McCahill Park in Fox Chapel, Allegheny County, falls in the floodplain of Sycamore Run. Only a two-lane, local road separates the park from this designated high-quality waterway.
The run’s designation required extra measures to get permitting approvals, which increased park renovation costs. Fortunately, those same measures helped when it came to pursuing funds to complete the project.
The borough received a grant from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) to support the project. Funding came from the Keystone Fund.
When reviewing grant applications, DCNR gives more consideration to projects that incorporate intentional, appropriate climate resiliency measures.
One successful strategy is to think about how your park can serve a dual role: providing recreation and meeting local climate mitigation needs.
That’s what the designers for McCahill Park did. Their improvements addressed recreation needs, like renovating a multi-purpose field and multi-purpose courts as well as installing a perimeter trail. But they also included more robust stormwater management. A detention pond, rain garden, and hundreds of new trees all helped buffer Sycamore Run.
