South Park
OVERVIEW
Constructed in 1931, the South Park Cascades was a manmade feature of waterfalls and pools using stratified rock quarried from the park itself. The vision of Paul Riis, a landscape architect best known for his involvement in the development of Yellowstone National Park, the Cascades was carefully composed in a naturalistic manner common to the Prairie Style design movement.
The Cascades was one of a number of original features conceived for the park and quickly became a popular destination spot. It made for summertime fun for families seeking to get away from the city and provided a calm, picturesque site to visit in any season. Years of aging and closure in the mid-1970’s led to the Cascades being forgotten to time. Fully restored, it was re-opened in November 2021. The large stone pools will no longer be used for wading as they once were long ago, but the Cascades will provide the community with a very special historic landscape retreat for all to enjoy.
PARTNERS
Allegheny County
FUNDING
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- Allegheny County
- PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources
- Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation’s Operation Restore
- Citrone thirty/three Foundation
- Allegheny Foundation
- Colcom Foundation
- Friends of South Park
- Richard King Mellon Foundation