City plans to rebuild gathering spot in Hill

the first African-American detective in Pittsburgh in 1945 and was the first African-American appointed as a magistrate in the city.

Legislation passed by city council last month authorized the city to apply for state grant funding to aid in covering the project’s cost. The total project cost is $750,000, according to the legislation, with the city providing $500,000 in funds from the 2019 capital budget and requesting $250,000 from the state.

Mr. Wood said the facility will be rebuilt even if the city is not awarded the grant funding.

“I just want to reassure people that we are not just tearing this down and not putting anything in its place,” Mr. Wood said.

The shelter was built in 1963, according to a presentation given to about 70 residents at a Thursday evening meeting concerning the building. It now is in disrepair with a boiler that doesn’t work, a leaking hot water tank, cracked walls and other issues, according to the city’s presentation. A second-floor apartment — that residents say was longago home to a caretaker — is “in a state of severe neglect and disrepair.”

Several neighbors said they would be happy to see the shelter rebuilt, but some were skeptical of the promises of city officials, due to neighborhood rumors about the building’s fate, as well as past maintenance problems at the park.

“We’ve had problems with them just maintaining the park, period,” said Gail Carter, who lives across the street from the park.

Robert E. Williams was her uncle.

Residents have complained in the past about wildly overgrown grass and weeds at the park, in part due to the reservoir within the park and disputes between the Pittsburgh Water and Sewer Authority, which owns it, and the city about which was responsible for mowing.

“We’ve got to fight to have the grass cut. We’ve got to fight to have it maintained like it should be maintained,” Ms. Carter said.

“It seems to me that’s not enough money for what they’re trying to do,” said Jeffrey Crawford, who lives across the street from the park and played there as a child.

Several residents said they would hope to see an improved building that was open during the day for senior citizens or afterschool programs. The building now can only be used by reservation and is closed at other times.

Additional community meetings are planned to gather more resident input.