Jun 28, 2015 3 min read

After planning for years to build a new recreation center near Waynesburg, Greene County Memorial Hospital Foundation settled on a spot that will give it a blank canvas it can use to create a masterpiece.

The foundation Friday closed on a deal to purchase a sprawling parcel of land in EverGreene Technology Park, just behind Greene County Airport.

This will be a great recreational opportunity and the first of its kind in the area.

It has been a long and meandering journey for the foundation as its board labored to find a suitable location for the multiuse facility. The foundation previously settled on land behind Lions Club Park in Franklin Township, only to have red tape and other problems stall its progress.

The board first broached the idea of building a recreation center in 2013 and received a special exemption from Franklin Township officials that year. The original plans called for a 45,000-square-foot building to be built on nearly eight acres of vacant land along Oakview Drive near the Waynesburg Lions Club’s park. However, many obstacles stood in the way even before the foundation could consider breaking ground there.

Oakview Road would have needed to be widened to channel the increase of traffic to and from the center. Meanwhile, a costly underground water retention pond would have had to been built and utilities would have needed to be relocated.

And that was even before one of the nearby property owners in the area objected to the property’s use before the court ruled in the foundation’s favor last December.

Those previous problems now appear to have been a blessing.

The new location at EverGreene will have nearly twice the amount of land than the earlier proposal near the Lions Club park. That could eventually give the foundation an opportunity to build additional outdoor amenities if needed.

There will also be easier access to the building, with a road leading directly from Route 21. That will be in direct contrast with the traffic concerns from the previous plans that placed it in an already-congested area of Franklin Township.

The building itself will contain a workout area, meeting rooms, a basketball court, a track and an indoor soccer field that could attract organizations or tournaments. The larger land area will give the foundation a blank slate to build the facility Greene County’s residents deserve.

The foundation is still working out details for what membership fees will cost, which hopefully will come at a reasonable price that most of the county’s residents will be able to afford. Sponsorship dollars will help raise money for the $6 million project.

That should lessen the burden on people who want to become members and hopefully won’t be as costly as other newly constructed recreation centers.

This is an exciting – and long-awaited – development that will be beneficial to Greene County and its people.

The wait was clearly worth it.