Collier Working Hard to Find its Identity

Stretching 13-square miles from Bridgeville to the Parkway West, Collier Township’s immense geographic size makes it difficult to pinpoint its specific identity.

and are prominent destinations of the township that includes more than 7,000 people. But Collier officials are now working on finding a way to define the township for outsiders who may be interested in moving to the area.

Collier Township Manager Sal Sirabella said during the township’s Wednesday night meeting that enhanced signage could help build that image. But he said there needs to be an overarching branding plan with suggestions from the community officials and residents.

“We have one dynamic community with the traditional, various neighborhoods that blend all together,” Sirabella said. “But more importantly, Collier needs to be a place where people want to live. Having an identity and having people outside Collier want to go here.”

One of the problems is that four of the five U.S. Post Offices that serve Collier are located in Bridgeville, Carnegie, Oakdale and Green Tree. Another post office is located in Presto just off the Chartiers Creek. Sirabella doesn’t think the post office marks are a major factor, but it still doesn’t help with identifying neighborhoods as Collier.

He said Collier needs to put a personal stamp on new community destinations like Little Kelly Park and . He suggested they rename those places such as Veterans Park or Collier Park to give it a local feel.

“Otherwise that’s going to be the army base forever,” he said.

Transforming the old Nike Site into a thriving community center is a top priority. The commissioners are discussing purchasing an awning to the community center’s front door to make it more appealing for weddings and parties. Initial bids show it will cost around $10,000, but the commissioners are continuing to look for bids.

“We need people to look at it and say this is a good place to go,” Sirabella said. “Right now, it’s just a building.”

Sirabella also thinks there needs to be more prominent signs on Interstate 79 and the Parkway West. He suggested the township could incorporate the arrowhead logo with other highway signs.

The most prominent highway through the township is Route 50 that passes by Chartiers Valley Shopping Center, and Collier Town Square. Sirabella said people need to know those areas are part of Collier’s thriving business community.

“I think we need better entryway signs,” Sirabella said. “We need better publicity. A lot of people want to keep it a best-kept secret, but we need to get people to move to it.”

Also during the meeting…

• The commissioners are considering adding an electronic sign near the township building. The costs could be around $20,000, but the commissioners would like to grant money and get specifics on the dimensions before putting it out to bid.

• Collier commissioners agreed to accept the rock salt bid from Cargill Inc. that will cost $55.83 per ton of salt. The price increased 8.6 percent from last year, but is still cheaper than other sources.