Stowe Township unveils updated logo and website
Stowe Township has a new look.
Well, virtually at least.
The township earlier this week unveiled a new logo and website, the latter of which includes a feature that web designer Doug Black calls a 311 portal – a way for residents to report non-emergency issues to township officials.
The new logo features the yellow-orange sun rising over the green hills above the Stowe Tunnel, with the words “STOWE Township” and “Allegheny County Pennsylvania” below.
The new design replaces one that featured a black horse rearing up on its hind legs under the words “Stowe Township” in black on an orange background.
Tyler Kochirka, a member of the township Board of Commissioners, said that the design recently put out to pasture was never an official township logo.
Kochirka said the design was a tribute to the former Stowe High School, which merged with McKees Rocks High School in 1966 to become Sto-Rox High School. Stowe’s colors were orange and black and its nickname was the Stallions; hence the black horse on the orange background.
“Honestly, it didn’t look good,” said Kochirka, a lifelong township resident who turned 29 in May. “I get it – technology is different today from what it was then. But it was poorly done.
“We needed to step into the 21st century. We needed to modernize. The new logo showcasing the tunnel and the hills – it gives an overall feel of a working-class town with a view. We have one of the best views of the city around.
“It’s time to breathe some new air into the township and that’s what this is doing.”
Kochirka said the updated logo was long overdue and was something that needed changed long ago. That goes back to the early 2000s when his mother – then known as Amy Kochirka and now known as Amy Urbano – served on the Board of Commissioners.
“Even back then she didn’t like the old logo and thought it should be updated,” he said. “But she was there with guys from an older generation and they liked the stallion and the orange and black.”
The former Stowe Township logo was replaced by an updated model earlier this week.
Black, who has lived in the township for about six years and operates his business on Broadway Avenue, admitted that Stowe has its challenges.
“But it’s also not the place it was a couple of years ago,” he said.
He said with the new design, township officials wanted to communicate that “Stowe is a neighborhood on the rise, and the sun is rising on the neighborhood. It’s a new day.”
Perhaps more important than the logo, Kochirka said, is the updated website. He said the previous site lacked functionality and that was true for those on the inside as well as local residents trying to navigate there.
“It would take me several attempts to get something posted to it and to make it stick,” he said. “And it was hard to delete things. Things would be there forever.”
Kochirka said the former site’s design also was dated.
“To me it didn’t look clean and inviting,” he said. “We wanted something new and modern that could attract people.”
The township hired Black’s tripleNERDscore firm to create the new site, which went live after Tuesday’s commissioners meeting.
Kochirka said Black and his team created a site that’s very easy to navigate and it also translates well to mobile devices, a key attribute today.
“A lot of people don’t have access to a computer,” Kochirka said, “but they do have access to a phone to look things up.”
Black said the site was designed in a way that “really focused on helping people. Here’s where you can do X, here’s where you can pay your bill, when the next meeting is.”
Black said the site won’t just help residents, but the design could help attract business to the township. “We want to make sure we’re painting something attractive, to show people what’s happening and here’s how to do business here.
“The new site paints the story in a meaningful way.”
The so-called 311 portal will allow residents to report non-emergency issues – things like litter, graffiti, potholes and other street needs.
Black said that not only will this give residents an easy way to communicate those concerns with the township, but the site also will allow township officials to let people know that a particular issue is being worked on, and residents can see progress as it happens.
“That’s been one of the complaints – you don’t know when something is getting done or if anything is ever going to get done,” Black said. “This will give people an easy way to see a visual interactivity of ‘Hey, this pothole is going to be filled on such-and-such a day.’”
Kochirka said the new logo and updated website are solid accomplishments, “but we still have a lot of hard work to do.”
“I think we’re in position now where we have the right people in place to do the best jobs,” he said. “We have a good board right now, great partners for code enforcement – I think you’ll see a more firm hand and more attentiveness when it comes to blight and code enforcement.
“I think it’s just going to take some time. People have to understand that Stowe didn’t decline just last night and it’s not going to get back to what it was in one day either.
“We’re doing what we can now. We’ve fixed a lot of internal processes and cleaned up a lot of things internally so now we can focus our attention and efforts on external factors. I think people will see that in the coming months and by the end of the year.”
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