Jun 26, 2015 5 min read

WAYNESBURG – Plans by Greene County Memorial Hospital Foundation to build a community recreation center containing an indoor soccer field, basketball court, fitness center, track and multi-purpose rooms are moving forward, though it will be at a new site.

The nonprofit organization announced a year and a half ago it intended to build a 44,500-square foot recreation center on Oakview Drive in Franklin Township, across from the Waynesburg Lions Club baseball field.

On Friday, however, the foundation closed on a 13.3-acre property at EverGreene Technology Park near Greene County Airport. The foundation purchased the land, adjacent to the Pennsylvania Army National Guard Readiness Center, from Greene County Industrial Development Inc. for $500,000.

“Today was a key piece (in completing the project), signing the sales agreement,” said Sheila Stewart, president of the foundation board. “Now, we’ll be able to give our engineer the go ahead to seek bids and have Dave (Jones, foundation executive director) go out and begin to tell our story.”

The project, estimated at $6 million, will be constructed by the foundation with its own funds and with money raised through sponsorships and donations, and by the sale of various naming rights.

A conceptual design of the building shows on the main floor, a 24,000-square foot soccer field with artificial turf, which can accommodate other uses, a regulation basketball court, locker rooms, a traverse climbing wall and three community rooms that can be separated by folding doors and used for events, meetings, exercise classes or educational classes.

The foundation received approval of the plan to construct the recreation center on Oakview Drive from the Franklin Township Zoning Hearing Board in December 2013. It began looking at an alternative site after encountering several “challenges” that prevented it from moving forward with the land purchase, Stewart said. The foundation initially ran into a delay when it addressed a restriction on the deed to the Oakview Drive property, 7.6 acres that is owned by the Waynesburg Lions Club.

The deed restricted the property’s use to recreation or residential development and prohibited its use for business or professional services. Because the center would employ certain professionals such as administrators, athletic trainers and health professionals, the foundation had to seek approval from the court.

The matter dragged out for about six months after only one of 62 property owners whose land is included in the same tract objected to the plan, claiming the proposed use contradicted the deed restriction. The matter was only decided by the court in the foundation’s favor in December.

Other issues involving the Oakview Drive property also came to light as the foundation continued to refine its plans, Jones said. Utility lines would have to be relocated, a large underground storm water retention area would have to be built and Oakview Drive would have to be widened, all of which would significantly add to the costs.

“There were obstacles the further we looked into it, so we started searching for a Plan B. Fortunately, we found a very good Plan B,” Jones said.

“We were able to get a bigger plot of land at EverGreene. We’ll have more space and maybe be able to do more things sometime down the road,” he said.

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 where parents can leave their children while using the facilities, conference room, several game rooms and a fitness center.

The fitness center the foundation currently operates at Southwest Regional Medical Center will be moved to the new recreation center, Jones said.

The foundation, formed with proceeds of the sale of Greene County Memorial Hospital to Essent Healthcare in 2005, provides grants to other nonprofit groups in the county that work to improve the health and well-being of county residents.

The idea of the recreation center came about several years ago when the foundation board decided it wanted to consider a bigger project to provide service currently not available in the county.

“We wanted to do something bigger in scope that would benefit the entire community,” Stewart said.

The authority provides grants to fund local summer camps for youth and to purchase equipment for local fire companies. It also offers scholarships to students majoring in health-related fields and operated the wellness center at Southwest Regional Medical Center.

A feasibility student the foundation completed in 2012 pointed out the need of a recreation center.

“Right now, children in Greene County and their parents are traveling north or they’re traveling south to use other facilities because we don’t have anything like that here,” Stewart said. “We think it will be very well-received by the citizens of Greene County, it will provide opportunities for all ages, everyone will be able to use it.”

Though plans are being developed, a membership fee probably will be charged for using the center. However, the foundation recognizes any fee will have to be an amount most people can afford, Jones said. Scholarship money also probably will be available to assist those who have trouble paying the fee.

If everything goes well, the foundation expects to begin site preparation on the project before winter and then begin construction in the spring. The project is expected to take nine months to complete.

The foundation also continued to raise money for the project, though Jones said the reception, so far, has been “fantastic.” Anyone who would like to consider a donation or a sponsorship is asked to contact Jones at 724-852-2060.