OVERVIEW
Latodami Nature Center is located in North Park and covers approximately 250 acres, including field, forest, pond, wetland and stream habitats with a series of nature trails as well as a barn facility to provide educational programming. The Nature Center is a staple in the 9-park system providing quality programming to schools, scouts, and public and private groups year-round. Naturalists and park rangers offer guided programs designed to get people out in the natural world and investigate the wide diversity of habitats and wildlife found in our Allegheny County Parks.
The Allegheny County Parks Foundation will conduct a Master Site Plan of the 12 acres of grounds immediately surrounding the Nature Center, something never done before for this site. This is a high-level planning study prepared by a team of landscape architects, architects and engineers. The scope of work includes inventory of all the buildings within the designated 12 acres, utility service, access road, parking, trails, outdoor classroom, landscape, signage and other site amenities. The planning team considers the use program based on input from the county staff and park users, prepare design recommendations for site improvements, develop an opinion of probable cost for budgeting implementation and prepare a final master plan in written format.
In addition to the Master Site Plan, a feasibility study of the existing barn structure will be professionally prepared by an architecture firm. The barn is currently a large, open-air room that accommodates groups and houses environmental displays. This feasibility study is critical to understanding how to accommodate existing and changing outdoor environmental education programs at the Nature Center for thousands of students and park users throughout the region.
Recommendations from both the master site plan and barn feasibility study will be taken to grant sources for funding and implementation.
PARTNERS
- Allegheny County
- Buchart Horn Architects
- Pashek+MTR
FUNDING
The Allegheny County Parks Foundation raised the funds for this project.
- Funding for Latodami Master Site Plan provided by:
- FedEx
- North Area Environmental Council
- Allegheny County
- Funding for Latodami Nature Center Barn Feasibility Study provided by:
- The Public Lands Fund
- Allegheny County