$332,000 Olmsted Commons park planned for Vandergrift’s historic district

Vandergrift is working with the Westmoreland County Land Bank on plans for Olmsted Commons, a $332,000 half-acre park in the borough’s historic district.

The state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources awarded $151,000 for the project. The borough will provide in-kind services to match the grant award.

The site is a parking lot with patches of weeds fronting 144 Washington Ave., just up from the Casino Theatre. The site looked much worse before the Westmoreland County Land Bank acquired it about five years ago. The blighted commercial structures have been razed.

The site will include an event patio, pergola, rain gardens and green screens.

“We are ecstatic,” said Kathy Chvala, Vandergrift Borough Council president.

The project will be a significant presence in the borough’s downtown area.

“This will be good for the town,” said Christine Wilson, who has been serving on council for about 40 years. “It’s a park, a recreational and multiuse area that will beautify the town.”

Olmsted Commons pays tribute to Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed Vandergrift as well as the grounds of New York City’s Central Park, the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago and more.

The park will feature curved walkways, playing off Olmsted’s use of curves in designing Vandergrift’s streets, said Hallie Chatfield, senior project manager with the Westmoreland County Redevelopment Authority and Land Bank.

Council held a special meeting Thursday to work out some of the design details. Vandergrift’s engineer, Emil Bove of Bove Engineering, is tweaking the park design with Anthony Ferrante, president of the Casino Theatre board.

A good portion of the land for the park was donated by the Casino Theatre. A borough resident donated the land to the theater with a stipulation that a portion of it will be used for theater parking, Ferrante said.

“We need that parking lot,” he added.

Plans for the park propose using permeable paving for an event patio that also can serve as a parking lot for the theater. Tom Holmes, vice president of borough council, told Bove and Ferrante to make the final adjustments to the design and then come to council for approval to proceed with the project.