Mt. Pleasant OKs upgrades for gazebo, Frick Park overlook, eyes work on borough building

Mt. Pleasant’s gazebo is getting a makeover as the holiday season gets underway.

Borough council also is moving forward with a project benefiting sports spectators at Frick Park and is seeking funding for improvements at the borough building.

Doug Davis of Jeannette-based The Glass City has been at work preparing the gazebo at Veterans’ Park for new stained-glass artwork he previously crafted for the octagonal building. Council in November agreed to pay his company $22,795 to design and create eight transom boxes where the artwork will be placed.

Council is paying Painter’s Plus of Greensburg $8,586 for additional work at the gazebo, including installation of LED lighting.

“We got stained glass for around the top of the gazebo two or three years ago,” said borough manager Sharon Lesko. “We’re finally getting to put those up.”

Davis said the windows, which have yet to be formally unveiled, portray various aspects of Mt. Pleasant’s history — including local industries, transportation systems, religious institutions and emergency responders.

“It’s really an interesting town,” he said. “It was one of the first (locally) to have a fire company.”

Mt. Pleasant’s current fire department had its formal start in 1899. In 1876, the town obtained a hand-operated pumper that was manned by a team of nine firefighters.

According to Davis, work completed so far on the gazebo has included removing, repairing and repainting various decorative elements and installing the new wooden transom boxes.

He said his goal is to finish the next step — placing an aluminum covering on the gazebo’s columns and the window boxes — by Christmas. He couldn’t say when the windows will have their debut.

Those who attend Mt. Pleasant’s holiday kickoff activities Wednesday, Dec. 3, will have an opportunity to view the work-in-progress.

“Angels Among Us” is the theme for this year’s borough-organized holiday parade, set for 6:30 p.m. . Float entrants are required to register at the borough office by Monday, Dec. 1.

The parade along Main Street will begin at Eagle Street and will end at Silver Street. Afterward, children will be able to visit with Santa at the gazebo and the borough will light a new community holiday tree at the Veterans’ Park fountain.

Improvements planned

KGD Contracting of Jeannette was chosen from 10 bidders to transform a hillside that is bordered by Spence Way at its top and that overlooks Frick Park on the opposite side.

Lesko said the $396,180 contract includes removing some trees and creating a level space where spectators can bring chairs to view games of the local softball program. An improved parking area will have spaces for about a dozen vehicles.

Railroad ties that had been placed in the hillside are beginning to give way and an area where there are steps “isn’t even safe to walk down,” Lesko said. “We have it roped off.”

The project will be funded in part through a state Local Share Account program that draws upon casino gambling revenue. The borough will contribute about $54,000 to cover its share of the cost.

Mt. Pleasant is applying for nearly $670,000 in additional Local Share Account funding for several improvements planned at the borough building.

The passenger compartment of an elevator that provides access to upper-floor offices and to council chambers is in good shape, but related mechanical parts need to be updated, Lesko said.

“We’re running into trouble finding (replacement) parts,” she said. “The parts are becoming obsolete.”

Work is needed on the building’s flat roof.

“It’s at that time when it needs recoated,” Lesko said

She said the borough also needs to update the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system and wants to improve safety for staff at the first-floor police station.

“We want to get secure bullet-proof windows and a lobby where everyone will come in, and the police can come to the window and speak with them,” she said. “We just want them to be safe.”

She said it may take a year or more before Mt. Pleasant learns the fate of its funding application. If approved, the borough would be responsible for a matching amount of $57,225.