Pitcher Park Foundation Plans Groundbreaking in Carnegie

It has been five years since Vincent and Stephen Pitcher died in a drowning accident at Kinzua Reservoir, and almost as long since their mother, Mary Pitcher, began her quest to build a skate park in their memory.

After years of ups and downs, a groundbreaking ceremony for Pitcher Park Memorial Skate Park is scheduled for July 7 at the site of its new home in Carnegie Park.

The park found a home in Carnegie Park last August, and received financial backing from former Bridgeville resident Ken Schultz and the Ken & Carol Schultz Foundation, as well as from the Tony Hawk Foundation.

According to a press release from the Pitcher Park Foundation, the Foundation and Carnegie Borough have also raised money through fundraisers and in-kind donations of materials, and plan to continue fundraising to build a spectator area.

Grindline Skateparks of Seattle, WA designed and is building the park, and expects to complete construction within five months. The design features a large, full pipe, a bowl between four and six feet deep, a bowl eight to ten feet deep, and a street course with various obstacles. A conceptual drawing is attached to this article.

Pitcher, a Scott Township resident who used to live in Dormont, originally wanted to build the skate park in Dormont Park; however, the initial plan was met with resistance from borough residents, miscommunication between the Pitcher Park Foundation and Dormont Council, and a legal opinion determining that a memorandum of understanding related to council’s previous approval of the park was not legally binding.

Pitcher Park Foundation and Dormont Borough reached a settlement agreement in June. Pitcher considered location offers in Mt. Lebanon and Scott Township parks before determining that Carnegie Park was most suitable.

The groundbreaking is scheduled for July 7 at 7 p.m. in Carnegie Park, off of Forsythe Road.