Penn Township commissioners denied a request by the township athletic association to advertise on four municipal park scoreboards.
Dave Rohaus, president of the Penn Township Athletic Association, explained that the advertisements were sought for new manually operated scoreboards purchased for fields 8, 9 and 10, along with the electronic scoreboard on field 4.
Each sign would be about 2 feet high and 8 feet wide.
There are already advertisements on the electronic scoreboards on fields 1, 2, 3 and 5, Rohaus said.
"It's nothing beyond what's already established," Rohaus said. "We just wanted to put advertising on the scoreboards to help offset the costs of installation and maintenance of the scoreboards."
PTAA presented a written request to the township's recreation board May 26, and by a 3-2 vote the issue was referred to the commissioners for action.
Township regulations do not permit such advertising unless it is recommended by the recreation board and approved by the commissioners.
"I think it's very unattractive," said Commissioner Ken Darragh, who chaired Wednesday's meeting in Charles Horvat's absence. "I don't want to make an amusement park out of the park. That's my opinion."
Commissioners voted 3-0 Wednesday to deny the athletic association's request.
"We're a little disappointed," Rohaus said, "particularly in light of the fact we did donate money for the construction of the restrooms."
Rohaus said PTAA donated $25,000 toward the construction of restroom facilities at the park.
