Hazelwood’s Play Trail Grows As Volunteers Build KaBOOM! Playground

More than 160 volunteers braved a nasty forecast Saturday to kick off the next phase in the ongoing economic revitalization of Pittsburgh’s Hazelwood neighborhood.

The thunderstorms never materialized, but a new playground between Lyle Street and Roma Way did. The recreational area is the main attraction of the growing Hazelwood Play Trail, which comprises a number of kid-focused, community-building areas in a 1-mile radius of the Hazelwood Branch of the Carnegie Library on Second Street. The planned 10-attraction trail already has a large gardening area tended by a local resident, and next up is the Elizabeth Street Parklet, an open space and community area to be created this fall.

“It’s not necessarily hiking through the woods, but it is like walking through the neighborhood and walking from one place to the next place with the concept of play in mind,” says Cara Ciminillo, executive director of Pittsburgh Association for the Education of Young Children (PAEYC).