The helipad used for emergency transport in Export will move to a new communty park.

A few years ago, community officials took the first steps to develop a plan for the future J.M. Hall Jr. Community Park, on a piece of property behind the PNA Polish Club and the former Tin Shoppe.

Those plans are still in the works, but for the time being, borough officials are looking to shift some infrastructure to part of the property, including a new spot where a medical helicopter will be able to land safely.

“What they’ve used in the past was the Export VFD Social Hall, the old American Legion on Kennedy Avenue,” said Mayor Joe Zaccagnini. “That was sold to (the Murrysville Christian Concern Friends Thrift Shop), and they’re so much busier now that we can’t use the lot for helicopter landings.”

In addition to its new owners, there was also the matter of nearby utility lines for a medical chopper pilot to negotiate.

With the help of a $330,466 grant from Pennsylvania’s Local Share Account funding, the borough will create a new landing area adjacent to the future park property.

“That will give us ambulance access from Johnson and Kennedy avenues,” Zaccagnini said. “And it will be big enough that we could land two helicopters if there were a big emergency. It’s open space and it’s free of any utility lines.”

Zaccagnini said the new pad will also help neighboring communities.

“We’ve talked to Murrysville Medic One, who will also be able to use it,” he said. “And it’ll provide another option if Murrysville or Delmont need a helicopter for a call near that area.”

In addition to the helicopter pad, Export officials are also looking to build a new salt shed on the property, and the Export Volunteer Fire Department is exploring options to relocate to the former Tin Shoppe property.

The borough began planning for the park back in 2018, on land donated by former Murrysville businessman Joseph M. Hall Jr.

Early conceptual plans for the 15-acre property included bocce courts, a small amphitheater, paved walkways, a hiking trail, a mural wall and several nods to the borough’s mining past: a grove of the same type of black locust trees miners planted and used as timber, a hillside cut creating a mock mine entrance near the real former entrance to a Westmoreland Coal Company mine and active playground features that have a natural look and feel.

Council unanimously approved setting up a grant-matching account, using as seed money $10,000 the borough received from Sunoco as part of a right-of-way agreement, along with $400 per month in rental fees from properties Hall owned.

“We’ve always talked about putting the park up there,” Zaccagnini said. “With our new salt bin going up here and the new helipad, it will be a nice place to continue developing.”

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