Former church adjacent to park was discussed in 2024 plan
A sudden move on a property purchase has prompted debate in Upper Gwynedd.
Township commissioners voted unanimously on Monday night to begin a $1 million purchase of a property adjacent to a local park, a deal officials say may be too good to pass up.
“This was one of those things that you just can’t control, that you’re going to have this opportunity. The fact that it’s adjacent to our park is just amazing, because we can extend that park,” said commissioner Denise Hull.
“There’s certainly a downside. There’s a liability associated with it. And you haven’t adequately gone through that for me. That’s what I’m looking for,” said resident Carl Smith, commenting at the board meeting.
At issue is a property located at 1908 West Point Pike, which is located directly adjacent to the township’s West Point Park near the corner of West Point Pike and Park Road. A series of motions up for approval Monday night included a purchase agreement, appraisal, title services, and due diligence analysis for the site, and spurred a lengthy back-and-forth between the board and several residents asking when, why, and how the board decided to act.
“The church has been there forever. The gentleman that runs it, when I found out he was putting it up for sale, that he wanted to sell it, I reached out and said ‘Are you really selling the church?’” said commissioner Liz McNaney.
“He said yeah, and I said ‘Why are you selling a church?’ He said, because they don’t want it anymore. They don’t want the maintenance, they don’t want to deal with it anymore. There is a congregation that comes there, you see them on Sundays, but they just didn’t want it anymore. And I was shocked by that,” she said.
Those early conversations took place in mid-May, McNaney said, and caught her attention because that site had been discussed before, and brought up again recently.
Talks started in mid-2010s
Last fall the board voted to adopt an updated “Comprehensive Parks and Open Space Plan” spelling out all of Upper Gwynedd’s current park assets and programs and future opportunities to grow or expand. That plan was developed after a series of input meetings and resident surveys, and includes mentions of the nearby church: “There is an informal agreement with Grace United Church to use their parking area, which is also used by Pizza Time Saloon as overflow parking,” an arrangement the board had discussed as far back as 2016.
That park plan also includes a conceptual diagram of how the church could be incorporated into the park, bringing added parking, picnic tables, and shade trees, and a concept discussed during a 2023 brainstorming session for the park study references “acquisition of church parcel.” In another discussion in May 2024, parks board members also discussed the church: “Existing conditions include a basement, kitchen, and second floor with offices and a day care room,” with a meeting the next month suggesting “Explore use of church building for indoor recreation.”
Informal talks on adding indoor park space go back even further, Hull said, recalling informal talks eight years ago when she and McNaney were first elected to the board of commissioners, and the incumbents on the board were discussing priorities.
“They talked to us about a community center, that the community had been sharing that they wanted to build. There was a committee, an offshoot of parks and rec, that had been working on it for over a year. They had gotten various estimates, they had met quite rigorously, and the thinking was they wanted to have a big community center, maybe something like you saw in Montgomery Township,” Hull said.
“However, it was cost-prohibitive at the time. I don’t remember the exact amount, it was just estimates, but it was over $20 million,” she said. “It was just too big of a bite for the township to take at that time. So we had to put that aside. But there was quite a bit of interest. And the community was excited about it.”
Fast forward to the park plan talks in 2023 and 2024, when the idea was revisited.
“We talked about how nice it would be to have, maybe not the community center that they first envisioned, with all the bells and whistles and the indoor track, but maybe a smaller facility: some classroom space, so the community could use it for meetings, for birthday parties, so they could have some programming, some indoor classes. Just to give options,” Hull said.
“Our parks and rec department said ‘That’s amazing, we would love to have that. However, we would love to have a lot of things. Maybe someday, we can do that,'” Hull said. “It wasn’t something that happened overnight, it wasn’t just the five of us, this was an idea that had been discussed, and actively in the works, for many years.”
Fast forward again, to May when the property became available and talks began between the owner and township, thus prompting the motions up for discussion, according to township Manager Sandra Brookley Zadell.
“As well as the purchase of the property, our due diligence includes a full inspection: roof, phase one environmental, HVAC, et cetera, so that we get an understanding of how we can use the property,” she said.
“We also have to make agreements with a title company and appraiser, which completed the appraisal as part of the requirements. So that’s the gist of it,” Zadell said.
