Plans crystalizing for park upgrades
The township is making progress with plans for the enlarged community park and hopes to finalize them by June.
Originally 56 acres, the park got 25 acres larger in 2016 thanks to the donation of adjacent land.
A $50,000 study — half of which is being paid by a grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources — is looking at the best way to redesign the park, home to the signature Manderach Playground with its twostory slide.
During the April 3 township supervisors meeting, Sarah Leeper and William Collins of the landscape architecture firm Simone Collins walked the board through improvement plans for the township’s Community Park as they now stand.
After meeting with residents and staff, the firm began with the road that bisects the park currently — Ziegler Road, Collins said.
Some wanted it to no longer bisect the park, others wanted a loop around the park’s perimeter, others wanted access on both sides, so the consulting firm came up with four alternatives, the second of which was the one favored by the supervisors.
Called the “partial loop” option, it allows traffic to pass through the park, but loops it down around the eastern perimeter and, with traffic control devices, should keep it from becoming “a racetrack” as Supervisor Ken Sperring said he fears.
Collins said plans for speed humps, pavement bump outs and other traffic control devices should “make Ziegler Road less desirable as a cut-through.”
Supervisor Kara Shuler made some suggestions about locating parking closer to fields, for older residents who want to watch their grandchildren
play soccer, lacrosse, football so they don’t have to walk too far to get to the fields.
Multi-use fields proposed include soccer, lacrosse, football, one of which will be turf; as well as a small water feature for calm reflection, six baseball/softball fields, basketball, volleyball courts, “stones” area,
splash park, trail connection to Krylo Preserve, community gardens.
In the central section of Limerick Community Park, proposed second bathhouse near amphitheater, playground between baseball, softball areas, tennis and six bocce ball courts, community center, a 12-foot-wide perimeter loop trail, and
an open space area and outdoor classroom area.
“Cost estimates for the proposed upgrades are being compiled, but none have been finalized to date,” according to Township Manager Dan Kerr.
A final report is scheduled toward the end of June, when the board of supervisors will be asked to approve a final master
plan. Discussion on funding those improvements will begin once the final plan is approved, said Kerr.
Collins said the team had received enough input to move forward.
The next public meeting to review the status of the plan with the public is scheduled for April 19, said Kerr.