‘Man, Beast, Bird’ fountain, 3 other North Side places win restoration grants

A North Side fountain built to quench the thirst of horses, riders and birds will be restored with a $50,000 grant from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. 

The commission awarded four grants totaling $123,500 to restore the fountain, Allegheny Commons park, two Carnegie Library buildings and the Allegheny Elks Lodge on Cedar Avenue. Recipients of the grants are the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, the Allegheny Historic Preservation Society, the New Hazlett Center for the Performing Arts and the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh.

“Man, Beast and Bird” was installed in 1910 on Federal Street in Allegheny Commons, the city’s oldest public park, laid out in 1789. In the 1950s, the fountain was moved to Market Square and then returned to Federal Street in the 1980s, according to the website www.historicpgh.org.

Restoring the fountain is part of the parks conservancy’s North Promenade Project. Work began in June and entails rebuilding a 15-foot-wide promenade path through the park. The project also includes planting 100 trees along the promenade and installing 30 new benches and 29 lights that are period-appropriate and energy-efficient.  

The North Promenade Project also included restoration work completed last summer on a large fountain at West North and Cedar avenues in the park. Known as the Northeast Fountain, it is directly across the street from Allegheny General Hospital. The $1.1 million project, slated for completion in November, is funded by the Buhl Foundation, state Department of Community and Economic Development, Commonwealth Financing Authority, Duquesne Light, city Urban Redevelopment Authority and Mexican War Streets Society.

The Allegheny Historic Preservation Society received a $24,500 grant to prepare a historic structure report on Allegheny Elks Lodge No. 339 at 400 Cedar Ave. Pittsburgh architect Edward B. Lee designed the building. The report will assess its structure and mechanicals while outlining a plan for raising money to renovate it.

The New Hazlett Center for the Performing Arts, 6 Allegheny Square East, received $25,000 to develop plans for capital repairs and preservation work in the 125-year-old former Carnegie Library branch. 

The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh operates MuseumLab in another library that opened in 1890. The museum received $24,000 to repoint the building’s granite exterior. 

Marylynne Pitz: mpitz@post-gazette.com or on Twitter:@mpitzpg

First Published October 22, 2020, 7:00am