Cranberry officials prepare for upgrades at Community Park, Cranberry Highlands Golf Course
Cranberry Township officials are eyeing multiple upgrades at some of the area’s most well-trafficked recreational spots.
That includes a plan to install Astroturf on two fields at Cranberry Community Park in the near future.
Supervisors, during a meeting on Thursday, Aug. 28, approved a $37,000 contract with EADS Group for engineering services that will provide the final designs necessary to push the project forward.
There are additional upgrades planned at several locations across the park to complement the fields that oftentimes see daily use throughout the summer months.
During a meeting earlier this month, supervisors signed off on about $4 million worth of contracts that will go toward constructing two-and-a-half new multipurpose fields at the park. That included contracts for general construction, plumbing and electrical work.
Earlier this year, the township completed the installation of new public-play pickleball courts at Community Park.
In March, officials also submitted a grant proposal to the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources to try and acquire up to $300,000 that would help fund the township’s Community Park North Master Plan.
That plan outlines efforts to add and relocate several sand volleyball courts and establish more accessible parking around the park’s amphitheater.
A new restroom facility along with improvements to existing parking spaces, sidewalks and basketball courts are part of the plan, which has an estimated construction cost of $600,000, according to township manager Dan Santoro.
Officials are also aiming to revamp several parts Cranberry Highlands Golf Course, which the township owns, ahead of next season.
The most prominent endeavor is to conduct greenside bunker maintenance, which is a project that was noted on the township’s recently completed golf course master plan.
It comes as the township made a handful of improvements to the clubhouse, the largest being a $415,701 roof replacement that came in well under the projected cost of $500,000 to $600,000, Santoro noted.
“We obviously did the clubhouse renovations this past year, not just the roof, but interior renovations also,” he said. “Now we’re ready to move to some of the other items that were listed on that master plan, and the first and most important priority there is the bunkers.”
Supervisors authorized the bunker work to be bid Thursday, however, that project will not get underway until sometime next year at the earliest.
Specialty golf course contractors are often booked months, and in some cases years, in advance, creating uncertainty about the project timeline, township engineering and environmental services director Michael Malak said.
