New welcome sign lights way to downtown Latrobe

It’s appropriate that Latrobe’s new community entrance sign greets downtown visitors with the message, “Welcome to the neighborhood.”

Illuminated for the first time Friday night, the sign is the work of homegrown talent from the city and neighboring areas — much of it donated.

Motorists and pedestrians will spot the gently curved sign as they head northbound on Route 981, crossing Loyalhanna Creek on the recently renovated Lloyd Avenue bridge and bearing right to continue on Main Street.

“We never would have been able to afford this sign if Latrobe isn’t what it is, with manufacturing and local talent,” said Jarod Trunzo, executive director of the Latrobe Community Revitalization Program, which coordinated the effort. “We pulled this whole project off for just under $30,000.

“It would have been well over $80,000 or more had we outsourced it. Everybody stepped up.”

Situated on city land at the point where Route 981 splits to follow Main Street northbound and Depot Street southbound, the sign was conceived more than a decade ago. Design and planning got underway three years ago, and construction at the site was completed over the past two months.

The sign “tells people when they’re coming here that our citizens are very proud of our community,” Latrobe Mayor Rosie Wolford said. “The revitalization program and everyone involved in the funding and installation are to be commended. They made it happen with teamwork and commitment.”

A $9,500 mini-grant from the Lincoln Highway Heritage Corridor provided seed money for the project, Trunzo said, and other donations followed from The McFeely-Rogers Foundation, the Rotary Club of Latrobe, The Latrobe Foundation, Jim and Marlene Brunozzi, the Quatrini family and the city.

Steven Patricia, the revitalization program’s lead design consultant, designed the aluminum sign, its stone base and framing brick column.

Students from the Eastern Westmoreland Career and Technology Center constructed the base and the column with attention to details.

“The bricks are intentionally scored, and the mortar overlaps to lend it an historic feel,” said Trunzo.

A machine at the technology center was used to bend the sign’s aluminum panels, which received a weather-resistant finish from Great Dane Powder Coating.

Shotts Industrial Metals laser-cut the welcoming message across the panels, which brings to mind late Latrobe native Fred Rogers, host of the children’s television show “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.”

Athena Garden, which has supplied sculptural work for other city spaces, created the heavy capstone for the column.

Others that applied labor and skill to the project include: Special Lite Products, which has fabricated Latrobe street signs featuring an image of the trolley from Rogers’ show; Loyalhanna Environmental Services; Keystone Ridge Designs; Blue Sky Sign Co.; and the city’s public works department.

With support from The Latrobe Foundation, Trunzo said, “We’re going to re-landscape this area in the spring.”