Rec center approval granted
Franklin Township Supervisors Reed Kiger, left, and Corbly Orndorff review plans for the receation center.
A conceptual design of Greene County Memorial Hospital Foundation’s proposed recreation center presented by foundation officials in June.
WAYNESBURG – Franklin Township supervisors granted conditional approval Monday to plans by Greene County Memorial Hospital Foundation to construct a public recreation center at EverGreene Technology Park.
The foundation plans to construct a 44,896 square foot building that will contain an indoor soccer field, basketball court, fitness center, track and multi-purpose rooms.
Plans were reviewed by Franklin Township Planning Commission Aug. 17 and approved with 31 conditions.
Many of the conditions involve items that have to be corrected on the drawings, township code officer Steve Coss told the supervisors.
The foundation also will have to contact the owner of a nearby gas line regarding a right of way and make some changes in the submitted stormwater management plan, Coss said.
The foundation proposed building the recreation center about a year and a half ago originally on property on Oakview Drive, across from the Waynesburg Lions Club baseball field.
The foundation began seeking an alternate site after running into delays because of a restriction on the Oakview Drive property deed.
Building at the Oakview Drive site also would have required relocating utility lines, constructing a large storm water retention area and widening the road, foundation officials said earlier.
In June, the foundation closed on a 13.3-acre property at the technology park, adjacent to the Pennsylvania Army National Guard Readiness Center.
A conceptual design of the building displayed by foundation officials in June shows the building containing a 24,000-square foot soccer field, regulation basketball court, locker rooms, a traverse climbing wall and three community rooms on the first floor.
The first floor also will have offices, a concessions area and two children’s party rooms.
The second floor will have a suspended walking/jogging track overlooking the basketball court and soccer field, a supervised child care room, conference room, several game rooms and a fitness center.
The project, estimated at $6 million, will be built by the foundation with its own funds and with money from sponsorships, donations and naming rights. The foundation expects to break ground early spring.
The foundation, is a nonprofit organization formed with proceeds from the sale of Greene County Memorial Hospital to Essent Healthcare in 2005. It provides grants to other nonprofit groups in the county that work to improve the health and well-being of county residents.
In other business, the supervisors granted conditional approval to plans by the EQT Production Co. to construct a tanker truck water filling station behind its building on Route 21 at Baker Drive. The building is the former Kyowa America plant.
The company plans to construct a new water line from Route 21 to the truck pass site, Coss said. The plan was approved with five conditions.
The supervisors also agreed to proceed with the condemnation of a house at 875 Seventh St. The township was attempting to get the owner to repair the structure for the last three months but nothing was done, Coss said.