City of Hermitage Site Suitability Analysis (July 2007)

  Aerial Map of the Hanson Property (South Darby Road)

  Proposed Athletic Field Complex Site Layout (December 2007)

  Athletic Fields Site Land Development Plan (February 2008)  PDF  JPG
 

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS & ACCOMPLISHMENTS

- July 24th, 2007 - Hermitage Board of Commissioners accepted the recommendation in the Site Suitability Analysis
- August 9th, 2007 - Exercised option to purchase Hanson Property
- December 19th, 2007 - Hermitage Board of Commissioners accepted and approved the Hermitage Athletic Fields Complex Site Master Plan
- March 3rd & March 26th, 2008 - Hermitage Planning Commission & Hermitage Board of Commissioners approved the City of Hermitage Athletic Field Complex Land Development Plan w/contingencies

The City is currently in the process of finalizing engineering and preparing bid & construction documents.  The project is scheduled to do out to bid in August 2008, and start construction at the end of August 2008.  We anticipate the fields to be ready for use in the Fall of 2009.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

The City’s decision to plan and construct a state of the art Athletic Complex is a response to a community need for more facilities of this type. The updated Comprehensive Parks, Recreation and Open Space Plan of 2003 enumerates the residents’ priorities in recreation development. These priorities include:

# 1 The conservation of open space;
# 2 Increased awareness of recreation opportunities; and
# 3 The development of softball and soccer fields.

The recommendations of the 2003 Plan emphasize that local sports organizations are in need of additional fields for games and practice, and that the City should aid in the development of new facilities. The Plan states that youth sports ranks third in the number of programs offered, but ranks first in the number of persons registered for these programs. Currently the City owns and/or operates only a few athletic fields, the majority being sponsored by a variety of private and public entities, including schools, churches, and private clubs. While several teams were cited as having difficulty with practice fields and maintenance of competition fields, girls’ fast pitch softball and soccer are specifically addressed in the Plan for being under served. The regional goal of the Shenango Valley Soccer and Shenango Valley United Travel Soccer Leagues is to have a practice field in each community. Hermitage does not have any practice fields available to the soccer leagues. In addition, the Hermitage Girl’s Fast Pitch Softball League has only one true practice field (Baker Park). In need of more practice fields, they have asked the City to help them acquire a piece of property for a field complex.

The proposed City of Hermitage Athletic Complex will help to satisfy the immediate need for additional sports facilities. The City’s initial program for the Complex was for two girls’ softball fields and multi-use fields with one being suitable for competitive games. The program of uses was further expanded to include the necessary support uses for the athletic fields as well as passive and active uses attractive to a variety of age groups. The additional program elements include:

1. A concession stand and restrooms;
2. Informal gathering and picnic areas;
3. Play ground areas adjacent to the fields;
4. Walkways and trails; and
5. Sufficient parking to accommodate consecutive events during the
playing season.

The City intends to build first phase of this project utilizing local bond issue dollars issued in 2005.  The approximate cost of Phase I is $1.5 million.  City officials are in the final stages of completing the master site plan for the property and intend to construct Phase I starting in the summer of 2008.  Future phases will be built later based on the availability of funding.

(Athletic Field Complex Property - June 2007)
 

Please send any comments or suggestions to:

City of Hermitage
800 North Hermitage Road
Hermitage, PA 16148
(724) 981-0800
e-mail: jcoxe@hermitage.net