Tyrone residents share input on borough’s future
Borough hosts first of three workshops to solicit feedback on comprehensive plan
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TYRONE -- Several borough residents gathered Thursday evening at the Church of the Good Shepherd to share their input on what the future of Tyrone should look like.
The event featured the first of three workshops to solicit feedback for Tyrone Borough's comprehensive plan, which aims to outline how the borough is going to build and grow over the next decade.
Thursday's workshop focused around a theme of "explore the future" and had participants working together to answer several questions: What if Tyrone became one of Pennsylvania's greatest small towns; if downtown was brought back to life; and if Tyrone pursued a bigger transformation across the whole community.
The participants then filled out an anonymous questionnaire related to those topics and were encouraged to describe Tyrone using only one word. The responses were then collected and will be used to help the borough develop its comprehensive plan, Mayor John Harlow said.
To Harlow, Tyrone is "home."
Harlow declined to state what his vision for the borough is, noting he doesn't want to skew the results of any future surveys for the plan.
At the end of the day, the plan can't be his vision or that of the borough council, he said.
"It's got to be the vision of the community," Harlow said. "All I want to do is make (Tyrone) better."
Some of the feedback received from the workshop recommended the borough have more pharmacies for its older population, something to do for the younger population to stick around and more sit-down restaurants for events and parties.
Robert Carper, 63, said he's lived in Tyrone all his life.
He wants to see Tyrone grow, but maintain its small-town atmosphere.
"I agree there needs to be improvements," Carper said, adding he thinks there should be more businesses downtown.
Elaine Conrad grew up in Tyrone, moved away for about 15 years and eventually returned home to be closer to her family. Tyrone is a town in which neighbors look after one another and treat each other like family, she said.
"You probably can't go into a store or walk down the street without saying hello to someone you know," Conrad said. "That's a good thing about living in a small town like Tyrone."
It's a culture she wants Tyrone to maintain for many years to come.
Like Conrad, Andy Estright grew up in Tyrone, moved away in his mid-50s for nine years and then moved back.
Estright said Tyrone's Irish Heritage festival brings in new people to the borough every year -- something he hopes future events will also do to keep Tyrone growing.
The Tyrone Area Historical Society is a shining example of a growing organization that can bring people into town, Estright said, noting it was "amazing" to see what happened when Union Pacific's Big Boy steam locomotive came there.
"People came to Tyrone for the history of Tyrone," Estright said, adding the Tyrone-Snyder Public Library also featured historical events and talks about the railroad's impact on Tyrone.
"It's just little things like that that we have to get out there, and I feel the Tyrone organizations are dwindling," Estright said, noting many people don't have time to spare for volunteer efforts because society has normalized two-income households.
"There's just no spare time, but if you put the pride back into this town, that's going to bring people out; that's going to bring the kids out," Estright said.
According to John McGill of Local Growth Labs, who's helping the borough with its comprehensive plan, there have been exactly 500 responses submitted for the borough's survey, which can be completed online at http://tyrone.lglabs.org or at the borough office through the end of October.
Two additional workshops will be held in the future, with each workshop building on the community's feedback from the one before it. The Oct. 8 workshop will feature a theme of "build the direction," and an Oct. 22 workshop will help officials "make it real."
Mirror Staff Writer Matt Churella is at 814-946-7520.