A Pittsburgh city councilman will introduce a measure Tuesday to acquire 22 acres in Glen Hazel to be developed into a park with recreational fields. Councilman Bob O’Connor is sponsoring the legislation that calls for the city to purchase the land from the city’s Housing Authority. The land, adjacent to the Glen Hazel public housing community, has been vacant for 20 years. The U.S. Department of Housing has deemed the parcel of land unsuitable for housing development because of the presence of long-abandoned shallow coal mines, said O’Connor, who said he’d like to see Pittsburgh Public Schools students use any field there for school-sponsored athletic activities. The legislation calls for an evaluation of the property to determine if the plan is feasible. “What we need is a blueprint of what can and should be there,” O’Connor said. “From there we can proceed with the development.” O’Connor had no estimate for the cost of acquiring and developing the land, pending an expert evaluation. The city tried to develop the property into soccer fields in the 1990s, but proposals and talks with the community and the Housing Authority were not successful, O’Connor said. Housing Authority officials could not be reached for comment. “There is a big need for public fields in the city,” O’Connor said. “I think that this is a fantastic opportunity to meet that need and provide something that will benefit a number of communities.” The growing number of sports available and the increase in the number of athletic programs have created a greater demand for public fields, O’Connor said. O’Connor points to the property’s accessibility to the communities of Glen Hazel, Hazelwood, Squirrel Hill, Duck Hollow and Greenfield, as well as access to public transportation as selling points for the project. The land also overlooks the Monongahela River Valley. If the resolution is passed, it will set a timetable of 120 days for an evaluation of the property.

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