The plan for the proposed Cranberry Township Recreation Center has reached a crossroad. To move forward, the proposal will need a feasibility study — and paying for the study is the challenge.
“In the past few months we have been talking about the possibility of a multi-use recreational facility with the Cranberry Township Economic Development Committee, Cranberry Township, the Venango County Chamber of Commerce, our county commissioners, state senator and representative, and others,” Cranberry Area School District Superintendent Bill Vonada said during this week’s school board meeting.
“We have come to the point now where we need to decide if we want to move forward. We are at the point where we need to have a feasibility study. We need to have a study if we are going to apply for any type of grant funding. We need to know if the community supports this project.”
“We have been talking to different entities, the commissioners, townships and others,” Vonada said. “The cost to each participant would vary on the number of entities contributing to the fund.”
The school district, he said, could contribute as much as $12,000, but that number would go down as more entities take part.
“The next step would be to get all of the interested parties at the table and put their chips in,” Vonada said. “This is not a township project or a school district project — it is a Cranberry Township project. It is an idea born by community members who see an opportunity.”
The Shenango center, which is managed by the school district, includes three basketball courts; a weight room; fitness center; a track, vaulting and jumping areas; pickleball courts; and batting and pitching cages.
The proposed Cranberry center would have similar facilities and would cost an estimated $4 million to build.
“We have a proposal for a study,” school board member Kyle Melat said. “We asked the consultant to base it on Department of Conservation and Natural Resources guidelines for a recreational facility.
“There is a grocery list that needs to be addressed. The feasibility study will answer many of those questions.”
School Board President Tom Neely said, “We need to get the ball rolling. It is not something we need to decide immediately, but we need to keep it in the front of our minds. I have no doubt that the center would be a benefit for the region.”
