Winfield Township to purchase former fire hall
WINFIELD TWP — The township has cleared a major hurdle in its plans to turn its former fire hall into a recreation center for the community.
Township supervisor Matthew Klabnik announced during a meeting Thursday night, Dec. 18, that an Orphans’ Court judge has approved of the township’s purchase of the fire hall on Brose Road.
Although the township controls scheduling of certain events at the building, the real estate is currently owned by the now-defunct Winfield Township Volunteer Fire Department.
“We’re currently scheduled to close on Jan. 5,” Klabnik said. “This would be the real estate transaction closing.”
The recreation center is part of Winfield Township’s wider plans to turn the area around its municipal building — which includes the former fire hall — into an upgraded community park. The township has also applied for a $1 million grant from the Commonwealth Financing Authority to assist in its plans to renovate the building.
Short-term plans for the recreation center include turning the fire hall’s old truck bay into a rentable space, Klabnik said.
However, he added that plenty of work will need to be done to bring the building into a presentable state.
“It needs a new roof. It needs windows. It needs lots of things,” Klabnik said.
Although the fire department ceased operations in 2018, it still exists as a legal nonprofit entity whose assets are in the process of being dispersed. According to Klabnik, once the purchase by Winfield Township is completed, the cash will be distributed among the three volunteer fire departments that currently serve the township — Buffalo Township, Saxonburg and Herman.
In the years since the building ceased to be a fire hall, there has been sporadic activity there. According to Klabnik, Butler County’s emergency services department uses the building to store some of its spare equipment.
The building also hosts Winfield Township’s senior center activities each Thursday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“We’ve also leased it to the Knoch wrestling club,” Klabnik said. “They’re there two or three days a week. They do practice over there.”
