Gateway signage to be part of Greensburg GetGo project

Gateway signage for the City of Greensburg will be included at a new GetGo fuel station and convenience store slated to be built at the former Family Video store along S. Main Street.

The project, which will be located at 531 S. Main St., consists of tearing down the Family Video building and constructing a new gas station. Signage featuring the Greensburg name will be built on the southern portion of the land “perfectly suited for signage announcing the city along one of its busiest transportation corridors,” said Jeff Raykes, city planning director.

The project received conditional approval from city council members this week. Conditions include a $25,000 donation from Giant Eagle, the company that owns GetGo, that will go toward construction of the signage. Other conditions included in the motion are related to stormwater management and officials receiving a higher occupancy permit from PennDOT.

A Giant Eagle spokesman did not immediately return an email seeking comment.

According to Raykes, a team of development corporations and downtown organizations worked together with a design team from Pittsburgh-based Environmental Planning & Design to come up with a conceptual design for the sign. The company is also working with the city to create a comprehensive plan and to renovate Spring Avenue Park in the 5th Ward.

A final conceptual design of the sign shows it depicting the Greensburg name in white aluminum and acrylic letters sitting on individual bases. The bases will be lit from the inside so the sign is visible at night. It will be located on a small hill or incline surrounded by various plants and trees.

“The group envisioned a sign (that) would project an identity for the city that is unique, memorable and iconic,” Raykes said. “The gateway would become a key marketing tool for economic and community development.”

Final costs for the sign were not yet available. Fundraising efforts will take place in collaboration with the Greensburg Community Development Corporation.

It was not immediately clear when construction on the GetGo would begin. Minutes from the May planning commission meeting suggest the GetGo could include a 5,520-square-foot convenience store and gas pump station featuring 12 fuel pumps. Raykes in August noted the convenience store likely will include groceries.

Raykes noted that a traffic study completed for the site showed some recommended improvements to the intersection of S. Main Street and Euclid Avenue for the safety of pedestrians. Officials plan on building a turning lane along S. Main Street so turning vehicles are out of traffic.

Plans for the site came months after the parent company of Family Video announced a nationwide shuttering of all its stores, including the Greensburg location. At the time, officials with the parent company, Highland Ventures, attributed the decision to decreased foot traffic and a lack of new movie releases caused by the covid-19 pandemic.

The Greensburg location, prior to being a video store, was a supermarket.