New Britain Township supervisors Monday night voted to move forward with a major overhaul of the North Branch Park playground and pavilion, backing the “sorely needed” improvement project even after the township was denied state grant funding.
Township Manager Dan Fox said the township had pursued a grant through the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources last spring, but learned in December that the application was not selected. Fox said the township anticipated that possibility and budgeted the full cost of the project for 2026 “because the project is important,” allowing the work to continue without delays tied to outside funding.
Parks and Recreation Foreman and Coordinator Bill May told supervisors the plan has been refined over more than a year of work and includes a redesigned playground layout, a new pavilion and site upgrades, with an emphasis on accessibility and safety.
The project cost was discussed at $400,992, with additional in-house labor and site work planned by township crews, including demolition, preparation and some drainage work. Township Engineer Craig Kennard said any added drainage support would likely be minor.
May said the new playground will be configured in an L-shape to fit the space without encroaching on the right field area of Field One. May also said the design accounts for an Enbridge gas pipeline right-of-way, keeping the playground beyond the 25-foot requirement so additional approvals and plan submissions are not necessary, aside from utility marking.
In addition to new play equipment, the project includes poured-in-place rubber surfacing. When supervisors raised concerns about heat retention, May said the township selected an olive green and beige color scheme consistent with other park surfacing rather than black.
The pavilion portion of the project calls for a concrete pad and a steel seam roof, which May described as “maintenance-free” compared with the existing structure. May said the new pavilion design meets local requirements for snow loads and wind speed, pending sealed plans from the vendor.
Supervisors also discussed site impacts, including the removal of several trees to make the project work. May said two of the trees are memorial trees, including a Bradford pear and an American elm, and said staff was considering options for families, including replanting elsewhere in coordination with township officials or replacing the memorial with an engraved bench near the playground.
Chair MaryBeth McCabe said families should be given a choice, while noting that benches instead of trees could be a better long-term approach for future memorials.
May said another tree slated for removal is a sycamore, which he said would improve safety parameters for the swing set and allow flexibility given overhead concerns. Kennard said staff reviewed multiple layouts and determined the current plan was the best fit given constraints such as the gas line, ball field and pavilion water line.
Additional changes include removing an obsolete fenced grill area, which May said would be regraded for future decorative use, noting open fires are no longer allowed in the park. Supervisors also agreed to drop stone column wraps from the pavilion design after discussion that they would take up space and create obstacles around children. May said removing the wraps would save about $60,000, a change Supervisor Stephanie Shortall supported, saying the money could be better used elsewhere.
May estimated the combined playground and pavilion work would take about five to six months once final pavilion sketches are approved, with township officials hoping for completion by August.
The project will be purchased through a CoStars-approved vendor, Fox said, meaning the township does not need to bid the work because the vendor is already approved through the state.
