Murrysville begins refining amphitheater plans for Community Park
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Murrysville officials hate to tear down a public works building, but at least they will be able to save the roof.
That was one part of a recent update Chief Administrator Jim Morrison provided council on planning for an amphitheater area that will serve as a centerpiece for Murrysville Community Park.
Construction of a new road east of the Miracle Field complex will require demolishing the public works building on Wiestertown Road, but Morrison said officials are looking to reuse as much as possible.
“The plan is to save the roofing and gables from the white public works building that will be torn down, and it will be used on top of a pavilion in the park,” Morrison said.
Public works crews have already begun preliminary work for the roughly $600,000 project, which is funded mostly by a $299,000 state grant.
In addition to the northeast-facing amphitheater, the plan calls for a seating area, food truck area, restrooms, a utility building for electrical access and storage, three-stepped terraces with the potential to add more in the future and additional parking areas.
“There’s the potential for it to hold between 3,000 and 5,000 people at a large-scale event, not that we’re planning to have a lot of those,” Morrison said.
As is the case with many recent construction projects, Morrison said lead times and supply-chain issues have cropped up.
“We hope we can have this bid and have dirt work started by spring,” he said. “Public works has already begun clearing trees for the road. We’re waiting on manholes for the sanitary and waiting on waterlines, the same issue we’re having getting our clubhouse finished.”
Engineers and architects from Mackin Engineering and Hayes Design Group showed council members a multi-phase vision for the area that cast an eye toward future improvements, should the funding be available. Those include creating a flat area above the terraces with pavilions to accommodate additional park visitors.