Gate installed at Allegheny Township's Finnin Park to deter vandals and nighttime use

A new metal gate designed to thwart vandals and prohibit vehicle access at night has been installed in Finnin Park in Allegheny Township.

Township Supervisor James Morabito donated $2,500 for the project, acting on a campaign promise he made last year to numerous constituents. Morabito wrote a personal check for the gate last year, the day after the election.

“I didn’t want to go through the red tape to have the money budgeted through the township. I made a promise to my constituents I would put a gate up there,” Morabito said.

Finnin Park is located on Ashley Drive in the Melwood Manor residential housing plan, where Morabito lives.

Township supervisors voted unanimously in January to accept $2,500 for the gate from Morabito, who owns Morabito Motors in Lower Burrell.

Morabito said problems have plagued the 35-acre park for about a decade and increasingly the past two years.

Homeowners residing next to the park have complained of their backyards being littered with bottles and debris left by nighttime gatherings in the park.

In 2015, a portion of the park was closed for several months after vandals caused $12,000 worth of damage by distributing shattered beer bottles on the synthetic playground mulch, forcing park officials to replace the mulch.

The vandals were caught and prosecuted.

“The gate will deter what I believe is underage drinking and riders on ATVs tearing up the grass and soccer field,” Morabito said. “My constituents were complaining of beer and whiskey bottles in their backyards. They see headlights late at night and have to call the police.”

The gate was installed April 14.

Melwood Manor resident Bill Ludwig, 61, said the park was one of the reasons he decided to build a home in the plan 21 years ago.

“This new gate is going to send a message to whoever is down there and abusing the park that someone, and the township, has an interest in the park,” Ludwig said. “It’s a major step in preserving the park.”

The park gate is unlocked at dawn and locked at dusk by the township police.

“It gives me 100% more peace of mind now,” Morabito said.

Morabito said future plans include installing security cameras in the park so township police can monitor the grounds.