Construction begins at sports complex
CRANBERRY TWP — Construction on the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex is under way at the intersection of Interstate 79 and Route 228.
Crews this week started laying the concrete footprint of the 180,000-square-foot building, according to Ron Henshaw, director of community development for the township.
The facility, which is expected to cost around $70 million, will open next year. It will include two ice rinks for the Pittsburgh Penguins and a medical office building for UPMC.
The building will be modeled after the Pittsburgh Steelers/UPMC Sports Performance Complex south of Pittsburgh.
It is part of a larger development called Cranberry Springs which, over several construction phases, will include a hotel, restaurants and potential retail space.
Chuck Finder, a spokesman for UPMC, said the company is thrilled to be able to break ground.
“We’re truly excited about what this can mean for the region,” he said, adding that the project is expected to be done by next summer.
Henshaw said the sports complex’s developers already had land grading permits, which is why they were able to start construction so soon after getting the necessary approvals.
According to Henshaw, there are no more permitting requirements needed.
“That parcel already had a grading permit so they were lined up and ready to roll right into construction,” Henshaw said. “They are set to go for construction and don’t ever have to come back (for more permits) to the township.”
However, the rest of the Cranberry Springs development still must receive permitting approval from the township whenever the developers decide to come before the township supervisors.
According to preliminary plans for the sports complex, the ice rinks will be open for public events when not being used by the Penguins.
The facility will include a private entrance for team officials and players that will be surrounded by a 7-foot fence for security and privacy reasons.
The medical offices will adjoin the rinks but will take up two stories as opposed to the one-story ice rinks.
There will be a small park outside the complex, near the entrance to the ice rinks, and the property also will feature a roundabout for traffic and bicycles that will include a pond and other landscaping amenities.
