Introduction
At the November 2021 ribbon cutting for the Frankie Pace Park on the CAP, Governor Wolf said, “A great injustice was done in the ’50s and this is finally a way to address that injustice.” He was referring to Pittsburgh’s poster child Urban Renewal project that demolished thousands of homes and businesses that once formed the physical infrastructure of a community whose members were predominantly Black, poor, or both. The buildings of the Lower Hill neighborhood were demolished, and the people dispersed to make way for the Civic Arena, a cultural amenity for the wealthy and White featuring opera performances. This erasure of community was followed in the early 1960s by the construction of a moat between the Lower Hill and downtown for the I-579 freeway, also known as the Crosstown Boulevard. The CAP now covers that moat and provides an educational park (and a pedestrian connection between downtown and the Penguins arena).
In addition to the infrastructure restitching the physical gap between downtown and the Lower Hill, the public art installed throughout the park aims to at least partially stitch the cultural gap that is one of the legacies of Urban Renewal and other segregationist policies. An educational display tells the stories of Frankie Pace, a 20th century activist for the Hill District neighborhoods of Pittsburgh, and Martin Delany, an abolitionist, journalist, and doctor in 19th century Pittsburgh. Throughout the park, proverbs of African heritage are etched on the walls and on metal blocks as reflective as Chicago’s Cloud Gate.
Below is a slideshow of some of the public art in the park. At the end of the post, there are links to all the previous posts in the series.
The Photos
The Map
The Series
Keeping an Eye on the CAP: Wayfinding
Keeping an Eye on the CAP: Aug. 2022
Keeping an Eye on the CAP: Ribbon Cutting
Keeping an Eye on the CAP: Nov. 2021
Keeping an Eye on the CAP: May 2021
Keeping an Eye on the CAP: Dec. 2020
Keeping an Eye on the CAP: Jun. 2020
urbantraipsing 
I’m not sure I like the name of the park cap the theme will be replaced with Frankie Pace I’m not sure I like that either. I think there will be trees.
“The park also brings additional trees to the city, providing shade and “thereby reducing the temperature of surrounding buildings and reducing the amount of energy needed to cool those buildings on hot summer days.””