New Rules In Place To Preserve Point State Park Renovations
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - The construction at Point State Park is nearly finished.
To keep the restoration work from being undone by the various festivals held at the park each year, officials are introducing some new rules and fees.
It's hard to believe it's been four years since water stopped shooting from the fountain at the Point. With renovations almost complete at the park, officials said there are some new rules to make sure all the money and work put into this massive project is preserved.
Finishing touches are underway on the fountain and the Great Lawn with the ribbon-cutting scheduled for June 7.
"People who attend will see the fountain turned on for the very first time," Stephan Bontrager said.
The renovation of Point State Park cost upwards of $35 million. With such a hefty price tag, officials don't want any of that to go to waste.
"The goal is to protect our investment as well, because we did put so much money into it. The idea is to protect all the renovations and all the work that was done," Jessica Rohrdanz from the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources said
In order to do that, state park officials changed regulations to events and procedures.
Large events with over 5,000 people must now be spaced out, allowing four weeks in between. Smaller events scheduled two weeks apart. Event fees for the Great Lawn have gone up and vendors must also get a commercial use license from the park, to ensure liability for any damages.
The one big goal by making these changes, is to give the park back to the people by encouraging events to be held in the front of the park and leave the Great Lawn open to the public as much as possible.
"That was the original design of the park, was to be able to stand on the Portal Bridge and look all the way through to the fountain. So, the idea is to protect that unobstructed view of the fountain and the three rivers from the Portal Bridge," Rohrdanz said.
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