Kennard Park, Crawford Roberts: 2220 Reed Street
Kennard Park is a much-used and loved space, especially for its football field (and rivalry with the Garfield Gators). Throughout most of the year, the parking lot and nearby side streets are packed with cars and families. But when games or practices aren’t in session, it can be a quiet spot. During my weekday afternoon visit, it was totally deserted. Kennard is an old recreation area; it’s not the oldest, but its origins as the Soho Playground date to the early twentieth century, when the playground movement was gaining steam in Pittsburgh. One of those early advocates was Beulah Elfreth Kennard, a Pittsburgh resident devoted to child development who had a rare talent for connecting with both affluent powerbrokers and the working poor. In 1927, the City Council named the space after her, in honor of her work, and the name has stayed in place for a century.
I reach the end of the football field, where there’s a shell of an ancient truck. I’m sure there’s a story about how it came to be there and why it’s still there. The story, like that of Kennard’s, is long gone, almost forgotten, but not yet.
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