New portal sign welcomes visitors to Blawnox

A new portal sign erected in Blawnox will greet visitors and help boost curb appeal.

Visitors entering the borough along Freeport Road from Harmar or Oakmont might notice the blue and gold greeting at the end of town just beyond the Sunoco station.

“It’s a way to welcome people,” Manager Kathy Ulanowicz said. “It’s pretty cool because there’s a picture of the mill on it and you can see the mill in the background behind the sign.”

The project was paid with a $2,100 grant from the PA Environmental Council.

Council approved the sign as a way to help define the town’s entrances.

The borough’s business district draws out-of-towners to its antiques shops and council said the sign is a good way to promote the borough.

Ulanowicz added that the borough is surrounded on three sides by O’Hara. People driving into town on either end probably aren’t always sure where Blawnox begins she said.

The sign also pays tribute to the borough’s past, with an image of the old mill that was once part of Blaw-Knox Steel Construction Co.

A similar project at the other end of town is still in the planning phase.

“There’s really no available land to put a sign so we’re working on an alternative,” Ulanowicz said.

Once the retail development at the foot of RIDC Park installs a sign, the borough might incorporate a welcome there.