Beginning in August of 2019, Scenic Pittsburgh created the Southwestern PA Scenic Awards program to recognize excellence in preservation, enhancement, and promotion of scenic resources in the region. We hope that the example provided by the award winners can help other communities in making the most of their own scenic resources – and keeping southwestern Pennsylvania unique and beautiful for us all.
After taking a break in 2020 because of the pandemic, we returned to presenting awards in 2021. This year we’ve given out 3 awards: one to Indovina Associates Architects, one to McKnight Realty, and one to the Borough of Ligonier.
On Thursday, September 23, we presented the Award for Scenic Conservation to Indovina Associates Architects at the Pittsburgh Highline. We welcomed a number of prominent Pittsburghers, including Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald, PA Rep. Emily Kinkead, and former Pittsburgh Mayor Tom Murphy.
Check out our photo album of for Indovina here.
On Saturday, November 6, we presented the Award for Community Scenic Achievement to The City of Ligonier at 12:30 p.m. in the Diamond in the center of downtown. Scenic Pittsburgh looked at Ligonier’s history of preservation and renewal of its historic Diamond and shopping district, and the town’s longtime commitment to leveraging its greenspaces and history for the benefit of its residents.
Here’s the full photo album from the Ligonier event.
On November 11, we also presented an Award for Scenic Conservation to McKnight Realty for their Highline project. Their commitment to offering a unique public/private recreational and greenspace at The Highline exemplifies the kind of development and design that Scenic Pittsburgh advocates for. We hope other developers in our region will look to this project as a model for how opening up private land to the wider community creates unique spaces that can serve as enduring scenic assets.
See our photo album from McKnight Realty’s The Highline.
Check out our press release about our award winners.
Want to nominate an organization, place or person? Nominations available here.