WINDBER – Two busy borough gateways are now welcoming Windber visitors with brand new, yet classically inspired, signs.
Thanks to a Windber business, Victorian-style welcome signs have been added to Graham Avenue, one near the 4th Street intersection and the other near Horner Street on the opposite end of town.
“BCL Manufacturing did a fabulous job,” Borough Manager Jim Furmanchik said, estimating the steel signs the company created and donated cost $6,000 in time, parts and labor.
This story was featured by David Hurst – dhurst@tribdem.com
The signs stand on white poles, with “Welcome to Windber, Pennsylvania” written at the top and surrounded by Rambler blue.
The words “A great place to live, work and raise a family” are enscribed at the bottom. Furmanchik said the phrase might be familiar to many longtime borough residents; a longtime gateway sign used the same words decades ago, he said.
Council had been discussing the idea of adding more gateway signs to the borough for the past few years, which made BCL Manufacturing’s donation that much more special, Furmanchik said.
Council is sending a certificate of appreciation to the company, as well as another group that recently refurbished another sign in town.
The wooden “Windber Welcomes You” sign was damaged in an accident a while back. Local automobile restoration specialists Pat Jerley and Brian Hunter restored it at no cost to the community, he said.
The sign also recognizes Windber as the home of the Dog Run, a charitable motorcycle run that raised tens of thousands of dollars for the community over the years.
The wooden sign has been moved to the heart of town, in front of the borough’s onetime train station-turned office building.