660 Acres Donated to Pittsburgh to Become City's Largest Park

"A 660-acre site that once was to be the home of a thoroughbred horse racing track, a casino, a hotel, restaurants and other development now will become the largest park in Pittsburgh," reports Mark Belko.

"Pittsburgh Development Group II, the site owner, is conveying the entire property, including mineral rights, to the city, which plans to use most of it for a park. A small portion also might be used for residential development," adds Belko.

The article presents the donation of the property, which includes streams, valleys, and even a waterfall, as a historic event for the city. The city plans "to work with foundations, conservation and environmental groups to secure a conservation easement to protect the land." The mineral rights included in the conveyance mean "the city can prevent drilling for oil or gas on the site."

In follow-up coverage, Diana Nelson Jones tours the site as it currently exists, before it begins to take shape in the imagination and the reality of Pittsburgh. According to Nelson Jones, the property is known currently as the Hays Woods, and "it’s a wild, overgrown uphill, downhill of deep woods, meadows, cliffs, views, deer scat, darting birds, dragonflies, butterflies, knotweed, old trees, junk trees and wetlands of reeds, rushes and cattails."

The Hays Woods are perhaps most well known for its Bald Eagle's nest, which is visible in real-time on PixController's webcam.