MEETING PLACE GREENWAY CONSTRUCTION UNDERWAY AT SOUTHGATE SHOPPING CENTER – Franklin County Free Press

The Borough of Chambersburg is pleased to announce that work has begun on the Meeting Place Greenway at Southgate Shopping Center, which has been in the planning stage for several years. In 2020, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development allocated $365,893 to the Borough through the Community Development Block Grant Coronavirus (CDBG-CV) program to be used to prevent, prepare for and respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023, Town Council approved a Resolution to use the CDBG-CV funds for the Meeting Place Greenway at Southgate Shopping Center. On September 16, 2024, Town Council awarded a contract to Scott’s Hauling & Excavating, Inc. to construct the greenway.

The Meeting Place Greenway project will remove the parking lot behind the building on Cedar Street formerly occupied by the Chambersburg Beauty School, to be replaced with soil and grass to create a greenway adjacent to the Conococheague Creek. The remaining adjacent asphalt will be delineated with concrete curb to create a boundary between the Rent-A-Center parking lot and greenway. To provide pedestrian connectivity and handicapped access to the greenway, an asphalt path will be provided adjacent to the creek, from the sidewalk networks on West Washington Street to Loudon Street. A new 12-foot-wide asphalt path will be installed along the edge of the grass, with the adjacent driveway entrance on West Washington Street being retrofitted as a trail entrance with bollards to prohibit vehicle access. Bollards will also be installed on the opposite end of the new path to prohibit vehicle access from the parking lot, which will continue to serve as pedestrian connectivity to the sidewalk on Loudon Street.

This new, publicly accessible outdoor facility will be owned and maintained by the Borough, creating open space and passive recreation as well as a greenway to accommodate social distancing and mitigate potential future coronavirus pandemic impacts.

The Meeting Place Greenway Project is one component of the Southgate Shopping Center Redevelopment Initiative, which is depicted through the concept plan below.

If you would like to learn more about the Southgate Shopping Center Redevelopment Initiative, please visit the website at https://www.chambersburgpa.gov/government/southgate_english.html.

If you have questions about the Meeting Place Greenway project, please contact Robert Nolan, Storm Sewer System Inspector, at 717-251-2031 or rnolan@chambersburgpa.gov.