New gathering spaces, an outdoor learning area and improved trail connections are among the enhancements coming to McKinley Park this year.
Pittsburgh officials and the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy this weekend announced a $660,000 upgrade to the nearly 80-acre park, which is nestled between the city’s Beltzhoover, Bon Air and Knoxville neighborhoods.
The McKinley Park Community Grove project will reimagine the Chicken Hill section of McKinley Park, just below Michigan Street at a site that once hosted a resident-build baseball field.
“The Community Grove reflects the heart of this neighborhood — its history, resilience, and vision for the future,” Catherine Qureshi, president and CEO of the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, said in a statement. “We’ve worked side by side with park neighbors to shape a space that truly belongs to them. That’s what makes this project so meaningful: it’s not just happening in the community — it’s being built with the community.”
The project includes a 20-foot hexagonal shade pavilion, open lawn space, a dedicated outdoor learning area for small-group programming and picnic tables.
Improvements to trail connections, stairs and pathways will aim to make the park more accessible. Stormwater upgrades will reduce erosion.
The project also will preserve the historic baseball backstop posts as a tribute to the site’s past. Officials said there could be a community-led art installation there, too.
Officials said the space will host youth programming and nature-based education initiatives and provide opportunities to showcase local art and community history.
“The idea that has come together through the community will create a vibrant new space within this park that will offer new opportunities for recreation and programming for youth and families throughout the local neighborhoods and beyond,” Mayor Corey O’Connor said.
Construction is expected to wrap up in the fall.
The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy earlier this year also launched a trail improvement project at the park that will improve at least 1.5 miles of existing trail throughout the park, cutting back overgrowth, fixing erosion and improving drainage. The effort will include widening some of the main trails and adding steps to steeper portions.
Those improved trails also will connect to the new McKinley Park Community Grove.
Created in 1898, McKinley Park was initially known as Butcher’s Grove, Maple Park and Ritter’s Hollow. It was renamed McKinley Park in 1902, following the assassination of President William McKinley. One of Pittsburgh’s oldest parks, it boasts playgrounds, basketball courts, woodland trails and a skate park.