Plenty of questions
Several residents sounded off about the idea, the costs, and the possible downsides, including Smith, who asked for specifics on the timeline and where the funds would come from.
“You’re going to have to spend a lot to renovate it, and it’s going to represent a liability,” Smith said. The two commissioners and manager then outlined the background that prompted the discussions, and Zadell said the full parks plan and details of all four motions are available on the township’s website.
“It just came up, and because of all that history, and all that thinking, and all those reasons, it seemed like a good choice. So that’s why we acted,” Hull said.
Smith countered by asking about any upgrade, holding or upkeep costs needed for the building, and Hull said that’s what the studies and appraisals are meant to identify, and the township could seek grants to help wherever possible. Commissioner Greg Moll added that he had similar concerns when talks began.
“I had a lot of trepidation with this purchase at first. The first thing I said was, ‘It feels like an impulse buy,’ at first blush,” he said, with questions about easements, access and limitations or covenants also raised in internal talks.
“We thought: for the price point, for that amount of land, if the inspections go well, that it might be a good investment for the township. We’re not going to get many more opportunities like that. It’s a very unique opportunity,” Moll said.
Other uses
What other uses could happen there? Solicitor Lauren Gallagher said any sale to the township would not be finalized until the due diligence and inspections are done, and would include restrictions on the use, while a sale to another owner may not carry the same limits.
Resident William Jackson also questioned the purchase, and whether it’s the best use of township funds.
“We have a lot of liabilities on the list, with our existing park infrastructure: updating the castle (playground at Parkside Place), major improvements to the pool, and other improvements to our existing park facilities,” he said.
“I really feel the idea of buying this property, and spending that amount of money, is a wrong level of priority, given all the other things we have to upkeep and maintain. I don’t see a lot of demand for additional park indoor space,” Jackson said.
In his public comments, Jackson also asked if the purchase of the property had any connection to ongoing talks about a possible new site for the township’s fire company to build a new fire station; Zadell said any purchase would include provisions that it be used for parks and recreation use only.
“So it would not be allowed to be utilized as a fire station, as per a request from the person we’re purchasing it from,” she said.
Jackson added one more request: “As a person who runs and bikes the neighborhood, I love the trees on that property — so no matter how it goes, keep the trees. They’re big and beautiful trees.”
Judy Voce said she recalled the earlier talks about a rec center, and agreed with the idea, but not the rapid timing.
“Here’s the ‘but’ — I don’t know that it aligns with your original list of goals: the high priorities, mid priority, low priority. One of the things I saw as a high priority was biking infrastructure, and I don’t see any money being spent on any biking infrastructure,” Voce said.
Zadell replied that the township spent roughly $80,000 on adding bike lanes to Broad Street last year, has slightly less planned for trail connections in 2026, and is currently developing a grant application seeking up to $1 million for a another bike and trail project, and those projects typically take years to plan, engineer, acquire properties, and fund.
“I don’t think this project is going to cause anyone on the board to say ‘Nevermind, we can’t do trails,'” Zadell said.
Resident Fred Hencken asked about the current zoning of the site, and what could be built there by another owner. Zadell answered that the current zoning is village residential, and it could be developed as “twins or townhomes” by right, with no use approval needed from the board. Hencken asked how the acquisition would be funded, and the manager and solicitor said any budget expenditure would need board approval, and the draft purchase agreement lists a price not to exceed just over $1 million.
“To be an attractive buyer, the township has to move quickly,” Zadell said.
North Wales center example cited
Mark Connelly brought up another example just a few blocks away: the North Wales Arts and Cultural Center on Main Street, which formally opened in late June after nearly two years of renovations largely funded by grants.
“Are those types of grant opportunities that they had, are those still being offered?” he said, and Zadell said the township would seek any such funds they could.
“We have to go through the process. I don’t know, we can walk into the building, and use it? The due diligence will tell us that,” Zadell said.
“As we move forward, plans will be shared, and pricing will be shared. But we don’t have any of that right now,” she said.
The commissioners then voted unanimously to approve all four motions, directing staff to proceed with the sale agreement, appraisal, title services and due diligence, and the manager said she’d give updates at future meetings.
Upper Gwynedd’s commissioners next meet at 7 p.m. on Aug. 11 at the township administration building, 1 Parkside Place. For more information visit www.UpperGwynedd.org.
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