The OAK HALL REGIONAL PARKLANDS
(68-acres)
in College and Harris Townships
The tracts for the regional park at Oak Hall
were purchased from Penn State University by COG in July 2005.
• In total, the 68-acre parkland acquisition cost $461,627. The lands were officially appraised at $11,016 per acre; the purchase price was $6,569 per acre.
• The PA DCNR grant provided $300,000 of that amount (using Federal Land & Water Conservation Funds)
• College Township provided $156,627.
• Harris Township provided $5,000.
During 2008 & 2009 a Master Site Plan has been
prepared for the site, funded by COG and another PA DCNR grant (Grant Amount of $38,000 announced in 2006). Seven firms submitted proposals to prepare a Master Site Plan. The committee selected four firms for additional consideration and on Thursday, 20 Mar 08, the COG Ad Hoc Regional Park Committee and the CRPR Board held 1 hour interviews with each of the 4 firms. On Monday, 24 Mar 08, the COG General Forum unanimously approved the recommendation from the Ad Hoc Regional Park Committee that the firm of Pashek Associates be retained at a not-to-exceed price of $66,000 - and that selection was then approved by PA DCNR.
Centre Region Council of Governments
OAK HALL Parkland Master Site Plan Project (Jan. 2008)
Scope of Work / Request For Proposals were solicited from potential consulting firms (PDF 0.6 MB).
Proposals from seven firms were publicly opened and read at 3 PM on 24 Jan 08.
A summary of the submitted proposals is provided HERE (PDF).
|
Regional Park Planning Started in August 2008; the Master Site Plan was approved in October 2009.
Since 2001, the elected officials of the five participating municipalities have been
working together to provide new, larger regional parks for the future - focused on active recreation
opportunities for families and community organizations. Those efforts have opened a new chapter in the
long history of regional cooperation for municipal parks and recreation that involves shared funding
of the acquisition, planning and development of those new park areas. We are also fortunate that
this level of cooperation has also engaged funding assistance from the Commonwealth of
Pennsylvania to help make the new regional parks a reality. The 68-acre Oak Hall parkland was acquired from
Penn State in 2005 and the 75-acre Whitehall Road parkland was purchased in May. The PA Department
of Conservation and Natural Resources has announced grants to assist with the development of
a Master Site Plan for each site.
The Centre Region COG engaged the firm of Pashek Associates to develop the Oak
Hall Master Site plan. The master planning process will involve a number
of public hearings, meetings with community recreation groups, interviews and public surveys -
and that input will provide the basis for the facilities to be developed at both regional parks. Overall, the
two regional parks will be designed to serve the needs of the region far into the future and to
compliment each other, rather than duplicate existing park facilities across the Centre Region.
Community participation remains a vital part of CRPR operations and planning. All
residents are invited to explore the CRPR website, enjoy each municipal park, participate in CRPR activities
and in the park planning process.
Click HERE to view the results of:
- the Resident Questionnaire (paper version) from September,
- the two Fall 2008 (22 & 23 Oct 08) park planning forums,
- the Resident eSurvey from October (web-based)
|
 Residents Help Plan The Regional Parks...
Approximately 80 residents attended the Community Meeting for the presentation of the draft Master Site Plan for the regional parklands (68 acres) at Oak Hall on February 10, 2009, at the College Twp. Municipal Building.
• The Meeting Agenda
• The 42-slide Meeting Presentation (will open in a new browser window)
• The Meeting Summary.
Funding assistance for this cooperative project is provided by the Borough of State College, the Townships of College, Ferguson, Harris & Patton, and a matching grant from PA DCNR Bureau of Recreation & Conservation. |
To view the full plan shown above, please click here
(JPEG image, 16 MB)
Not recommended for dial-up connections.
The Approved Master Site Plan Report - Executive Summary
(PDF, 0.5 MB)
The Approved Master Site Plan Report - Full Version
(PDF, 31 MB)
Not recommended for dial-up connections.
The plan was presented to the COG General Forum on Tuesday, 28 May 09 by Mr. Jim Pashek. The May PowerPoint presentation (18 slides) is available HERE in HTML format. The show will open in a new browser window. At that time, the 5 participating municipalities voted to consider and provide comments individually. The COG General Forum officially approved the plan on 26 Oct 09. |
 STATE GRANT APPLICATION: In April 2009, the COG applied to PA DCNR for a grant to assist with the Phase 1 development of Oak Hall Regional Parklands. The $185,000 request was intended to provide 30% of the project cost. In January 2010, the COG was advised that the grant application was not selected due to the number of other applications they received; PA DCNR was able to fund 143 (23%) of the 624 applications received. While all funding requests totaled $101 million, the agency had $19 million available for all projects across the state. The COG is now considering their 2010 grant application project (which must be submitted by 21 Apr 2010). |
Return to the Regional Park Introduction Page
|
