West Newton, or as I’ve come to call it “WN,” has had a busy year thus far! We initially started doing town tours in early March, and I immediately fell in love with the WN. I have been to West Newton before as I grew up about 10-15 minutes away in Elizabeth, PA, but never spent much time here. Each month, I attend at least one Downtown West Newton Inc (DWNI) meetings, usually the Design Committee. At my first meeting in March, I was introduced to existing projects and plans for West Newton including Simmeral Square, History Ribbon for the Bridge, and the annual events. Also at this first meeting, we discussed interested projects for me to work on as well as add to the list, and as discussed, to create a historic district. I am continuously working on this each day in the office and while in town. One of my favorite things to do is explore Main Street and its back alleys finding the variations of brick patterns, the diversity in architectural details, the span of styles, and much more. The ultimate goal of my research is a listing on the National Register of Historic Places. At this time, I’m still working on the descriptions of about 40 some buildings and their significance in history. I am starting with a Historic Resource Survey Form to find out if this potential district is eligible for the National Register. This first step should be completed sometime in July before sending it to the State Historic Preservation Office for approval.
A few of the activities that I’ve helped out with in West Newton include their yearly “Great American Clean-up” on May 7, 2011. Members of DWNI, the community, and myself went out and conquered several parts of downtown by collecting trash, planting flowers, and beautifying WN. About 20 individuals volunteered their time to help make West Newton a better place to live on this late spring morning.
Another on-going project that actually started at our town tour was the creation of a brochure for the West Newton Cemetery which is situated right along the GAP. In recent years, many cyclists have explored into this picturesque landscape known as the cemetery. In 2010, DWNI received a grant to improve the entry to the Cemetery. Many trail users, both local and visitors have only just recently noticed the new signage for a graveyard dating back to 1852. The next step is to finalize the brochure and print for visitors to tour and learn about this attraction in WN.
Other news DWNI includes working with one of their partners, Mon Valley Initiative (MVI), to create a housing improvement initiative, increasing promotion of available properties, and getting even closer to breaking ground on the Simmeral Square green space and park right along the Yough River and West Newton Bridge!
As the West Newton point person, I also work with the Westmoreland Yough Trail Council (WYTC). They are the group that maintains the portion of the GAP in Westmoreland County. I attend their monthly meeting to hear what they are working on to help improve the GAP as well as what activities and events coming up.
One of their major improvements that they have been working on is an overlook at the trail head looking over the Yough and downtown West Newton. This was originally set for the early summer, but due to its flood plan location, a more involved plan needs to be reviewed by West Newton Council.
On June 5, 2011, WYTC celebrated Trail Day at the West Newton Station. Here they provided free drinks and snacks to trail users. I helped by passing out snacks and running in and out for the hot dogs which sold out! WYTC gave out 250 hot dogs, made $340 in donations, gained four new memberships, and celebrated the trail with other trail users and even my parents!
For the remainder of the year, WYTC is working to promote and organize the Poker Run and Fall Oldies Dance among other projects.
West Newton is working on many things between the Downtown and The Great Allegheny Passage! I love WN and so should you!
-William Prince
