REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS SITE SURVEY for the ENVIRONMENTAL CENTER AT FRICK PARK Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy

The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy is seeking proposals to conduct site survey work to support the design of a new Environmental Center at Frick Park. The Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy was founded in December 1996 by a group of citizens concerned with the deteriorating conditions of Pittsburgh's parks. In 1998, the Parks Conservancy signed an official public-private partnership agreement with the City of Pittsburgh to work together for the restoration of the city's four regional parksFrick, Highland, Riverview, and Schenley. Since then, the Parks Conservancy has raised $43 million toward park improvements, and has recently expanded into other city parks as time and resources permit. Our mission is to improve quality of life for the people of Pittsburgh by restoring the park system to excellence in partnership with the City. Our vision is of a sustainable park system whose landscapes, facilities and programming set world standards of excellence. PROJECT BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES At the behest of the Frick family, Frick Park has had a nature center since the 1920s. The City-run Frick Environmental Center (FEC) began delivering environmental education programs to the residents of Pittsburgh in 1979. In August of 2002, the building was severely damaged by fire and has been out of service since then. Although devastating, the loss has provided an opportunity to rethink the Centers purpose. A community visioning process established an overarching mission for a new Environmental Center at Frick Park: Education through Restoration. As a theme, Education through Restoration is active (programming is outside and hands-on) and purposeful (programming actually helps to restore the park). This newly envisioned Environmental Center will be a joint project of the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and the City of Pittsburgh. It will offer expanded urban environmental education programming for camp and school groups, and will be the hub for the Parks Conservancys volunteer activities and community outreach programs. The Center will sit at or near its original location in Frick Park just off Beechwood Boulevard near Forbes Avenue (see map found at www.pittsburghparks.org/frick/sitesurveyRFP). The largest park in Pittsburgh, Frick is at the citys eastern edge where it adjoins nearby municipalities of Edgewood, Swissvale, and Wilkinsburg. The park contains 600 acres of largely wooded, hilly terrain; the proposed site for the Center is in the parks northwestern corner. The Environmental Center site is within three miles of over 170,000 residents, including those from many of the citys most underserved communities. Over 1.1 million residents are within a 10-mile radius of the park.

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Frick Parks original trails and formal entrances were designed by Innocenti and Webel; their original design located active uses of the park along its edges, creating a wooded interior with limited vehicular access. Today, the many dirt and crushed stone footpaths are heavily used by families, dog walkers, mountain bikers, and birders. John Russell Pope designed several stone gatehouses for the park, including two that flank the formal entrance near the Environmental Center site. In addition to these historically significant design elements, Frick Park is home to the recently completed aquatic ecosystem restoration of over two miles of Nine Mile Run, which is one of the largest urban stream restoration projects in the nation. SCOPE OF SERVICES The firm will complete the following tasks. Site survey and mapping of cultural features, including: o Existing man-made features, such as buildings, stone walls, trails, steps, railings; and o Locations of all utilities, both above and below ground, including telephone, cable, stormwater and sewer (inlets and lines), gas, and electrical (including available amperage and locations of transformers adjacent to park site); and o If any typical utilities are not available on-site, location(s) of nearest potential connections to the site. Site survey and mapping of natural features, including: o Topographical map showing contours at 1 foot intervals; and o Hydrologic features, such as continuous and intermittent streams, and wetlands (including vernal pools); and o Tree survey including species, size, and condition of all trees over 6 dbh, plus any smaller trees deemed significant during the field survey; and o Geologic features including soils, sinkholes, caverns; and o Core sampling of the proposed building site.

Deliverables will include: Written report describing methods and results of all work performed; and Accompanying maps including all significant cultural and natural features; and All data provided in digital format compatible with ArcGIS and AutoCAD.

PROPOSAL SUBMISSION GUIDELINES One printed copy and one PDF copy of the proposal must be submitted to: Marijke Hecht Director of Education Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy 2000 Technology Drive, Suite 300 Pittsburgh, PA 15219 mhecht@pittsburghparks.org
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All submissions must be received by Monday December 21, 2009. Postmarks are not sufficient. Email submittal must use Site Survey RFP in the subject line. All questions must be submitted in writing via email to Marijke Hecht at mhecht@pittsburghparks.org before Friday December 11, 2009. A list of all questions and the response to each will be posted on our website on Wednesday December 16, 2009. The proposal must include the following information: Cover Letter The cover letter shall state the consultants name(s) and contact information, including a contact person. It should also identify that the attached document is a submission for the site survey work for the Environmental Center at Frick Park. Approach to Scope of Services The consultant will prepare a detailed scope of work, including tasks, timeline, approach, and deliverables. The scope of services provided in this RFP serves as a guide, and may be improved upon by the consultant. Qualifications The consultant(s) must have demonstrated capacity to fulfill all the requirements for the scope of work. To best express their qualifications for the project, the consultant should provide: A one to two page narrative describing all involved consultants; and Resumes of key personnel assigned to this project and the specific duties of each, including any sub-consultants; and Anticipated roles of all personnel assigned to this project; and Three examples of recent work that is similar in nature; and At least three references with contact information regarding recent relevant work. Consultant(s) should specify his/her/their role(s) in each of these projects and the type of work he/she/they performed.

Budget A detailed cost estimate for each of the tasks defined in the scope of services must be provided. Costs should be clearly broken out for each task. Project cost estimates should include: Direct expenses; and Hourly rates for principals, project managers, other professionals and sub-consultants; and Hours anticipated for each task.

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SELECTION AND CONTRACT Selection The consultant will be chosen through a competitive process, based on both qualifications and price, by a panel of Parks Conservancy staff. Contract The contract will guarantee that the cost of the final product will not exceed the agreed-upon fee. A payment schedule will be included in the contract, which will detail the deliverables required for payment. Ownership of Information All materials developed through this project will be the property of Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and will be shared with the City of Pittsburgh.

Site Survey For the Environmental Center At Frick Park Request For Proposals--Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy

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