Volunteer committee to continue efforts to improve, preserve Harrison Honor Roll memorial

The volunteer committee that has overseen the renovation of Harrison’s World War II memorial will continue working this year to improve the site.

The Harrison Commissioners have authorized the Honor Roll Restoration Committee to continue its fundraising efforts.

The memorial, at Freeport and Springhill roads, was rededicated Oct. 29 after new, engraved black granite panels bearing the names of nearly 2,000 service members were installed that month.

Commissioner Eric Bengel, a member of the restoration committee, said the group wants to pursue fixing sidewalks at the memorial, which he said are in rough shape, and putting up three new flag poles to replace the one there now.

It also would tend to pruning trees at the site and wants to construct a parking space for memorial visitors.

Shoring up the crumbling structure of the 75-year-old memorial was the first task the committee accomplished in 2019. Bengel said the committee wants to pursue capping the top of the memorial to prevent any further moisture from seeping into its structure.

The committee also is exploring having some kind of mural or engraving placed on the memorial’s rear, which is presently blank.

A new sidewalk along Broadview Boulevard also could help visitors to the memorial.

Last February, the commissioners applied for a grant from Allegheny County that would go toward a sidewalk along Broadview from J.P. Marino Boulevard, the entrance to Heights Plaza, to Springhill Road.

The sidewalk would pass in front of the Harrison Hi-Rise and provide a way for people who park in the plaza to safely walk to the memorial, said Robin Bergstrom, a former township commissioner.

Any cost to the township for the project would be minimal, Bergstrom said.