Greensburg developers find horse-watering trough

When the new Rite Aid store opens at North Main Street and Cabin Hill Drive in Greensburg, a cornerstone of the pharmacy's landscaping will be an almost century-old horse-watering trough.

"No question, that trough is going to be part of the development," said Craig Rippole of ASC Development of Emsworth in Allegheny County.

But first, the concrete trough will have to be repaired.

"We tried to get in there and dig it out, and it fell apart, which is not surprising," Rippole said on Friday. "We have all of the pieces. Expert masons will come in and patch it up. We will put Humpty Dumpty back together."

The trough likely will be used as a planter near a parklet entrance to the drugstore.

"We want it to be a place people can gravitate to and relax," Rippole said.

A rendering of the parklet shows benches, lamp posts and walkways, plants and flowers.

The idea is to create a presence at the gateway to the city of Greensburg, Rippole said.

When the project was proposed earlier this year, developers planned to include the trough in the landscaping.

In June, city council approved final plans for the project, currently under construction. It's scheduled for completion next spring.

City planning director Barbara Ciampini said several residents contacted city officials about the trough, hoping it would be preserved.

She said the city contacted the Westmoreland County Historical Society about relocating the trough to Historic Hanna's Town, Westmoreland County's first county seat. But the trough is not compatible with the site, founded in 1773.

"It's less than 100 years old," Ciampini said.

Lisa Hayes, historical society executive director, said the agency was aware of the trough before construction started.

"It's cast concrete," she said. "It would be difficult to move. It's best to leave these things in their original locations."

Lou DeRose, historical society board member and city zoning hearing board solicitor, said the trough is one of two remaining in the Greensburg area. The second is across Business Route 66 on the former Barclay property and still is in good shape, he said.

"They were both fed from natural springs," DeRose said.

The troughs represent a time when everything beyond the Kepple-Graft Funeral Home along North Main Street was a farm, he said.

Local historian and author Helene Smith, of Salem, says she is happy the trough will be preserved.

"It's part of Greensburg's history," Smith said.