Trafford resident leads charge in replacing steps in Veterans Memorial Park

When Trafford native Donna Morocco walked to elementary school as a child, she always took the small set of stone steps leading up to Edgewood Avenue.

Morocco, who grew up on parallel Duquesne Avenue, walked the concrete ramp through Trafford Veterans Memorial Park to get to school each day — diverting toward the stone stairway as a shortcut.

Now, Morocco is leading the charge in repairing the steps that were once part of her daily routine. She enlisted the help of her neighbor and contractor Tom Ross to get the job done.

“It’s a nice shortcut between the two streets,” said Morocco, who now lives on the land where the elementary school used to be.

Morocco moved to Connecticut in 1969, staying there for about 50 years. Each time she traveled back to Trafford to visit family, she made a point of sweeping the leaves, branches and dirt from the stone steps.

But when Morocco moved back to her hometown following her husband’s death in 2020, she felt a more permanent restoration was in order.

“I thought ‘Gee, (the steps) are so beautiful. That would be a good project to do,’” she said.

Neighbor Ross volunteered to replace the steps, free of charge.

“They’re such nice people,” Ross said of Morocco and her family. “They grew up in this town and they just have a liking for those steps for some reason.

“And I think if everybody pitched in and did a little something for the town, it’d make it a little better than what it is.”

Ross, who has lived in Trafford for more than a decade, does retaining walls, excavating and concrete work in Southwestern Pennsylvania through his company, Cirtec LLC. He removed the old steps earlier this month and plans to work with the borough’s code enforcement office to develop a plan for the new stairway.

He estimates the project could be complete by the beginning of September.