Neighbor Spotlight: Oakmont Boulevard Project chair remains dedicated to borough beautification
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Editor’s note: Neighbor Spotlight is a monthly feature that aims to let our readers learn more about the people in their communities who are working to make them a better place, who have interesting stories to tell or who the community feels deserve “15 minutes of fame.” If you would like to nominate someone as a Neighbor Spotlight, see plumadvanceleader.com, select the “Post Story” button in the upper right corner, click the “New Article” button and complete the form to publish your nomination. Questions? Email Neighborhood News Network editor Katie Green at kgreen@triblive.com.
Joanne Anderson cannot help but think of ways to improve her Oakmont neighborhood each and every time she walks along its main roads.
“It is very much a community,” Anderson said. “The tree-lined streets, the sidewalks, the sense of community. In those instances you naturally fall into being a part of it.”
She had chaired the Oakmont Boulevard Project since 2009 and has been a member of the group dedicated to beautifying and maintaining borough entrances and the walkway along Allegheny River Boulevard and Allegheny Avenue since 1999.
“She’s the heart of the project,” fellow project member Mike Ehrlich said. “Without Joanne, we wouldn’t be anything. She puts her blood, sweat and tears into it and a lot of time.”
OBP was a committee formed more than 30 years ago by the Oakmont Garden Club.
“Committee work takes longer than just one person, but your end result is always better because you’re getting ideas from everybody,” Anderson said.
Its members are now appointed by the borough. There is a vacancy.
Other members include Sherry Ehrlich, Andy Lasser, John Murray, Doug Myers and Kelly Roher. Former members include Kitty Vagley and council president Patricia Friday.
One of its major developments was the near-$3 million brick and cement walkway along the train tracks including the clock tower and pavilion. It was funded through Community Development Block Grants and numerous fundraising efforts.
It was built in about 10 years starting in the 1980s.
“One of the great things about this was how it tied together the town,” Anderson said. “Instead of the below-tracks, above-tracks kind of mentality, this was now the center. There was no below or above. It took what was a reality with the railroad and made it unifying. Now you don’t have all the illegal crossings.”
Among the boulevard recently completed projects is the restoration of the six signs that highlight borough history along the walkway, some along the boulevard and others along the avenue.
They are 3 feet by 2 feet and similar to ones found in museums or zoos.
“In collaboration with the (Oakmont) Historical Society, we updated them all with newer pictures, new script and new printing techniques so that they’re in color. It’s etched in metal.”
The restoration was largely funded by donations from the Calfe family.
The clock tower was also recently repaired so all four sides can tell correct time.
Anderson’s latest work in progress involved lighting along the boulevard.
“We want to convert the gas lamps, which are declining,” she said. “We can’t find anybody to maintain them anymore. We want to convert them to the LED lights, but that’s a big chunk of money. We applied (for grants) in 2019 and we weren’t selected.
“We reapplied for 2020, but because of the pandemic they didn’t make any decisions until a month ago, and we did not get money again. We have to figure out what we’re going to do. That’s a big project. That’s right up there on what we have to accomplish.”
The group sought a $300,000 Multimodal Transportation Fund grant through the state Department of Community and Economic Development to complete the conversion.
Some were converted in 2015 when the Hulton Bridge was replaced. About 50 out of 60 remain powered by Peoples Gas.
It costs the committee around $12,000 annually to keep the gas lights on.
The conversion is expected to reduce that expense to around $1,200 a year.
Family life
Anderson grew up in Niagara Falls, N.Y., and moved to the borough in 1978 with her husband, Bill, a former engineer at Westinghouse Electric and current engineer at Carnegie Mellon University’s Software Engineering Institute.
The couple met while studying at the University of Buffalo.
Anderson said a high school friend who would drive her to class introduced them.
Anderson studied physical therapy and graduated in 1977. She earned a master’s degree in science from the University of Pittsburgh in 1983.
Anderson would work for about five years as a therapist at St. Francis General Hospital, where Children’s Hospital currently sits, before taking a break to raise their children — Scott, Kate and Susan.
Anderson eventually went back into the work force in home health physical therapy and retired last year after 24 years of service.
She got into the health care field in her teens as a candy striper for Mt. St. Mary’s Hospital in Lewiston, N.Y.
She would transport patients among other tasks.
“You did helpful things at a hospital,” Anderson said. “It is satisfying work to help people.”