaborative effort to transform the park into the neighborhood asset it now is. You can make a tax-deductible gift today to help sustain the park through ongoing maintenance and care, and fill the park with lively activities in the months and years ahead.
See photos of the park construction here.
Project Administration
Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh
Evan Rosenberg, Board President
Jane Werner, Executive Director
Chris Siefert, Deputy Director (Project Manager)
Dennis McCarthy, Program Consultant
City of Pittsburgh
Luke Ravenstahl, Mayor
Darlene M. Harris, City Council President, Councilwoman, District 1
Robert W. Kaczorowski, Director, Department of Public Works
Michael T. Radley, Director, CitiParks
Design and Construction
Landscape Architect: Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture
Artist: Ned Kahn
Site/Civil/MEP Engineer: Stantec
Structural Engineer: Atlantic Engineering Services
Contractor: PJ Dick
Made possible with leadership support from:
The Buhl Foundation
The Grable Foundation
The Heinz Endowments
Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
Diane and Guilford Glazer
The Charity Randall Foundation
UPMC Health Plan