Frankie Pace Park (I-579 CAP Park)

$32 Million, 3-Acre “CAP” Structure Spanning I-579

Custom Engineered 16-Foot-Tall Upright Totem Fixtures

Locally Fabricated, Manufactured, and Assembled with Domestically Sourced Materials

Frankie Pace Park (I-579 CAP)

The Challenge:

“The Frankie Pace Park (I-579 CAP Park) is a unique project that evolved from the original design sketches of the Lower Hill District Master Plan. In the master plan, a park was suggested to span the interstate that severed the historic African American neighborhood from the downtown business district. LaQuatra Bonci Associates (LBA) organized an extensive public process to program the park and select local artists to join the design team. The park was to recognize the historical and cultural aspects of the Lower Hill neighborhood. A portion of the design process included integrating art within the site design. One of the multiple key art elements was the ‘Totems,’ sketched by Lakeisha Byrd, designed by LBA, and constructed by Modular International.”

Dan McDowell (Senior Associate – LaQuatra Bonci Associates)

The Solution:

Modular International’s approach to this project involved communication and coordination with LaQuatra Bonci Associates, Pittsburgh Sports & Exhibition Authority and Penn Dot to provide design assistance, a scaled cross section mock-up, domestically sourced material requirements and documentation, as well as lighting calculations, custom engineering, and fabrication of the final fixture designs.

At A Glance:

Description: The $32 million 3-acre park is a new “cap” structure spanning over a section of I-579 Crosstown Boulevard complete with walkways, bike paths, raised garden beds, permeable lawns areas and rain gardens for storm water management, an amphitheater and education area, and other public amenities.

Modular International manufactured six 16-foot-tall upright Totems made from domestically sourced 316 marine grade stainless steel that featured three different body styles.

Type 1: Featured a 5’-9” area containing six 316 marine grade stainless steel rings with different levels of polishing to provide a simulated graduated effect leading up to the tapered 9’-11.5” section of perforated 1/8” stainless steel with a laser cut custom heat burnished braided pattern welded to the outside of the perforation. Illuminating each fixture is a 4w round stainless steel IP67 rated uplight producing 386 lumens at 3000K and at the top of the fixtures is a one-foot diameter stainless steel top cap.

Type 2: Same as Type 1 with a large 4’-5”x 1’-11”x 2-1/4” stainless steel rotating table with a random grind pattern finish. Each table is comprised of two sections and built around the internal 6” diameter steel post with necessary hardware and UHMW plastic sheeting for a bearing surface.

Type 3: Same as Type 2 with an additional smaller 3’-6”x 1’-10-1/8”x 2-1/4” stainless steel rotating table with a random grind pattern finish.

From the Design Team

“Modular International’s involvement, creativity, and recommendations in taking our custom details to reality was a great experience. The suggestions brought to the table enhanced the original design and allowed the Totems to become iconic park features.”

– Dan McDowell (Senior Associate – LaQuatra Bonci Associates)