Efforts to dress up Downtown Pittsburgh in time for the 2026 NFL Draft this spring are meeting — or beating — their benchmarks for completion.

Downtown Pittsburgh Renovations for the NFL Draft are on Time for Completion

A Point State Park facelift was finished sooner than expected, while a redo of historic Market Square and development of the new Arts Landing area are progressing on budget and on schedule.

The city expects as many as 700,000 fans for the April 23-25 event officially known as the Annual Player Selection Meeting. Draft festivities are forecast to generate up to $213 million in economic impact. Activities such as a free fan festival come to the North Shore (including at Acrisure Stadium) and at Point State Park, where the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers converge.

They upgraded the park’s iconic, 52-year old with leak repairs, enhanced lighting, and a new pump house control system. Those improvements are part of a $3.4 million state-funded project that also includes improved lighting, hardscape renovations and a refreshed landscape.

The Point State Park refresh is just one of the many facets of a 10-year, $600 million Downtown revitalization plan.

Redding Up Market Square

Another key component: the $15 million makeover of 242-year-old Market Square, which is half complete. “Crews are continuing to work diligently, making necessary accommodations to stay on schedule despite the winter storm,” reports Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership spokesman Richard Hooper.

The reimagined square will feature more trees, fewer cars, enhanced lighting, flexible event spaces — and a pavilion for performances, markets and community gatherings. The centerpiece will be a 20-foot-tall, semicircular trellis with a blue-and-green glass canopy and sound system.

A New Look for the Cultural District

Just blocks away, The Cultural Trust is transforming a four-acre property into Arts Landing, a creative space that will include a bandshell and great lawn, garden walk, family-friendly play space and “flex zone” with pickleball courts, a small running track and backyard. The city will use the space for special events and will feature numerous temporary as well as permanent public art installations.

“The park will be as much a destination for relaxation and recreation as for Cultural Trust events,” Trust spokesman Derek Scalzott says of the $31 million project. “We’ll have a soft opening just before the draft.”

Filling the Storefronts With Business — and Art

With 50 vacant storefronts in the Golden Triangle, the Pittsburgh Downtown Partnership has revived Project Pop-Up, a program that helps retailers lease space in the short term — provided that they’re open for business by April.

The goal is to fill at least 25 empty venues in time for the draft, says Cate Irvin, the Partnership’s senior director of economic development. Irvin notes that the program could pave the way to longer-term commitments.

Other storefronts will host art-based activations, she says. “This includes collaborations with local artists and organizations, as well as local artist-led interior installations and exterior vinyl treatments,” created in partnership with Shiftworks, the former Office of Public Art.

Some installations may see the light of day in February, the PDP says, but most will appear between March 15 and April 15.

Story by Deborah Weisberg
Photo by Kylie Thomas

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