Dustin Drew, the manager of Moraine and McConnells Mill state parks, said preliminary work has begun on a new bike rental building in Moraine, clearing the site and removing an old sidewalk. The old building was destroyed in a fire in 2022. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle

Rob McGraw

WORTH TWP — Work has begun on the Moraine State Park bike rental building more than two years after it was damaged in a fire blamed on a lightning strike.

Dustin Drew, the manager of Moraine and McConnells Mill state parks, said preliminary work on the new $1.1 million building began last month, clearing the site and removing an old sidewalk.

“We started very quickly after we determined that the building couldn’t be saved, but it’s a very lengthy process,” Drew said.

The project, undertaken by Horizon Construction Group, calls for a 49-by-50-by-28-foot block building with public restrooms on one side and the bike rental operation on the other side.

Drew said the cost of the project will be paid for by Keystone Recreation, Park and Conservation Funds, which were raised from the real estate transfer tax, and oil and gas funding money from wells on state forestry lands.

“The builders will stay off-site through the winter and come back next spring,” said Drew, adding the construction is expected to be completed by next December.

On March 23, 2022, fire crews from Portersville, Prospect, Harmony and Slippery Rock were called to the building at 157 North Shore Drive in Moraine State Park following reports of smoke coming from the building’s vents. There was heavy damage reported to the roof.

According to the Portersville Fire Department, the fire is believed to have been started by a lightning strike.

Since the fire, the bike rental concessionaire, Spoke House Bike Rentals, has been operating out of a garden shed and shipping containers at the site.

“It’s been a little rough, but we kept the operation going,” Spoke House owner Walter Isaac said. “When it initially happened, there was a big hole in the building’s roof. We rented a couple of shipping containers and placed them on the lot.”

A new building, Isaac said “will be better for my employees.”

“It will be better conditions. I have great appreciation for my manager, Nancy Reese,” he said.

“It’s been a learning curve,” he said of the past two years.

Isaac said the bike rentals at the park are closed for the season, but will resume when the weather warms in the spring.

“There may be a couple of ‘bluebird days’ in April, weekends when the temperatures are 65 degrees and spring fever sets in,” Isaac said.

He suggests people call 724-368-9011 to see if rentals are available.

By the middle of May, he added, Spoke House’s inventory of 75 to 80 bicycles, including a dozen pedal-assist models, will be available to park visitors seven days a week.

The former Moraine State Park bike rental facility was damaged in a fire on March 23, 2022. Butler Eagle File Photo