CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP — Plans for a potential recreation and engagement center in Cranberry Township took a significant step forward Thursday as a resident-led committee recommended advancing a nearly 99,000-square-foot facility with indoor turf into preliminary engineering.
Members of the township’s Recreation & Engagement Center Ad Hoc Committee presented their findings to the Board of Supervisors following more than a year of reviewing potential locations, facility sizes, recreation needs and community feedback.
The recommendation does not authorize construction of the facility. Instead, the committee is asking the township to begin preliminary engineering and continue evaluating the project.
“We would like to make the recommendation as the ad hoc committee that the township move forward with preliminary engineering and continue to take necessary steps to advance this project,” committee member said Bill Dimond.
The recommended concept, known as Alternative 2, calls for a 98,927-square-foot recreation center with four basketball courts that could accommodate eight volleyball courts, approximately 20,000 square feet of indoor turf and walking areas.
Architectural plans also show community classrooms, flex rooms, a fitness center, small-group exercise space, child watch area, locker rooms and an outdoor plaza. The preliminary concept includes walking tracks around both the turf and court areas and leaves room for possible future expansion. Portions of the facility could remain open for public use even though officials are also considering a membership component.
The committee arrived at the recommendation after initially considering a much larger, 176,178-square-foot facility designed in part to attract tournaments, travel leagues and other outside events.
But committee members questioned whether a facility of that scale would best serve Cranberry residents.
“We really decided that we needed to look at different alternatives to really benefit the residents more fully,” explained committee member Catherine Vandermer.
That led the committee to consider two smaller alternatives. Alternative 1 would have reduced the building to 48,315 square feet and eliminated indoor turf, while Alternative 2 retained approximately 20,000 square feet of turf within a building just under 100,000 square feet.
Committee members ultimately concluded Alternative 2 provided what Vandermer described as the “best of both worlds,” a facility capable of expanding township recreation programming without being primarily designed to draw large tournaments and outside events.
Community Survey Shows Support
The committee also sought feedback from residents through an online survey, social media, text messaging and community outreach.
According to results presented Thursday, 94% of respondents said parks and recreation are important to their quality of life, while 70% said a recreation facility is important to their quality of life.
Another 93% said the proposed facility would meet at least some of the community’s needs, and 98% of respondents were Cranberry Township residents.
Vandermer described the survey results as overwhelmingly positive and said they helped give committee members confidence in recommending that the project move forward.
The committee also reviewed a market analysis from The Sports Facilities Companies examining demand for activities including basketball, soccer, pickleball, baseball, volleyball, softball, flag football, gymnastics, wrestling, cheerleading and lacrosse.
The analysis found significant potential demand for indoor recreation within the region. Vandermer further explained that the study estimated more than 91,000 potential pickleball participants within a 60-minute radius of Cranberry Township.
Former St. Ferdinand Property Emerges as Preferred Site
The committee evaluated several potential locations before identifying a 10-acre property adjacent to St. Ferdinand Church near the township municipal center as its preferred site.
Cranberry Township has since completed the approximately $4.1 million purchase of the property and now owns the 10-acre site, Township Manager Dan Santoro confirmed Thursday. Township officials previously said the acquisition makes sense regardless of whether the Community Engagement Center is ultimately constructed because the property provides additional land for future municipal and recreation-related uses.
The proximity could also allow the township to separate recreation programming from some arts and cultural programming.
As recreation programs move into the new facility, space could potentially become available in the existing municipal center for expanded arts and cultural activities. Township officials noted that the municipal center already houses the library and senior center, making it a natural location for that type of programming.
Groundbreaking Could Come in 2028 or 2029
Assistant Township Manager and Chief Planning Officer Kyle Beidler emphasized that the proposed facility remains a planning-level concept and that significant questions — including final design and cost — remain to be answered.
The next step would be bringing a preliminary engineering proposal before the Board of Supervisors for approval.
Despite the township’s role in developing the project, the Community Engagement Center would still be required to go through the same land development and permitting process as a private development, according to Ron Henshaw, Cranberry Township’s director of planning and development services.
If the project continues advancing, preliminary engineering could be followed by permitting and final engineering during the next year or more, followed by a potential bidding and contract award process.
That timeline could put groundbreaking as early as late 2028 or early 2029, Beidler said.