Overview
The upper campus hillside area is undergoing a major transformation, taking a fully integrated approach to develop this space and add new amenities, pedestrian pathways, outdoor spaces, a sustainable stormwater management system and more in the coming years.
Development initiatives include:
- Enabling Projects
- Infrastructure Improvements – Updates to aging utilities infrastructure include a new chilled water plant, as well as power, chilled water and sanitary lines. These projects support campus building needs and future Campus Master Plan projects, in addition to creating utilities resiliency and redundancy needed to support a preeminent research university.
- Pathway Enhancements - University Drive is being reconfigured to feature interconnecting pathways that will transverse the heavily reforested hillside, providing areas suitable for passive student and visitor recreation while capturing amazing views of the Cathedral of Learning, Oakland and beyond. This includes a focus on accessibility with an express elevator in the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center that will allow users to easily get from O'Hara Street to the hillside area.
- Outdoor Spaces – New hillside areas will provide additional welcoming outdoor gathering spaces for students, faculty and staff.
- Sustainable Landscape – Landscaping improvements will bring a sustainable new landscape design to the area that increase the use of native species and reduce vehicular surfaces. The project will reforest portions of the hillside to increase the tree canopy, which will aid in stabilizing the hillside. The improvements will also allow the University to capture an estimated four million gallons of annual stormwater from the site to be reused in our chilled water plants.
- Campus Recreation and Wellness Center
- Victory Heights
- Includes Petersen Sports Complex renovations, new Arena and Sports Performance Complex, Indoor Track & Field and Band Complex
- Additional proposed hillside area projects include an upgraded stormwater management system and student housing, part of the Campus Master Plan developed in collaboration with the City of Pittsburgh, Oakland community members, students, faculty and staff.
Timing
Hillside planning is fully integrated, taking a comprehensive and holistic approach to developing the area, with phased completion timelines for each project.
- Petersen Sports Complex renovations, part of Victory Heights, are complete
- A new chilled water plant is located on upper campus is complete
- The Campus Recreation and Wellness Center is targeted to open Spring 2025
- Victory Heights Arena & Sports Performance Center is targeted to open Early 2026
- New roads, biking and pedestrian walkways, plus outdoor spaces and sustainable landscapes, will be the finishing touches to the Hillside, with work beginning in October 2024
Learn More
To learn more about hillside development and benefits, read the behind-the-scenes profile with project manager Anastasia Dubnicay.