Group wants to remove dumped debris from 1759 Fort Pitt bastion
PITTSBURGH -- On Jan. 3, Pennsylvania state-funded construction crews entered Pittsburgh's Point State Park and began burying a 250-year-old bastion to make way for concert and festival grounds.
The Fort Pitt Music Bastion, one of the only remnants of the French and Indian War's Fort Pitt, built in 1759, is now covered with 10 feet of demolition debris and sand. This spring, while work continues on a $35 million construction project in downtown's state park, a group of historians and citizens is determined to unearth the bastion.
"Without Fort Pitt, we would probably all be speaking French right now," says Will Rouleau, co-founder of SaveFortPitt.org.
The odds are against Rouleau's group, however.
"There are no current plans to uncover the bastion; however, it was filled and protected in a way that is reversible, so it can be uncovered at a future date," says Jane Crawford, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, in an e-mail.
Fort Pitt served as a refuge for 600 men, women, and children in 1763, the last year of the French and Indian War. Until recently, all that remained of the fort was the Block House, built in 1764, and two of the five original bastions. The Monongahela Bastion currently houses the Fort Pitt Museum, and the Music Bastion is no longer visible.
Read entire article at Preservation Online
The Fort Pitt Music Bastion, one of the only remnants of the French and Indian War's Fort Pitt, built in 1759, is now covered with 10 feet of demolition debris and sand. This spring, while work continues on a $35 million construction project in downtown's state park, a group of historians and citizens is determined to unearth the bastion.
"Without Fort Pitt, we would probably all be speaking French right now," says Will Rouleau, co-founder of SaveFortPitt.org.
The odds are against Rouleau's group, however.
"There are no current plans to uncover the bastion; however, it was filled and protected in a way that is reversible, so it can be uncovered at a future date," says Jane Crawford, spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, in an e-mail.
Fort Pitt served as a refuge for 600 men, women, and children in 1763, the last year of the French and Indian War. Until recently, all that remained of the fort was the Block House, built in 1764, and two of the five original bastions. The Monongahela Bastion currently houses the Fort Pitt Museum, and the Music Bastion is no longer visible.