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Peach Plaza is part of the
story of the Twin Lakes Park
Expansion Project...
In 1988 Westmoreland County,
with grant assistance from
PA DCNR, purchased 69.5
acres on the west side of
Twin Lakes Park from the
Walter Dillon family to set
aside developable land to
meet future recreation
needs. Years down the road,
the parks staff and CAB
concluded in 2004 that the
major recreation facility
need in the County was for a
large regional skate park
for skateboarding, in-line
skating, and free style
hiking. In the fall of that
year, we applied to DCNR for
a $190,000 grant to fund
half of an estimated
$380,000 regional skate park
and amenities.
In 2005, a public meeting
was called to discuss the
planning of a Regional Skate
Park. 75 people attended to
voice their rapport and
concerns. People that
attended the meeting were
invited to meet regularly
with park staff and
participate in the planning
and funding of the Skate
Park. The group began to
meet, and shortly thereafter
named themselves the
Westmoreland Street Park
Alliance. The staff and CAB
challenged this group to
raise $20,000 to fund the
construction of the park. A
variety of car washes,
benefit concerts, and March
for Parks teams were
organized as fundraisers for
the skatepark.
After receiving the grant
from DCNR, the CAB hired
J.T. Sauer & Associates to
master plan the Twin Lakes
Park Expansion. Their
contract included the entire
project except for the plans
for the Skate Park. The
Street Park Alliance had
concluded that they would
use the street oriented
plaza concept, similar to
the Kettering Skate Plaza in
Ohio.
In June 2006, the SITE
Design Group from Tempe,
Arizona was hired to
complete the plans for the
Skate Plaza. The Parks staff
and Street Park Alliance
hosted two public meetings
in July and August to gather
input into the design
process and to evaluate and
fine-tune the skate plaza
design. A final design was
accepted in September.
Another key event that
occurred in June of 2006 was
a phone call from James
Peach, a local retired
schoolteacher and
businessman that was
interested in helping to
fund the skate park. Mr.
Peach initiated the transfer
of 2400 shares of Exxon
stock, with a value of
$161,500, to the CAB to
complete the project. An
agreement was reached to
name the Skate Park PEACH
PLAZA, in memory of Joyce H.
Peach, Jim's wife, that had
died in 2006.
Final plans and
specifications were
completed in February of
2007, and the Board of
Commissioners awarded the
construction contract to
Custom Contracting for the
completion of Phase I of the
Expansion. The total project
is now projected to cost
approximately $900,000 with
all planning, permitting and
construction costs included.
The estimated construction
time is four months, so
completion should occur by
the middle of October.
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