Vandergrift, PA, a small town in the borough of Westmoreland County about 40 miles east of Pittsburgh, is the subject of a dandy article about a Silva Cell streetscape installation currently underway in the Valley News Dispatch.
The Vandergrift commercial district had lacked a stormwater management system, meaning that streets flooded easily even during small rain events. The rennovation was coordinated with collective effort from the Westmoreland Conservation District, the Vandergrift Improvement Program and the Vandergrift Borough.
Greg Phillips, district manager and chief executive of the Westmoreland Conservation District, is quoted in the article as saying “What we’re trying to do is work with Vandergrift and the VIP to demonstrate some alternatives to the traditional infrastructure that carries away stormwater… What’s neat about this one is it’s not only functional, it looks very nice, too.” (Ed. note: we could nto agree more!).
A total of six trees (lindens and sycamores) will be planted along Columbia Avenue at 11th, adjacent to a parking lot that houses a farmer’s market. This is the first use of the Silva Cell in this county, and the third in the state (the Silva Cell is also installed at the August Wilson Center and Triangle Park at PNC 3m, both of which are located in Pittsburgh).
Bruce Construction is overseeing the installation and — I love this part — chronicling the installation on their Facebook page.
Fun fact: The Town of Vandergrift was designed by Fredrick Law Olmsted, who is considered to be one of the founding fathers of landscape architecture.
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