Tyrone unveiled and dedicated the new First Responder’s Park at 10th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue to the public on October 28.
Borough Manager Ardean Latchford and Mayor Bill Latchford officially opened the park on National First Responders Day. The day honors the paramedics, EMTs, firefighters, police officers, and 911 operators who answer the call when a crisis arises, often putting their own lives on the line.
The ceremony was the end of a four-year process that began with an idea to beautify an unused part of downtown Tyrone while also honoring first responders such as fire, police, and medical personnel.
According to Mayor Latchford, the idea to dedicate the park to first responders was brought to the Borough Manager and Council by himself and Councilman David Snyder some time ago but it finally got traction the past year or so.
“I had heard of [a park to honor first responders] being put in in the northeast. I thought about my time and friends I had when I was an EMT for the Hookies Ambulance here in town and thought it would be a great way to thank our volunteer first responders,” Latchford said.
Mayor Latchford said that the cost to build the park was between $150,000 and $200,000.
Councilman David Snyder said that $55,000 of the cost was set aside from the borough’s Community Enrichment Funds. The project also included several new parking spaces along the Bald Eagle River behind the library, going from 10th St. to 11th St.
“Purchasing the property across from the library for this project came about as a result of several meetings with the ABCD corporation out of Altoona, who we met several times back in 2018 and 2019, as we began investigating various ways to enhance our downtown,” Snyder said.
Latchford hopes the space will be used to bring the community together during downtown activities and celebrations.
Mayor Latchford said that he hope that visitors will look at the memorial and think of those past and present first responders who perform hazardous jobs for the sake of the community. He hopes youth in the area look at the monument and find inspiration to possibly become a first responders, whether it be as a volunteer or as a career.
The location of the park is right off of the northbound I-99 entrance to Tyrone from the highway. It is a prominent location important to the development of the downtown area because it is the first place that many visitors see when they enter Tyrone after exiting the highway.
“I think it’s important to point out how honoring those who are first to respond in any emergency was not only a unanimous consent of counsel but incredibly well received throughout the community. We are a community of people who unashamedly appreciate and honor those who are the most deserving, And I am incredibly proud to call such a place home,” Snyder said.
