Veterans Park renewal project begins

LOCK HAVEN, PA – This week saw the first steps in the renewal of the Veterans Park across from the Clinton County Court House on E. Water Street in Lock Haven.

An informal groundbreaking for the renewal effort was held last fall and this month will see the next steps in the $500,000 renewal project. This week saw the relocation of the anti-tank gun, a longtime park fixture, to its new home at the VFW Post on E. Water Street. With good weather, the middle of next week should see additional onsite work.

According to Dave Harger, head of the Committee to Renew Veterans Park, the repurposing of the park’s existing veterans’ monuments is the next step, to be relocated to Clinton County’s Piper Building. The Fort Reed monument will be relocated to a grassy spot across E. Main Street from the county’s Garden Building.

Harger said the Word War II gazebo must be razed, due to its deteriorating condition, but individual panels in what he described as “fair shape” will be preserved but a couple are beyond saving. He said the eagle wind vain on top will be preserved.

The committee is aiming to have the refurbished park done sometime in August of this year, a formal dedication to be held in conjunction with the city’s Hometown Heroes program.

The park restoration project was first prosed better than five years ago and COVID caused a delay in the process. Noted Gettysburg sculptor Gary Casteel has been commissioned to create a new soldier statue. According to chairman Harger, the rendering is to “transcend time,” the look of a soldier from the Revolutionary War to modern times.

There is an ongoing fundraising effort to defray the costs of the project; those who wish to donate may do so through Harger Utility Charities.