Accessibility upgrades to Emmerling Park in Indiana Township are expected to continue this summer.
Officials recently announced the third phase of a multi-phase Americans with Disabilities Act project that will include expanding a sidewalk from a bridge over Little Deer Creek to a pavilion.
The expansion is about 500 feet long and 5 feet wide.
Township engineer Dan Slagle said the designs are complete. The plan is to seek project bids in either May or June and hire a company the following month.
Construction should take less than two weeks to complete.
To fund the project, the township received a $20,000 federal Community Development Block Grant through the Allegheny County Department of Economic Development.
Slagle said there is no township match required for the grant, which is being administered through the North Hills Council of Governments. County grants also paid for the previous phases. Phase planning began in 2020.
The first phase was done in 2021. It was the installation of an ADA parking pad with two spaces by the lower entrance of the park off Cove Run Road. The cost was about $19,000.
Phase 2 was done in 2024. That included the installation of an ADA sidewalk from the parking pad to the bridge that carries over Little Deer Creek. That cost about $40,000.
Both phase one and two work was done by A. Folino Construction.
The fourth phase is being designed for next year. It involves the expansion of the sidewalk to a cantilever deck by the creek.
It will allow folks with disabilities and wheelchairs to be able to fish more easily.
“I think they are all important,” Township Manager Dan Anderson said about the phases. “We do have residents that utilize (the sidewalks) and have had residents that contacted me that are really appreciative.”
Emmerling Park is home to multi-use soccer fields as well as ADA bleachers, concession stands, restrooms and the Live Like Lou baseball field.
The township received an assist from the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2017 to help bolster the ball field complete a scoreboard, dugouts and a paved walkway to bleachers that will allow handicapped spectators access.
Anderson said the park projects over the years have made Emmerling Park “a real jewel” for the community.
“We’re proud to have those improvements in the park that allow everybody to enjoy it,” the manager said.
Similar sidewalk and parking upgrades were made years ago to Middle Road Community Park.
Improving Emmerling Park accessibility also helps to highlight its wetlands that were created around 2005 as par of a remediation project in conjunction with the Pittsburgh Mills development.
Slagle said this project was later enhanced through a cooperative effort with Range Resources with the construction of an access road in 2018.
Slagle has been the township engineer for 40 years and has been a part of many upgrades. He said there is more work to be done.
“As I get older, I’ve become more appreciative of what it is to be handicapped or in need,” said Slagle, 70. “Having just had my knee replaced, I see an even greater need (for accessibility).
“Indiana Township is a big part of my life. I can look around and see something that we’ve touched or enhanced almost everywhere. It’s very rewarding as their engineer to be a participant in all these wonderful things happening in Indiana Township.”