It’s been a long, tortuous road spanning two decades, but work is now underway on Centre Region Parks and Recreation’s Whitehall Road Regional Park in Ferguson Township.
Joined by community members and local and state officials, CRPR celebrated the start of the 50-acre phase one of the park with a ceremonial groundbreaking on a brisk and blustery Wednesday afternoon at the development site off of Blue Course Drive.
“Today is the beginning of something important, something that will improve and add joy to the lives of a great many people,” Jim Steff, the retired longtime executive director of the Centre Region Council of Governments, said in a statement read by COG General Forum Chair Rich Francke.
“Annually, thousands of residents of all ages and backgrounds will run on its fields, hike its trails, use its playgrounds and appreciate its stunning views of Tussey Mountain. This park will be indifferent to your income. It will not care about your age. It will be blind to your color and religion. It will be protective of our land and water and it will be welcoming to children of all abilities. This park will be for all of us, regardless of our personal circumstances.”
The $6.4 million phase one will include two rectangular grass tournament-sized fields with LED lighting and two rectangular grass medium-sized fields, a restroom building and the 15,000-square-foot “We Play Together” all-ability, universally-accessible playground.
“That is a monumental first for this area,” CRPR Director Pam Salokangas said of the playground.
It also will have a 2-mile, accessible walking trail, part of which will be the Musser Gap Greenway connecting Whitehall Road to Route 45 to Rothrock State Forest.
Green infrastructure for the park will include rain gardens, pollinator gardens and green meadow spaces.
Plans also include an All-Season Pavilion with kitchen and concessions and the completion of the full trail. CRPR is continuing to raise funds for those amenities.
Completion of phase one is anticipated in summer 2023, though the athletic fields will need two full growing seasons before they can be used, Salokangas said.
Wes Fahringer, north-central regional advisor for the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ Bureau of Recreation and Conservation, said local parks are the most popular places for outdoor recreation in Pennsylvania, and Whitehall Road Regional Park promises to stand out among them.
“This project is unique,” Fahringer said. “I cover 11 counties. This is the first project of this kind that provides access for all of this nature. We’re talking a very special park here and a first of its kind for north-central Pennsylvania… This is a very big idea.”
DCNR is among the agencies that have provided funding for the park. The largest source of funding is the regional parks loan authorized by the five COG members participating in Centre Region Parks and Rec — State College and College, Ferguson, Harris and Patton townships — with additional support from the state Department of Community and Economic Development and private donations.
Funding has been one of the challenges on the road to the groundbreaking from when the seeds of the idea were first planted in 2002. Over the years, the project has gone through an Ad-Hoc Regional Parks Committee, master planning, revisions to planning, financing and refinancing and land development approvals.
Steff estimated about 75 votes from five different governing bodies were required along the way and called it “probably the most approved park in human history.”
Penn State acquired a 565-acre property off of Whitehall Road in 1999 from the Mellon Family Trust and between 2008, when a subdivision plan was created with local governments, and 2011, it sold 100 acres to Ferguson Township and the COG to develop the regional park. (The university also sold 59 acres to the State College Borough Water Authority and used a portion of the land to develop the Musser Gap Greenway.)
In 2012, the university sold 45 acres to Toll Brothers for what would become the Yards at Old State student housing development. As part of the sale, Toll Brothers was required to provide road access, traffic improvements and utility infrastructure for the park.
But litigation brought by a local environmental group further delayed the housing development, and by extension the park. After the lawsuit was dismissed and the sale completed in late 2017, The Yards was constructed in 2020.
Final funding and bids for phase one of the park were at last approved in December 2021.
Kathy Matason, chair of the Centre Region Parks and Recreation Authority, said the impassioned persistence of local officials and COG staff over the extended time period was nearly Sisyphean.
“Unlike Sisyphus, we’re not doomed to be pushing that heavy rock forever,” Matason said. “We’re still going to encounter some small stones and pebbles, but the weight of the heavy rock of getting to this groundbreaking is gone.
“The reward for the two decades of planning, negotiating and patience will be the beautiful phase one of Whitehall Road Regional Park that will provide many decades of relaxation, play and opportunities for making memories.”
Among the driving forces for the park over the years were the late Dick Mascolo, a former Ferguson Township supervisor, and Sue Mascolo, former Centre County commissioner and chair of the Parks and Rec Authority for nearly 15 years.
The Mascolo Gardens, a large rain garden area planned for the park, will be named in their honor.
Amy Mascolo-DeMay said her parents had a love for the outdoors and a desire to make outdoor recreation available to all.
“I am certain that their involvement and fight and passion for this park was so that other families could go out and have fond memories, so that children could have a safe place to play sports and go hiking,” she said. “My mom was very active in advocating for the elderly, and so I know she wanted a safe place for them to be able to walk and sit on park benches and just enjoy the beauty of outside. I’m sure all of that is what motivated them to fight for this park.
“To see through the kindness of many people and the donation of time and money that this section of the park is going to be dedicated to them… it’s a beautiful tribute to them and their appreciation for outdoor spaces. I cannot express my appreciation enough and thank those who have been involved in making that happen. I know they are smiling down from heaven for all that’s been happening here and would be overjoyed to see this taking place today.”
Four phases are planned for the park, and Salokangas is hopeful the next three won’t take quite as long to realize.
“It’s taken us this long to get to phase one so hopefully we can move up the next couple phases over the next few years,” she said.
Whitehall Road will be CRPR’s third regional park, joining Oak Hall Regional Park and John Hess Softball Complex.
All three came about as local officials recognized the increasing demand for additional sports fields and recreational facilities in the region — a demand that has only grown over the last 20 years.
“They are a wonderful complement to the numerous municipal and neighborhood parks that are readily accessible throughout the region,” said Dan Klees, a former College Township councilman and early member of the Ad Hoc Regional Parks Committee.
