“In the beginning, I didn’t think it was doable,” said U.S. Rep.
John Peterson, R-Pa., Tuesday at the dedication ceremony of
Bradford’s newly opened Old City Hall. “You proved me wrong.”
Peterson, along with state Sen. Joe Scarnati, R-Brockway, and
state Rep. Martin Causer, R-Turtlepoint, all addressed the
tremendous dedication the Bradford community put into the
renovation effort to save the city’s “gem.”
“It’s all about our history,” Causer said. “You can’t help but
stand here and think about how many people have come through those
doors,” he said, gesturing towards the main entrance facing Kennedy
Street, “and how many will come through those doors.
“Bradford really is an example to the rest of the Commonwealth.
It shows what you can do when you work together.”
Scarnati added, “It takes people to just be a little creative
once in awhile.”
He said he knows from his experience serving on borough council
in Brockway that all the money that went into renovating Old City
Hall has caused local controversy, but said the finished project
shows the money was worth it. Gesturing towards a time capsule
being placed in the building by students from the Floyd C. Fretz
Middle School, Scarnati said, “When that box is opened, the people
then will say the people in this room made the right choices.”
Peterson complimented the community’s efforts, saying this
project is the grandest one he’s seen come to realization.
“I serve a lot of communities,” Peterson said. Referring to the
amount of time and effort put into the project by the city’s Office
of Economic and Community Development, Peterson said, “I don’t know
that there’s another community that could pull this off.”
The OECD worked with area partners in a project called Impact
Bradford to attract funding to the area, explained Sara Andrews,
OECD executive director. Those partners – Zippo Manufacturing Co.,
Bradford Regional Medical Center, University of Pittsburgh at
Bradford and Bradford Area School District – have been one driving
force, which has successfully leveraged funding from Gov. Ed
Rendell’s Community Action Team and other state and federal
sources.
Mayor Michele Corignani spoke about that same sense of
cooperation.
“This is the formal dedication … it’s a dedication to the
citizens of the Bradford community,” she said. “It’s part of our
history. If we don’t allow ourselves to remember where we came
from, we’ll never know where we’re going.
“I think Bradford has a lot to be proud of in this community,”
she said. “I think we need to dedicate this community to ourselves
because there’s not one arm or leg of this community that doesn’t
work with each other.”
Chris Mong, director of the Northwest Regional Office of the
Department of Community and Economic Development, spoke on behalf
of Rendell’s Action Team. He said that Bradford was one of the
first projects the Action Team was involved in, and it was because
the community pulled together as a whole.
“Two years and 49 projects later, Bradford remains one of the
landmark projects we mention when telling people how communities
should come together,” Mong said.
Rev. Robert Brest, pastor of the First Free Methodist Church,
gave the opening prayer and blessing of the building – and made a
little joke about it as well.
“There’s one thing I don’t like about it,” he joked. “I can’t
preach past noon. The bell (in the clock tower) rings – ding, dong
– it’s noon. Everyone looks at their watch, pulls out their keys
and it’s time to go.”
