Cranberry may acquire 71-acre ‘farm-park’
Cranberry Township supervisors will consider the acquisition of a 71-acre farm Thursday, March 2, with the goal of developing it as a public agricultural center.
“It will essentially be, what I would term as, a ‘farm-park,’” township manager Dan Santoro said.
The 150-year-old property was purchased by William Powell in 1945. Powell’s son, Denton Powell, worked the land until his death in December 2021. A lifelong friend of Denton Powell, Andy Hack, was made executor of his will and approached the township nine months ago about gifting them the property.
“Denton had put in his will that he wanted the farm to go to an entity that was willing to preserve it as an agricultural farm and live the restrictions of an agricultural easement,” Santoro said. “Andy explored options there and approached us, the township, and said, ‘Is this something you’re interested in?’”
According to Santoro, the township was very interested. In a presentation to the board Thursday, Feb. 23, Santoro outlined some the township’s plans for the property, while maintaining that it would remain, at heart, a farm.
“Again, it will always be a farm, it will be farmed, but we’re talking about education opportunities around agriculture,” Santoro said. “We’ll be doing education, we’ll probably look at some public-access passive-recreation components, we might keep animals on the farm where folks can come in what is a public park and public property and walk through the barn and see the cows and chickens.”
The presentation for the Powell Farm project highlighted its potential for regional partnerships, local produce and food security, community farming, and environmental conservation.
“None of that has been decided yet,” Santoro said, “but those are all the kinds of ideas that are circulating around with us acquiring this farm property as a public park.”
This would not be the first example of a “farm-park” in the region though, according to Santoro.
“There’s an example, actually, in Allegheny County,” he said. “It’s called Round Hill Park.”
Round Hill Park, in Elizabeth Township, is a 1,101-acre park that features its own exhibition farm and agricultural programs.
“It’s a park where we took my kids while they were growing up,” Santoro said. “You’d essentially get the kids … you’d walk them into the barn and you see the horses, the cows, the pigs, the chickens. It’s similar, it will be a little different model, but it’s similar to that.”
The property would be the township’s first new public acquisition in more than a decade, according to Santoro. If the township approves it, he said, the next step will be planning its development and preservation.
“We’ll get a steering group, if you will, and do the planning over the next year,” Santoro said. “The board will be taking action next week, at their March 2 meeting, on if we move forward to acquire that farm on behalf of the township.”
