Ground broken for park project
CRANBERRY TWP — Officials and business leaders broke ground Monday afternoon at the site of the seventh Cranberry Township Community Chest project of the year.
The project will be the CTCC SportCourts at Graham Park, a new recreational area in a previously undeveloped part of the park.
The group wants to raise $750,000 to build pickleball, tennis, basketball, boccie, shuffleboard, horseshoe and cornhole courts. How many of each type of court will depend upon fundraising.
The initial plans call for eight pickleball courts, which would make it one of the largest collection of regulation courts in the state, township supervisor Dick Hadley said.
The 2017 project, like past efforts, will improve the quality of life for residents, Hadley said.
“This project is going to be a magnet for drawing the community together in this great facility,” he said.
Community Chest board member Cindy Marzock said residents and businesses always come together to make endeavors such as this possible.
“I moved to Cranberry 25 years ago and what drove me to this area was the sense of community,” she said.
To help break ground, the Community Chest invited representatives of several businesses that have contributed to past projects.
“We have a very, very strong business community,” Marzock said.
These businesses included The Cranberry Eagle, UPMC Passavant Hospital, Fun Fore All, Alcoa, PNC Bank and Westinghouse Electric Company.
The Community Chest will raise money for the cost of the courts, while the township is already moving forward with other planned improvements in the park.
The township’s contribution is estimated at $2.4 million and will include new parking lots near the courts and near the Miracle League field, a new bathroom and storage building, infrastructure improvements, trails, sidewalks and a community garden.
The township is working on design and getting stormwater management permits and officials plan to put out two contracts for bid in January, said Lorin Meeder, township environmental programs coordinator.
The supervisors would then award contracts in February and the work could start in April, he said.
For information about donating to the project, visit www.ctcchest.org.
