PA Trolley Museum celebrates completion of key projects

Dec 07, 2023

Saturday was a day of celebration at the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum and with good reason.

Major interim projects at the facility's East Campus are complete and were on display for all to see.

The projects are a part of the museum's "On Track to the Future Campaign," its most ambitious and successful one. More than $17.5 million has been raised with help from a lead grant of $5 million from the Allegheny Foundation and a $2.5 million grant through the state's Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, which was administered by the Redevelopment Authority of Washington County.

"We broke ground not that long ago and have gotten a lot done since then," said Scott Becker, executive director and CEO of the Trolley Museum. "We’re constantly evolving here at the Trolley Museum."

Work continues on the 21,000 square foot Welcome & Education Center, which is expected to be completed by the fall.

"After visitors spend a truly immersive experience there with exhibits that are being built by the Carnegie Science Center, they’re going to walk out the back door of the building and step back in time," said Ed Morascyzk, museum president. "When they do that, we wanted them to have a wow moment, a truly transformational experience."

Completed projects on display Saturday were the high-level platform at the Trolley Display Building, Volunteer Boulevard (formerly Trolley Street), the Trolley Platform and Canopy, Falconi Plaza and the Christopher Golofski Memorial gazebo.

These projects were completed with the help of donations from the Washington County Community Foundation, Washington County Tourism, the Helen Ruth Gordon Trust, the Fairbanks-Horix Foundation and many private donors.

The new, ADA compliant, high-level platform allows visitors to board and explore three historic electric railway cars.

"Those three cars are now connected by this platform," Becker said.

The platform was installed with the assistance of Washington County jail inmates through "Furlough Into Service" program, a community service program for some who have pleaded guilty to minor offenses which allows them to pay off their fines and court-related fees.

Volunteer Boulevard allows trolleys to operate in both directions and was constructed by 33,000 hand-laid bricks. The ceremonial last brick was laid Saturday by Dan Bower, a long-time volunteer and supporter of the museum. Bower said Volunteer Boulevard is so named "in honor of the volunteers that make the museum possible."

The trolley platform provides a boarding area for the trolley cars and the canopy provides weather protection while waiting for the trolleys.

Falconi Plaza is dedicated to the late Angelo Falconi, Morascyzk's uncle. The plaza includes a landscaped seating wall, a working street clock, an antique fountain that was once at Falconi's house, an antique streetlamp and a 40-foot flagpole.

The memorial gazebo is dedicated to Golofski, past museum president and a long-time volunteer.

More is yet to come as the museum has entered into a partnership with the Carnegie Science Center, which already has two interactive exhibits at the museum site. A trolley-operator simulator also will be coming to the museum.

"We’re celebrating turning dreams into reality," Morascyzk said. "For a quarter century, the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum has dreamed of a multi-faceted East Campus which includes a new education and welcoming center designed to provide the museum with a state-of-the-art forum to expand education opportunities enhanced by other unique features....When completed, the east Campus experience will truly catapult the museum to regional and national prominence."

The Pennsylvania Trolley Museum has come a long way since its opening in June 1963, with an old railroad car as a gift shop and one trolley barn. It was around that time that the Meadows Racetrack opened.

"I always talk about 1963 being the dawn of tourism in Washington County," Becker said. "The museum has grown so much since then. We’re averaging over 30,000 visitors a year. We’re already off to a great start this year."

Through May 31, the museum is open Friday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The museum is open on Memorial Day.

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