Landscape architects working on the Seanor Farm Park project expect to have a master plan for the Salem Township park by July or August.
After a progress report to township supervisors and residents last week, Brian J. Almeter, landscape architect for Fahringer, McCarty, Grey Inc., of Monroeville, said that is the target for completing and presenting the plan.
He said the company's $39,000 contract, awarded in January, includes a six-month deadline for completing the work.
"We are probably 50 (percent) to 75 percent done with the analysis of the site," Almeter said.
He said the firm has examined the slopes, soils and aesthetics of the 141-acre property -- and found at least one pleasant surprise.
"When we did the slope survey, we found we didn't have quite as much slope as we thought," Almeter said. That makes the property, which cost the township $345,000 to purchase in 2001, somewhat easier to develop.
Almeter said only 12 percent of the land had the steepest slope, with a grade of 40 percent or greater. One-fourth of the property has a less steep slope of between 25 percent and 40 percent, and nearly two-thirds of the site had a slope of 25 percent or less.
To avoid potential problems, Almeter said, the park will not encompass the southern area of the property, near Route 22 -- an area that once was strip-mined.
Adrian Horvath, a consultant and former Westmoreland County Parks Department employee, has been surveying residents to learn what they want in a park.
He said he's conducted 25 interviews with key groups and members of the business community. In addition, Horvath has handed out questionnaires about the park and prepared another 700 questionnaires to be distributed to students in local schools.
"We want to get all the people's views, so just not a few people determine what goes in the park," he said. "I think we are going to have a real good feel of what the people in the township want."
Horvath also has been accumulating demographic information.
"You have a township here that is just about ready to explode, population-wise," he said. "The Route 22 corridor is one of the fastest growing areas in Westmoreland County and one of the fastest growing in western Pennsylvania."
Although athletic fields exist in neighboring communities, Horvath said he's found a demand for even more, primarily to accommodate youth sports programs.
Planners want to make the park attractive to the township's growing population of seniors, but many older people say they want the park to accommodate children and teens.
"What's unique about the senior population is they have more concerns about the young people than even the middle-aged people do," Horvath said.
Almeter said the Seanor Farm Park plan will be designed after a few more weeks of interviewing.
