HEGINS - Hegins Park visitors will notice a change to the aging main stage at the west end of the park in 2013.
Two trees - a hickory and a white oak - that were growing tightly near the sides of the stage were recently cut down due to their roots damaging the piers at the stage's base.
"We couldn't put the doors back on the stage," said John Stutzman, president of the Hegins Park Association, the organization that maintains the park site. "We're going to repair the foundation, straighten it out and make it level."
Stutzman said most of the remaining work will be completed in the spring, once the weather breaks.
Crews will need to dig out the roots, jack up the wooden stage building which dates back to 1933 and repair the base. The piers are made of cinder block and show the effect of decades worth of pressure from the tree roots. Some of the piers appear crooked and off-center. The wooden stage floor looks slightly higher in the middle and lower at each end, due to the roots pushing at the base.
A few weeks ago, the trees were felled and volunteers have been assisting with the cleanup of the remaining logs and stumps.
In addition to Stutzman, other volunteers who donate their time for park maintenance include Clair Zimmerman, Tom Radel, Bill Carl, Brad Carl, Marvin Geist and Tom Stutzman.
Hegins Park is used year-round by community organizations and by families hosting reunions. It is the site of the Schuylkill County Wine Festival, Hegins Valley Arts & Crafts Faire, Community Day, Independent Coal Miners Annual Picnic, Hegins Fire Company Carnival and the site for baseball and softball games, car shows, rabies clinics and other community festivities.
