Pittsburgh's Frick Park being considered for historic designation

Pittsburgh’s Frick Park may soon receive historic designation.

The 644-acre park in the city’s Swisshelm Park, Squirrel Hill South, Regent Square and Point Breeze neighborhoods is a “visual landmark” in those communities, said Sarah Quinn, of Pittsburgh’s Department of City Planning.

It was nominated for historic designation by Preservation Pittsburgh, Friends of Frick Park, the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, City Councilwoman Barb Warwick and other community groups, she said.

Pittsburgh native and industrialist Henry Clay Frick donated the first 151 acres of the park to the city upon his death in 1919, Quinn said. He also left $2 million dedicated to additional park land acquisition and maintenance, according to the nomination letter provided to the Planning Commission.

The park has seen several expansions since then.

“It really is pretty unique for a park to increase in size as drastically as it has over the years,” Quinn said.

With every expansion, the park design also has changed, she said.

“It became an amalgamation of pieces and parts that were connected on as the years went by,” she said.

The park includes playgrounds, gateways and wooded areas, she said.

The historic designation would apply only to city-owned parkland, Quinn said, and would not include any privately owned property adjacent to the park. The measure would not change the way people use the park or how it can receive funding, she said.

Other pieces of parkland in the city — including Mellon Park — already have historic designation.

Planning Commissioner Rachel O’Neill said many people probably assumed Frick Park already had the designation.

The city’s Historic Review Commission recommended the park for historic designation. The measure is now before the Planning Commission, which is expected to vote on the measure at its next meeting in two weeks. The proposal then goes before City Council for a final vote.