The two-year renovation of the Chapel Shelter at Riverview Park is complete, a $1.2 million project in which the city, the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy and many volunteers planted 250 new trees, eradicated invasive species around the shelter grounds and opened one of the park's river views.

The shelter will reopen for the Riverview Park Heritage Day celebration June 7 in Perry North, also known as Observatory Hill.

Philip Gruszka, the parks conservancy's point person on the project, said fund raising started in 2002. By then, "the structure had deteriorated significantly." It was closed in 2005.

The chapel, with a blunted steeple, a wrap-around porch and new flooring made from recycled plastic and wood, was originally a Presbyterian church on Perrysville Avenue. It became a park gathering spot when a new church was built 114 years ago.

Architect Ellis Schmidlapp of Landmarks Design Associates described its style as vernacular Carpenter Gothic.

Mr. Gruszka said the project called for a consideration of the landscape, as well. "We looked at what this area was like 114 years ago. There were iris and lilacs and lots of neat plants," many of which were buried in the overgrowth of Siberian elms. "We developed a plan for restoring the woodlands." The long-term plan begins with the chapel and its grounds.

Volunteer crews cleared one slope to re-open a view once known as Snyder's Point, where bare trees afford a view of the Ohio River, said Mr. Gruszka.

Among several companies that donated time and money, RISO, a manufacturer of high-speed digital printers, committed to planting 250 trees in Pittsburgh to mark the city's anniversary. In that spirit, Pam McCall, manager of the North Shore branch, joined volunteers who planted beech trees "wherever there was a red flag along the hillside," she said. "We did 50 trees in one day.

"It was very interesting and very rewarding to be part of it," she said. "We're going to go back in November and do another 50, and next spring, another 50," she said.

Riverview Park, established in 1894, is one of the smallest of the city's five "great parks" at 251 acres. The others are Frick, Schenley, Highland and Grandview Scenic Byway.

Moses Carper, a lifelong resident of the neighborhood, grew up playing in the park and said he always wanted to play a stewardship role.

Now retired, he volunteers in the visitor center and works with youth in Citiparks programs "making flower beds, doing trail work, teaching them about animal husbandry and the history of horses in Pittsburgh."

Riverview is the only city park that allows horses, and Mr. Carper owns eight of them within a 15-minute walk from the park. He said he wants to impart to children the solace he found as a child in the park.

"It's very rustic, without all the amenities, and we kind of like it that way," he said. "People come out just to communicate with nature. You can see Downtown Pittsburgh, but it seems you're in a different world."