Cranberry to acquire 53 acres for Graham Park
CRANBERRY TWP — Cranberry Township’s Graham Park is poised to gain 53 acres after a board of supervisors meeting Thursday, July 27.
“It’s actually kind of exciting, it adds to our guaranteed open-space acreage, next to one of the greatest parks in our region,” said Ron Henshaw, director of planning and development services. “Which we think is a huge thing.”
Supervisors will vote on the acquisition of two parcels belonging to the adjacent Park Place development at next Thursday’s meeting, Aug. 3.
According to township manager Dan Santoro, this “was always part of the plan.”
“There’s over 50 acres there, that’s immediately adjacent and attached to the park, that was going to be part of the open space of the development anyway,” Santoro said. “But in order to preserve and protect that open space for all time and to allow for the enjoyment of the public, we asked and the developer agreed to dedicate that back in the early 2000s.”
The agreement dates back to the development’s initial approval 20 years ago.
With the development finally nearing completion, Santoro said the owners are prepared to finalize the transfer.
“And there were legal hurdles to get over, you know, with the homeowners association, and open space and all kinds of legal documentation,” he said.
The two connected parcels will provide expansive wetlands for the community in addition to new trails in the park.
“One of (the parcels) already has a trail through it, you know, a walking trail from one of the neighborhoods,” Santoro said. “We will look at it in the future if there are any opportunities — we’ll never develop it actively — but the plan is really passive trails, can we do an environmental education on wetlands, those kind of things.”
The area will be immediately open to the public pending next week’s approval.
“It provides opportunities for a passive recreation area adjacent to one of our jewels of the park system,” Santoro said. “It’s open space, always to be preserved.”
Supervisors also will award a contract next week for the anticipated Municipal Center Building Renovation project.
Mike Malak, director of engineering and environmental services, said the township received several competitive bids for the estimated $8-million project.
“It’s actually divided up into four separate contracts: general, electrical, plumbing and HVAC,” he said. “We received competitive bids for all four of those and we’re currently reviewing everything.
“And I’m pleased to say that from reviewing where we’re at right now, the bids did come in under budget.”
The renovation project will expand the township’s municipal center, providing more space for some of its most-used services.
“There’ll be a renovation of the exterior of the building and the facade, a freshening up of that, a new council chambers and moving it out to the front of the building,” Santoro said. “We’re moving the tenants around the building and then expanding some of our administrative office space.”
The renovations also will include increased programmable space for the public as well as centralizing the customer service center in the building’s “square.”
Malak said the township hopes to break ground on the project in early September, after awarding a contract, with construction expected to take 11 months.
“We’re looking forward to providing a recommendation at next week’s meeting,” Malak said.
