New park will make history
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Visitors to Natrona's new park soon will get an illustrated lesson in the history of their community.
Plans call for a "colonnade of history," a series of columns to be decorated with scenes from the neighborhood's past.
"We're going to start with the Native Americans and continue with our ethnic heritage and then industrial history," Bill Godfrey said. "We'll finish up with a tribute to our police, firefighters and servicemen."
Mr. Godfrey, the president of Natrona Comes Together, a booster organization, said scenes honoring local veterans will be particularly appropriate in the park. The four-acre tract along River Avenue is bordered on one side by 19th century cottages built for Civil War veterans.
Efforts to complete the project received a final boost last week when the community received $142,500 in appropriations from the 2009 federal budget.
Natrona is located along the Allegheny River in Harrison.
The facility will contain new basketball courts, horseshoe courts, two playgrounds, a rose garden, concession stand and a bandstand.
The 10 pillars in the "colonnade of history" will be decorated with ceramic murals made by children from the neighborhood, Mr. Godfrey said. "One of the goals of the project was to bring in artists to work with kids," he said.
Other arts-related elements will include ornamental sidewalks, each section stained with different colors or containing inlaid tiles, topiary shrubs and a bandstand made, in part, of glass blocks. "We'll have fiber optic cables weaving through the glass blocks to provide a light show," he said.
"The result will be a unique park that we hope will become a destination spot for people coming into our community," Mr. Godfrey said.
Now that final funding is in place, work on the park should be completed by the end of May or early June.
The budget for the project has grown to more than $500,000. Earlier funding included local financing, state money obtained by Sen. Jim Ferlo, D-Highland Park, and a $200,000 federal Community Development Block Grant. Architectural landscape students from Chatham University, directed by program director Lisa Vavro, helped members of the community with initial design.
While vandalism can be a problem at any outdoor facility, Mr. Godfrey said Natrona Comes Together has several ideas for protecting the new park and its amenities.
Harrison police have agreed to do extra patrols and the township may install motion-detecting cameras.
Just as important are the plans to offer programs for children and teenagers.
Young people already helped make recommendations for the park's design, Mr. Godfrey said.
First Published April 23, 2009 5:36 am
