Today at a little after 2:00 PM a bus carrying local, county, and state officials arrived at Dreshar Stadium for the groundbreaking ceremony for the new Tarentum Skatepark.Tom Benecki, Executive Director of the Allegheny Valley North Council of Governments welcomed everyone, and introduced Dan Onorato, Chief Executive of Allegheny County.
Tarentum Council President Carl Magnetta spoke about many people who were intially opposed to the skatepark but who gradually came on board as they learned more about it. He suggested that the skatepark should be named the James E. Wolfe Skatepark in honor of the long-time mayor of the Borough of Tarentum.
Councilwoman Ginger Sopcak, who is credited with having started the project, offered remarks and introduced skater Chris Tady who thanked all the politicians who had made the park possible.There were further speeches by State Senator Sean Logan, State Representative Frank Dermody, and Allegheny County Council representative Jim Burn.
The rainy weather did not dampen the spirits of those who came to see the ceremony. Thanks to Tarentum Borough Manager Bill Rossey there was a tent available to shelter many from the rain.
6 comments:
Oh my gosh. Please tell me that Onorato and the gang drove up to Tarentum in that shuttle bus.
I absolutely love it when they do that.
I did not see first-hand how they got to Tarentum, but that was their transportation as they travelled around town.
It was a banner day for Tarentum between the county politicos visiting for a couple of stops, and "Mysteries of Pittsburgh" being filmed along 6th Ave.
You just have to love public transportation...
Elphie
Mr. Onorato is also visiting Tarentum on Friday.
It's no wonder the groundbreaking picture did not make the front page.
It had to take second place because of the movie. Give me a break. The good old newspaper is at it again. What takes priority in Tarentum. And if you think it's the movie you are mistaken.
Oh, well at least the matter of all the dignitaries being in Tarentum got coverage. (Inside the paper)
By the way they do use the bus. A smarter way of transporting everyone. Don't you think?
The movie is a rather interesting thing. When the Borough Council was being informed of the request to close the street for filming, there was a side comment from one of the council members that it must be a low budget picture.
There may be many places that have been allowed to turn into junk around Tarentum, but there are still spots that would attract the attention of a filmmaker as an appropriate site for a movie scene.
Given a choice betwen a photo of a bunch of people pushing shovels into an empty field, and a photo of an already scenic part of Tarentum being used for something exciting, I can see how the paper made the choice it did. Now, if Wednesday had been the dedication of the skatepark, and it was about to be used by kids with skateboards, the balance might shift the other way.
I don't blame the paper for what they put on the front page and what went inside. Go take a look at the Google zeitgeist sometime and see the kinds of information that people look for when they have the opportunity. I think it is significant that the paper covered both sets of stories, so that people who bought the paper or visited its website could read them all.
sonnysarver, I am sorry if I offended. In fairness, the photo on page 3 accompanying the story of the groundbreaking showed a number of the youth listening to politicians thanking each other. And the youth were the real story there, which came through well in the article, but the youth still don't have the actual skatepark.
Yes, I think the skatepark is very important, which is why I have been tracking it to the best of my ability. And I agree that the groundbreaking was an important event for the future of Tarentum. I think the completion will be even more important.
I agree that Tarentum is on the move, and I am not disturbed by the presence of problems in the council. The council members are human beings. There will be times when some rub each other the wrong way.
The organization of an actual Recreation Board is a very positive event for Tarentum.
My point about the movie is that there is a genuine popular fascination with entertainment news. If that gets people to look twice at Tarentum, and see the skatepark that is coming, and the new construction and other good things beginning, that is great.
Sad but true, people who are up to date on all the latest movies may not even be able to name the people who got elected to represent them in government. (One of the local speakers at the groundbreaking struggled with how to pronounce Mr. Dermody's name.) I am glad the political dignitaries were in town, but they would need to work twice as hard as the film celebrities to put the public spotlight on the good stuff existing and happening in Tarentum.
Now ... have the Brackenridge and Tarentum planners of the Holiday Parade considered asking Sienna Miller to appear in it? (It might give her another chance to make nice with Pittsburgh.)
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