For 12 years the Horticultural Society of Western Pennsylvania has been pursuing a dream - that being to establish the only outdoor botanical garden in the western end of the state. The eastern side of Penn's Woods has 30 botanical gardens. Our impoverished western side has one - Phipps Conservatory, which is entirely indoors. Pittsburgh is the only city in the United States of its size to lack an outdoor botanical garden.
Those were the opening statements of Lindsay Tottem, president of the Horticultural Society of Western Pennsylvania at the March meeting of the Westmoreland County Botanical Society. Her enthusiasm for creating a botanical garden in the Pittsburgh area was contagious. The Horticultural Society has made some progress toward this endeavor. They needed a wild place within 40 minutes of Pittsburgh that was easily accessible to both residents and casual visitors of Pittsburgh. It took eight years to find such a site, an unused portion of Settlers Cabin Park on the southwest side of Pittsburgh not far from the airport. The land was formerly both a deep coalmine and then a strip-mine. It is surrounded by high walls and is loaded with invasive plants because of the severity of the disturbance. But the miners piled the tailings high and leveled them into three plateaus with a commanding view of the city and the airport, a near perfect location. Some 452 acres were leased for 99 years, an economic impact statement was performed and a very advanced technological design was developed.
The design is impressive. A three-quarter mile entrance drive through a restored forest will bring you to an Auto-Garden Parking Lot that is invisible from the nearby Visitor Center and the housing project below the plateau. There will be a Four Seasons Garden, an Orangery for tropical plants, a Partene Garden of concentric hedges with geometric topiaries and perennial borders, a Hanging Garden of flower bridges and waterfalls, and a Children's Adventure Garden. A lake will divide the landscape with a Temperate Forest of the World occupying the western edge. Can you think of a better use for abandoned strip-mine land?
But the work and money involved to transform this landscape into a garden is enormous. Phase I of the 3-phase plan is estimated to cost 30 million dollars. That would involve bringing a pipeline up the hill, drilling wells, hauling in topsoil, building the entrance driveway and visitor complex. Phase II would tackle the lake, amphitheater and display gardens. Phase III would build the maintenance, research and administrative buildings.
The environmental problems alone are a challenge. They must fix the acid mine drainage, get rid of the invasive plants and control stormwater runoff. Plans include capturing rooftop water and holding water in cisterns below a porous parking lot.
Their economic impact statement reported the project would generate nearly 2000 jobs in 15 years and 32 million dollars in tax revenues and income for Pittsburgh in 10 years. They expect 300,000 to 500,000 visitors per year when the project is complete.
They are looking at all opportunities. North Park Lake, for example, has accumulated sediment in the past two decades bringing the lake depth from 12 feet to three feet. Dredging the 40-acre lake in 2005 is expected to produce seven million tons of sediment for disposal. The Horticulture Society wants that sediment. They just have to figure out how to get it from North Park to Settlers Cabin Park.
There is no guarantee this botanical garden will be successful. They need grant money, volunteers, members, and cooperating businesses. You can find more information about how to join or help at their website www.botanicgardenwpa.org or write to The Horticultural Society of Western Pennsylvania, P.O. Box 5126, Pittsburgh, PA 15206.
