ARCHITECTURAL RENDERING OF THE FRANCO HARRIS MEMORIAL PARK | RENDERING BY DAVID SAINT-JACQUES

Plans are underway to turn a plateau of 32 acres in the Sewickley area into a memorial park to commemorate Steeler Hall-of-Famer Franco Harris.

The park is expected to include signage, trails, educational gardens, a small hillside amphitheater and a centrally located statue of Harris, who won Rookie of the Year honors in 1972 and aided the Steelers in winning their first Super Bowl in 1974. The acreage matches his jersey number: 32.

Behind the The Franco Harris Memorial Park’s nonprofit fundraising effort is its president, Jim Fitzgerald, who is leading the fundraising campaign in two phases.

To acquire the first 8 acres, organizers will quietly seek donations from corporate sponsors or major donors. The nonprofit will then match each additional donated acre with an additional acre until the total reaches 16, achieving half of the 32 acres needed for the park in its first phase.

“You know, I think that’s the thing that really makes it sort of exciting,” Fitzgerald says. “Any corporate sponsor, anybody who sponsors an acre, we’ll match it so they kind of get double impact.”

Watchword Partners LLC, a nonprofit based in Ambridge and set up by Fitzgerald, is the business that owns a larger parcel of 35 acres, where the park’s 32 will be located. Once an acre is sponsored, the Franco Harris Memorial Park will acquire it from Watchword.

Each major sponsor of a $160,000 acre will gain park, amphitheater and pavilion naming rights, their name on a wall-of-fame fixture and more.

The park’s first corporate sponsor is 84 Lumber, whose 1-acre donation provided start-up funds for an architect to produce the park’s initial renderings. Fitzgerald says that gaining sponsors is a challenge. Most recently, he wrote to Giant Eagle’s CEO and is trying to garner the participation of the Steelers, including football player Pat Freiermuth who was introduced by Harris at the 2021 NFL draft. Freiermuth, Fitzgerald says, has already agreed to contribute to the campaign.

Then, in phase two, Fitzgerald plans to seek donations from the public through crowdfunding, the internet, sports radio, TV and newspapers to fund the remaining 16 acres.

VIEWS OF THE ALLEGHENY RIVER FROM ATOP LAND THAT WILL EVENTUALLY BECOME FRANCO HARRIS MEMORIAL PARK IN THE SEWICKLEY AREA. | PHOTO COURTESY WATCHWORD PARTNERS LLC

During a future public dedication ceremony with family, friends and donors, the park, officially located in nearby Glen Osbourne (off Beaver Road between Glen Mitchell Road and Sycamore Road), will be turned over to the Hollow Oak Land Trust to maintain the property; the trust currently protects more than 800 acres through conservation areas and easements with landowners.

Harris died in 2022, just days before the 50th anniversary of his “Immaculate Reception” on Dec. 23, which catapulted his team to win the AFC Divisional playoffs in 1972. On the anniversary, the Steelers retired Harris’ jersey number, a rare recognition; he’s the team’s third player to have that honor.

“There have been thousands of players, tens of thousands,” Fitzgerald says about football plays. “[But] the single most memorable, greatest play in the history of the NFL was by Franco Harris.”

Harris lived in Sewickley during his time in the Pittsburgh area.

“This is the community where Franco lived,” Fitzgerald says, “This is not out in the back woods somewhere, this is right smack in town. You can see the river below, you can see the bridge, you can see the church towers in Sewickley from the crest of the hill, it’ll just be a wonderful place.”

To learn more or donate visit the memorial park’s website www.francoharrismemorialpark.com.