WINFIELD TWP — The township supervisors are looking for grant funding in its mission to purchase the former fire hall on Brose Road and turn it into a recreational center.

The board approved a resolution during its monthly meeting on Thursday night, Oct. 30, to apply for a $1 million grant from the Commonwealth Financing Authority. Winfield plans to use the proceeds, if it receives any, to purchase and begin modifying the building.

The planned recreation center is a component of wider plans for a renovated Winfield Township Community Park, which were first shown publicly in February 2024. Plans at the time called for the recreation center to feature an indoor pickleball court, two large multipurpose rooms, new metal roofing, and overhauled lighting and insulation.

The fire hall is owned by the now-defunct Winfield Township Volunteer Fire Department. While the department ceased operations in 2018, it still exists as a legal nonprofit entity.

“The legal entity exists and still owns the property, so we’re purchasing it from them,” said township Supervisor Matthew Klabnik. “But we have to get buy-in from the three fire companies that service Winfield Township.

Those companies are Buffalo Township, Saxonburg and Herman volunteer fire companies.

“When the assets get sold, there’s a certain lump of money that comes to the entity that no longer exists and that gets dispersed to the three fire companies. We have approval from two of them, but not the third,” Klabnik said. “We’re waiting on Buffalo Township, and then it goes to the Orphans’ Court.”