Читать книгу Pittsburgh Main Thoroughfares and the Down Town District - Frederick Law Olmsted - Страница 20

The Improvement of The Point

Table of Contents

At the opposite end of the business district from the proposed Civic Center is another spot where the civic pride of Pittsburgh should lead the City to make liberal expenditures for other than the economic ends which justify those Street improvements which are the main burden of this report.

Water front park and an interesting bridge at Bonn, Germany

At the end of The Point, where the two lines of water-front improvement would join, is a considerable area of public open space. Here is the spot where the Ohio River has its birth: here was built the fort which broke the peace of Europe and around which turned the frontier struggles of the war that gave America to the English speaking race. It is here that all the most inspiring associations of the city are chiefly concentrated. Poetically, this spot, at the meeting of the rivers, stands for Pittsburgh.

Because the eastward drift of the business center has followed the eastward drift of residences, and the growth of business has not yet expanded back to fill the void; and because The Point is left pocketed beyond the freight yards, and is visited only by the throngs who use the old Point bridge, it seems to be rather forgotten and disregarded by most Pittsburghers. But its historical and topographical significance can never be altered, and it is to be hoped that the City will rise to its opportunity and nobly form The Point into a great monument.

The North Point bridge is about to be rebuilt; the South Point bridge is very narrow and some day must be rebuilt in its own turn. In the placing of these bridges, in every feature of their design and of the design and decoration of their approaches, the monumental element ought always to control. The plan shown herewith in outline is an attempt to solve, in a dignified and monumental way, the obvious problems presented by the bridges and the means of approach to them. Whether just this plan or some better one be adopted, it is essential that the whole Point be regarded as one single monument, that no pains be spared in bringing the best artistic skill to bear in working out the details of the plan, and that the general plan, when thus worked out, shall really determine the construction of all the parts. At any time conditions may arise, as in regard to one of the bridges, for which the general plan does not exactly provide; but, if so, the plan should be adapted as a whole to meet the new conditions, so that work may still proceed in accordance with a complete plan. Never can a single feature of The Point safely be designed independent of the rest, if worthy results are to be obtained. And what is true of this great monumental feature is true in large measure of all public improvements in relation to a comprehensive city plan.

Footnote

Table of Contents

[2] See Plan of the Down Town District.

[3] A general discussion of the Market problem is included in Part V.

[4] The City and the Allegheny River Bridges, Part V.