Editor's Note: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of Blythe Kelly's name.
Doylestown Township Supervisors Tuesday rebuffed recently voiced objections to the scope of its ambitious Central Park restoration proposal, voting by a 4-1 margin to award a series of bids for the work.
Supervisors met Tuesday specifically to discuss the project.
According to board member Ryan Marion, the park restoration has been discussed at 143 public meetings since 2016.
The project includes plans to update the park with an indoor recreational center, a comfort cottage for bathrooms, and new outdoor sports courts.
The recreational center will include a gymnasium of 7,780 square feet for basketball, pickleball, volleyball and tennis, a 350-square-foot warming kitchen, a 2,850-square-foot multipurpose room and a 900-square-foot indoor/outdoor patio.
On Tuesday, the plan and the bids were presented by Sylvia Hoffman and Ryan Kennedy from MKSD architects.
The project itself is estimated to cost $12,913,800, according to Quatrefoil Consulting. That equates to residents of the town paying an additional $93 a year in taxes.
That’s less than some projections that circulated over the summer but more than the initial anticipated $10 million price tag.
With the exception of Supervisor Nancy Santacecilia, all the supervisors voted Tuesday in favor of awarding bids for parking and the building; the sports courts; the comfort cottage for bathrooms; and the electrical work.
Resident Jason Showmaker argued for a scaled back version, saying he was not “in support of this project in its current form,” due to cost and environmental concerns that would stem from the loss of green space due to the new building.
“I am, however, wholeheartedly in support of adding legitimate bathroom facilities by Kids Castle, refacing our existing courts, and upgrading our pavilion,” Showmaker said.
Quatrefoil Consulting representatives later responded that the green space that will be used is less than an acre.
Older residents said they were more concerned about the impact of a potential tax increase on those living on fixed incomes.
One longtime resident said she believed the scope ought to be put on a referendum due to the tax increase this project will create.
Another resident supported the project, saying he used Central Park and its faculties to rehabilitate himself after injuring his back 25 years ago and calling the park “incalculably important” to a wide swath of the township’s residents. The resident added, however, that an indoor facility is badly needed.
Blythe Kelly, who chairs the Township Park and Recreation Board, said the seven-member body endorses the improvements.
“On behalf of our board, we are in full support of this project and for good reason,” Kelly said. “We see that our community is in need of activity space, meeting space, and all the sports included in this project.”
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