Tanglewood Center interested in sale
The ownership of the Tanglewood Center, a senior center and event hall in Butler Township, is interested in selling, leaving the Butler Senior Center and numerous organizations scrambling to find new venues for their events.
The intent to sell was expressed by Tanglewood’s manager, Charlie Roche, on Friday, March 21. Roche declined to comment further on the matter.
The property has yet to be placed on the market, but the uncertainty has left organizations with a need to find a new location for their events.
Tanglewood doubles as the Butler Senior Center three times a week. The center is utilized for seniors on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.
Butler County Commissioner Leslie Osche said the Butler County Area on Aging was unaware of the intent to sell the building. The agency began development of a new senior center in Butler Township in 2023.
At a February meeting, the commissioners tabled submitted bids for construction of the new senior center at 215 N. Duffy Road. Two bids for the general construction contract were $3.5 million and $2.8 million, but the contractor that submitted the lower bid withdrew it due to a clerical error that resulted in a lesser amount.
Osche said the project will be rebid in the near future, with hopes of work starting this summer and finishing in spring or summer of 2026.
However, Tanglewood hosts more than a senior center. On Sunday, March 17, it was the site of the 73rd annual Butler Antiques Show and Sale, hosted by the Intermediate League of Butler.
Next year, the show will move to the Tesla BioHealing Wellness Hotel on Pittsburgh Road in Butler Township, as event organizers adapt to the possibility of a sale.
“We’re not moving because we don’t love this place,” Intermediate League chairwoman Anne Miller said Sunday. “We do love this place, but we were told it wouldn’t be available.”
The Butler Two-Steppers, a group of couples and line dancers, had to move its regular venue from Tanglewood Center to St. Peter’s Catholic Church social hall. Their first meeting in the church’s hall was held in January.
According to a post on the club’s Facebook, the club was “no longer given the opportunity” to continue to schedule dance events at the center.
Kathie Wilson, a former president of the club, said in February she recommended the church’s hall to the current president, Rene Kiebler.
“The cost for the church is a little higher, but it’s affordable,” Wilson said. “We’re not trying to make money. We just want to keep it going for the enjoyment.”
Kiebler said after their first dance that early concerns of the new venue’s floor were quickly abandoned after club members ended up enjoying the new dancing space.
“It’s all been positive responses,” Kiebler said. “The space is big and the floor is nice.”
