PITTSBURGH — It’s been more than 20 years since the city pool in Manchester closed on the North Side. Money from the park tax was set aside several years ago to replace the pool with a spray park, but Channel 11 Chief Investigator Rick Earle found out that the site remains as it did two decades ago.
With the heat and humidity bearing down on the Pittsburgh area this week, residents of Manchester told Channel 11 they could sure use the spray park to cool down.
It’s been talked about for the past four years, but so far they’ve seen no progress.
With spray-painted walls and weathered concrete, the city pool in Manchester has seen better days. The city closed it amidst financial struggles, and the community has been without a pool ever since.
“Especially this heat that’s coming on them, they need to be able to go play in some water like we did when we were kids. They don’t have them activities now,” said city taxpayer Niece Shipman.
Four years ago, then-Mayor Bill Peduto allocated money from the new park tax, which voters approved in 2019, to replace the pool with a spray park.
Three million dollars was eventually set aside to pay for the spray park, but today the rundown pool and tattered clubhouse remain and no spray park has been built.
Earle spoke with a woman who lived in Manchester for 18 years. Nicki Simon said she’s frustrated that she pays money into the park tax every year, yet she’s seen no progress with the spray park.
Around the same time, Mayor Peduto also allocated money for a spray park in Chartiers in the West End. That spray park opened last summer.
And during this current heat wave, we found plenty of kids and even adults cooling down in the spray park.
11 Investigates wanted to know why is there a delay in Manchester. What happened?
We went straight to Council President Dan Lavelle, who represents the Manchester neighborhood.
“The unfortunate reality is within our Department of Public Works we have a backlog of projects, and so we are actively advocating for that spray park to be constructed and built as soon as possible,” Lavelle said.
11 investigates has learned there has been some movement on the project.
According to documents obtained from the Controller’s office, the city awarded a design contract to a local company in March.
A spokesperson from Mayor Ed Gainey’s office says the design is now done.
As for the delay, she said it’s part of the process.
“Each project has phases such as planning, design, and construction that it must cycle through with, some of which may take multiple years to complete,” said Olga George, Mayor Ed Gainey’s press secretary.
But Council President Lavelle says it’s still a couple of years away.
“We’re probably about two years away from the spray park being opened….but we have allocated the resources for it,” Lavelle said.
Taxpayers we spoke with want to see their money put to use sooner rather than later.
“I’ve been here for 18 years and so yeah, that’s a long time. Nothing, yeah nothing,” Simon said.
Since 2021, the city has collected about $10 million in park tax every year, and from what Earle discovered during his investigation, it appears only a handful of parks have been upgraded with the Park Tax.
In a controversial move, the city spent some of the Park Tax money on new work trucks, equipment and salaries for the Parks Department. They also used some of the money to fix the Schenley Park ice rink.
The city Controller, last year, conducted a special report on the Park Tax and suggested several recommendations, including establishing guidelines for the use of the funds.
“Unless City Council amends the Parks Tax’s enabling ordinance and establishes stricter allowable uses for revenues, the allocation process may continue to be divisive, while new revenues will remain vulnerable to overly broad purposes that siphon already limited funds away from local neighborhood parks,” wrote then Controller Michael Lamb in the special report.
The special report also suggested that the city post the information online so anyone check the status of a park project.
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