The Township offered a progress update on community center planning at the Board of Supervisors’ meeting on Tuesday, May 21.
The community center, which is made possible by an anonymous $10 million donation, is slated to be built at the location of the current Whitpain dog park along Route 202. Before any construction occurs, the dog park will be relocated to a section of Mermaid Park.
Since receiving the donation, the Township has invested the proceeds in safe investment vehicles which have yielded a total of over $645,000 in interest earnings to date. Additionally, a team of professional architects and engineers has been hired and feedback has been solicited from the community and various stakeholder groups to develop a shared vision for the community center.
The team of professional architects, working within the $10 million budget, has further refined three conceptual layouts for the center. At the meeting, the Board of Supervisors voted for the architects to begin developing a more refined cost estimate for concept one in this presentation.
It should be noted that the Township has also applied for two grants in hopes of building a larger community center. While there is optimism about these grants, the Township will continue moving forward with concepts within the current $10 million budget.
If more funding becomes available through grants before construction begins, the grant funding will allow construction of a larger community center in a single phase. All community center design options will allow for future expansion if grant or other funding sources become available later.
Click here for the presentation on the Community Center.