Closed garage cancels New Kensington fireworks; display planned at AK Valley Park

There will be a skilled fireworks display screen for Independence Day in New Kensington this yr, but it won’t be set on by the town.

The metropolis will not be launching fireworks because the common locale, the Kensington Plaza Garage on Fourth Avenue, is closed and can’t be made use of, City Clerk Dennis Scarpiniti mentioned.

On the other hand, a fireworks screen will go off Saturday night at AK Valley Park — the previous Alcoa exploration middle on Freeport Road.

AK Valley Park operator Steve Kubrick claimed portion of the assets will be open up to the general public commencing at 11 a.m., with food items vans and songs through the day and for viewing the fireworks beginning at dusk, about 9:30 to 9:45 p.m.

There will be a $5 charge for obtain to a gated place in which a band, MoJo, is scheduled to get started carrying out at 6 p.m., Kubrick reported.

New Kensington has not experienced a town-sponsored fireworks display due to the fact 2019, in advance of the covid-19 pandemic. They are typically released from the downtown parking garage and accompanied by a festival on Fourth Avenue.

New Kensington shut the 43-yr-aged garage previously this calendar year just after an assessment elevated worries about its ailment.

Ed Patton, owner of Patton Engineering, encouraged that the garage must not be made use of immediately after his investigation identified superior degrees of salt in the garage’s concrete. Salt corrodes the structural metal embedded in the concrete, causing it to grow and crack the concrete.

Even for the restricted intent of launching fireworks, Patton on Wednesday said he would suggest versus applying the garage, particularly because the vehicles involved would be heavier than standard cars.

Scarpiniti explained the metropolis was not able to obtain one more suited area. Town Councilman Dante Cicconi explained officials hope to arrive up with a solution for next yr.

The city is not involved with Kubrick’s display screen, other than to make confident it complies with state regulation and is insured, Scarpiniti claimed.

New Kensington’ town engineer, Tony Males, claimed the town strategies to place out a ask for for skilled expert services to get in depth fees of three possibilities for the garage: a total renovation, repairs and demolition.

“We need to have fantastic figures,” Males mentioned. “The original structural evaluation that was finished was a incredibly great evaluation, but that’s all it was. It did not job costs.”

The final decision on what to do will relaxation with town council.

Males mentioned there have not been any major structural concerns with the garage since it was shut, but compact parts of concrete have been breaking off and slipping.

With the price tag of any alternative increasing into hundreds of thousands of dollars and most likely to acquire several years, Males reported the city will seek grants to shell out for it.