ADAMS TWP — The Pittsburgh Curling Club will not build a new facility in the Myoma section of the township.

Steve Buffington, the president of the club’s board, said most of the property near the railroad tracks on Myoma Road is designated as a flood plain by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

FEMA last year approved a new flood plain map which includes almost all of the property that a curling club member donated as the site for the construction of a four-lane $1.3 million curling facility.

Curling is a sport in which competitors slide a large, smooth stone down a lane of ice toward a target.

The club practices and plays on ice at the Robert Morris University Island Sports Center on Neville Island.

Buffington said the club also had problems with the property adjacent to the railroad tracks, with two railroad companies denying they own the property.

That combination of circumstances caused the club to abandon the project.

“Unfortunately, we had to pull away from that property,” Buffington said.

He said just when the club was preparing to take the railroads to court to determine ownership of a right of way along the tracks and adjacent to the donated property, club officials learned that FEMA had changed the flood plain map due to bridge repairs made downstream by the state Department of Transportation.

The property could have been regraded, but the club still would be required to buy flood insurance, Buffington said. He said the potential for flooding in the parking lot also figured into the club’s decision.

“It’s not possible for us to take that risk into consideration,” Buffington said.

The club continues to look for properties where a new facility can be built because the hockey ice at the RMU center is not optimum for curling, Buffington said.

He said the club now will have the significant added expense of buying land. It will continue fundraising to build a new facility.

“I’m still optimistic, but it’s a big setback for us,” Buffington said of the decision to abandon the Myoma Road property.

He said the club has about 95 members, many from Butler County.

More information on the club is at www.pittsburghcurlingclub.com.