ALT Reaches 75 Percent of $1.4 Million Goal to Buy Former Pittsburgh Cut Flower Property

Plans call for turning the majority of the 180-acre site into green space.

As snow created a white blanket over the dilapidated former Pittsburgh Cut Flower property, Allegheny Land Trust celebrated raising 75 percent of the $1.4 million purchase price for the 180-acre parcel it plans to turn into green space. Two people who have been key to fundraising efforts—Secretary Richard Allan of Pennsylvania's Department of Conservation and Natural Resources and John Rohe, vice president of Colcom Foundation—unveiled a sign Thursday showing the red on a fundraising thermometer at the 75 percent mark. Allegheny Land Trust has a contract to buy the 180-acre property at 4136 Bakerstown Road/Red Belt on the northwestern part of Richland Township. The land is owned by Florida-based Legacy Landings LLC. The Allegheny Land …

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PRTV to Broadcast Program About History, Future of Pittsburgh Cut Flower Property

Allegheny Land Trust plans to buy the property that was once the home of a thriving flower-growing operation.

In case you missed it ... A program that chronicled the past and envisioned the future of the former Pittsburgh Cut Flower property in Richland Township will be broadcast on PRTV. Dozens of people gathered for the program earlier this month at Northern Tier Regional Library that was hosted by Allegheny Land Trust, the nonprofit that has a $1.4 million contract to buy the 180-acre parcel. The event was an opportunity for the local community to envision what it wants the former Pittsburgh Cut Flower property along Bakerstown Road/Red Belt to be in the future. In the meantime, photos and artifacts gathered and preserved by historian Brian Newhouse were on display to remind attendees of the past. Newhouse gave a slide presentation that …

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ALT Raises More Than $1 Million for Former Pittsburgh Cut Flower Property

Community turns out for library event that celebrates property's history and future.

As dozens of people gathered to celebrate the past and envison the future of the former Pittsburgh Cut Flower property, Allegheny Land Trust announced it has raised more than $1 million toward the $1.4 million purchase price of the 180-acre parcel in Richland Township. ALT Land Protection Director Roy Kraynyk made the $1,064,500 funding announcement Saturday at a special event at the Northern Tier Regional Library.  The event was an opportunity for the local community to envision what it wants the former Pittsburgh Cut Flower property along Bakerstown Road/Red Belt to be in the future. In the meantime, photos and artifacts gathered and preserved by historian Brian Newhouse were on display to remind attendees of the past. PRTV recorded …

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Reminder: Special Event Looks at History, Future for former Pittsburgh Cut Flower Property

The 180-acre property has dilapidated greenhouses on it now, but the future holds ...

Allegheny Land Trust Receives $509,500 Grant for Former Pittsburgh Cut Flower Property

ALT is purchasing the 180-acre property in Richland Township for $1.4 million. It plans to protect more than 80 percent of the land, which is made up of ponds, streams, meadows and woodlands.

The pot of money to buy the former Pittsburgh Cut Flower property in Richland Township just got a whole lot bigger. The Allegheny Land Trust—which is under contract to buy the 180-acre property on Bakerstown Road in Richland Township—announced Tuesday that it is the recipient of a $509,500 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources. ALT contracted with Legacy Landings LLC, the current owner, to buy the property for $1.4 million and already has raised thousands of dollars toward that goal. Legacy Landings is working now to clean up the property of dilapidated greenhouses and other structures, some of which have hazardous materials in them like asbestos. The land trust plans to permanently protect more than …

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Nearby: 88 Acres of Marshall Township Woods Donated to Allegheny Land Trust

The nonprofit land trust also is in the process of acquiring the former Pittsburgh Cut Flower property in Richland Township.

The Allegheny Land Trust recently announced receipt from RT Partners LP of an 88-acre gift of beautiful wooded land in Marshall Township adjacent to the Venango Trails residential development currently under construction. The property, at the headwaters of the Brush Creek watershed, has many springs and spring seeps and mature hardwoods. “One of the oak trees is so large that it would take three adults to wrap their arms completely around its four foot diameter trunk”, said Roy Kraynyk, the land trust’s Land Protection Director.   The land will be available to the public for non-motorized passive recreation such as hiking. This is especially interesting in this case because a section of the historic Venango Trail exists on the property …

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Luminaria Sales Support Purchase of Former Pittsburgh Cut Flower Property

Volunteers are helping raise funds to go toward the $1.4 million cost of buying 180 acres in Richland Township.

Bundled up in a coats on a cold rainy day, volunteers stood in front of the Wal-Mart selling Christmas luminaria kits Saturday to help the community raise $140,000 for the purchase of the former Pittsburgh Cut Flower property in Richland Township. The Orchard Park Neighborhood Association volunteers will be in that spot one more day—from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday—to offer the kits to shoppers at the Route 8 store in Gibsonia. OPNA organized the fundraiser after the nonprofit Allegheny Land Trust challenged the community to raise 10 percent of the $1.4 million needed to purchase the 180-acre tract on Bakerstown Road. Allegheny Land Trust has a contract to buy the property and plans to turn it into a solar wind farm and green space.  …

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Homecoming: Sale of Roses Benefits Purchase of Former Pittsburgh Cut Flower Land

Roses will be sold in batches of 1, 3 and 6 outside Pine-Richland Stadium.

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, according to Shakespeare. But a rose at this Friday's homecoming activities at Pine-Richland High School will be called a donation that goes toward buying the former Pittsburgh Cut Flower property and transforming it from an eyesore into a solar farm and green space. Allegheny Land Trust volunteers will sell roses outside Pine-Richland Stadium when the Pine-Richland Rams take on Kiski. Festivities start with a 6:30 p.m float procession; the game kicks off at 7:30 p.m. The roses will be sold in batches of 1, 3 and 6. In its heyday, Pittsburgh Cut Flower grew millions of roses at the 180-property on Bakerstown Road (Red Belt) in Richland Township. Back in the 1980s, Pittsburgh Cut Flower was "…

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Allegheny Land Trust Launches Drive to Buy Former Pittsburgh Cut Flower Property

Allegheny Land Trust is asking the Richland community to raise 10 percent of the $1.4 million needed to buy the land on Bakerstown Road.

Allegheny Land Trust launched a community fundraising drive Wednesday to raise $1.4 million to buy the deteriorating property once owned by Pittsburgh Cut Flower in Richland Township. The Dream: Saving the 180-acre site from two decades of deterioration and transforming it into green space and a solar farm. The Goal: Raising $1.4 million to buy the property on Bakerstown Road. The Plan: Soliciting the Richland community to raise one-tenth of that amount—$140,000— to match foundation and public grants. First in line to donate to the local cause was Erie Insurance Group. Owner John Pasquinelli of Pasquinelli Insurance Agency and Vice President Leah Micholas were on hand to present a check for $2,500 at the unveiling of a fundraising status …

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Former Pittsburgh Cut Flower Property Declared Blighted Area

Richland supervisors vote unanimously on "blight" resolution.

It's official: The deteriorating property with crumbling greenhouses along Bakerstown Road in Richland Township that was once owned by Pittsburgh Cut Flower is a blighted area. The Richland Board of Supervisors made that pronouncement Wednesday night when it unanimously passed a resolution saying as much, opening the door for the nonprofit Allegheny Land Trust to apply for federal funds to improve the 180-acre property. Allegheny Land Trust has a contract to buy the property at 4136 Bakerstown Road/Red Belt on the northwestern part of Richland Township. The land is owned by Florida-based Legacy Landings LLC. The land trust's mission is to conserve and steward lands in and around Allegheny County that support the scenic, recreational and …

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