Officials ready to celebrate opening of Pine Athletic Complex

On April 3, Pine Township opened a brand-new multipurpose and all-weather artificial turf complex. The facility, which includes two full-sized fields, is replacing an area of the park plagued by wet conditions and slopes that made playing field sports challenging.

“We were at a time where improvements needed to be made to the fields in the western campus of Pine Community Park. The fields had problems during both wet and dry periods,” township manager Jason Kratsas said.

Rainy weather would leave the fields unusable for days after. The field’s aging irrigation system struggled during dry periods, requiring the township to operate the system during the dog days of summer manually.

The township frequently received complaints from residents concerning these issues.

“One consistent comment that we received was that people were sinking in ankle deep water when they crossed the field,” Kratsas said.

Another problem that loomed for the fields was the intense usage that the fields in Pine Township experienced.

“Our fields in Pine Community Park are highly sought after. We have regular requests for soccer, lacrosse, football, field hockey, ultimate frisbee, baseball and softball to use our fields,” assistant township manager Stacey Graf said.

Between the high demand for the fields and consistent wet conditions, the natural surface of the field was extensively damaged. The only other option was to cancel programming on the field to protect it from damage or let it recover, limiting the park’s use.

The opportunity to solve the field’s surfacing issues came in early 2022 through the American Rescue Plan Act federal funding. The ARPA money received in the township’s revenue provided the chance to offset the upfront costs so that tax rates were not impacted.

“Synthetic surfaces are very useful solutions, as they can be used in all weather conditions and won’t be damaged by heavy use. Once installed, these surfaces are very cost effective to maintain. A natural turf field can be costly to maintain due to manpower, mowing, irrigation, treatment, etc. Synthetic fields require none of those costs, other than grooming the field once every couple of weeks,” Kratsas said.

Additionally, the township had developer-funded recreation fees to offset even more of the costs.

After the funding came through, the township entered a public evaluation process. The board of supervisors ran through different options at several meetings. Following those discussions, the board of supervisors created an ad hoc committee with public stakeholders to work with staff in evaluating the options. The Parks and Recreation Commission and residents collaborated with the township to make informed decisions.

Several months of meetings later, staff presented an option to the board of supervisors to construct two synthetic fields side by side that could operate as one large multipurpose area.

“The idea was to set an area up that was lined for all sports, but more importantly was able to be used for township programming and events,” Kratsas said.

The next eight months consisted of a variety of design, environmental permitting, construction and programming tasks that brought the township to April 3, 2023, the first day the new fields were open for use and occupied by soccer, lacrosse and ultimate frisbee organizations.

There is still much construction left to be completed, as the field is still surrounded by temporary fencing, a retaining wall is under construction and the ground outside the turf field still needs final shaping and seeding. Still, there is no doubt that the impact of the new Pine Athletic Complex is already immensely positive.

Young athletes and their families could be seen throughout the park on April 3.

“I’ve heard so many requests to add inclusive and accessible amenities to our parks. That’s what makes this project so wonderful. Not only can we provide an all weather surface for our local sporting needs, but we can also provide a fully accessible outdoor space to hold events and fun activities for all Pine residents,” supervisor Casey White said.

The grand opening Party at the Pine Athletic Complex will be held from noon-3 p.m. May 13 at 100 Pine Park Drive. There will be food trucks, raffle baskets, bounce houses, games and prizes and entertainment. A ceremony honoring the fields and local championship teams will take place. Food trucks will include Bruster’s Ice Cream, Aviva Brick Oven Pizza, La Palapa, Brisketburgh, The Coop Chicken & Waffles and Hermes Food Truck. For more information, visit twp.pine.pa.us.