A patch of McKinley Park that neighbors once carved into a baseball field by hand has reopened as a shaded community gathering space. The City of Pittsburgh announced Saturday that the McKinley Park Community Grove at Chicken Hill is now open, capping a project that reshaped the area below Michigan Street into lawn space, a pavilion, trails and an outdoor classroom.
The city made the announcement in a post on X, writing that “The McKinley Park Community Grove at Chicken Hill is now open!” according to the City of Pittsburgh
. The site sits below Michigan Street in the Chicken Hill section of the park and was once home to a community baseball field that neighborhood residents built themselves, per the
Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy
.
From Ballfield to Flexible Green Space
The finished grove includes a 20-foot hexagonal shade pavilion, open lawn space, a dedicated outdoor learning area for small-group programming, and picnic tables, according to Trib Total Media. The same report notes that improvements to trail connections, stairs and pathways aim to make the park more accessible, while stormwater upgrades are meant to reduce erosion on the hillside site. The outlet also reported that the space is intended to host youth programming and nature-based education initiatives, along with opportunities to showcase local art and community history.
The project traces back to a master-planning and community engagement process the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy ran with the city beginning in 2016, per the Conservancy's project proposal. A more recent round of community engagement for the Community Grove specifically ran from January through July 2024, followed by design and permitting from July 2024 through May 2025, the Conservancy's project page states. By the time of its groundbreaking, the project had already been in the works for more than a decade, according to CBS Pittsburgh.
Funding and Neighborhood Partners
Work on the Community Grove was developed in close collaboration with residents and community partners, including the Beltzhoover Consensus Group, Knoxville Community Council, Voices Against Violence and Hilltop Alliance, according to Pittsburgh Magazine. The magazine's report also states the project was funded in part by the City of Pittsburgh Parks Tax Trust Fund, with additional support from the Henry L. Hillman Foundation, Pennsylvania American Water and the American Water Charitable Foundation.
Design documents describe a preferred plan that created a modest, level lawn space for informal gathering, complete with seat walls and a small pavilion structure, stormwater features, trail improvements and refurbishment of the site's existing backstop, according to the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy's project request for proposals. That document also lists the City of Pittsburgh as the project owner, with the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy serving as project manager and contracting entity. CBS Pittsburgh reported that the Community Grove was expected to be finished by fall 2026, while Pittsburgh Magazine reported that construction was set to begin in fall 2026.
Part of a Larger Park Revival
The Community Grove isn't the only upgrade underway at McKinley Park. A separate trail project is set to rehabilitate more than 1.3 miles of trails on the park's Chicken Hill side, aligning with recommendations from the 2016 McKinley Park Master Plan and resident feedback gathered through community engagement, according to the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy.
McKinley Park itself spans 79 acres and includes historic trees, basketball courts, playgrounds, a skate park and woodland trails, the Conservancy notes. Created in 1898, the park was initially known as Butcher's Grove, Maple Park and Ritter's Hollow before being renamed McKinley Park in 1902, Trib Total Media reports. The Conservancy's newsletter further describes documented recreational use at the park dating back to 1874, calling it one of the oldest and largest community parks in the city.
The park sits near the Beltzhoover neighborhood, where median income was $52,169 in 2024. The Community Grove is a recreation and education space for residents nearby.
