Generations Park to Open Saturday, May 3, 2025 at 9:00am
April 29, 2025
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People will finally get to see for themselves what the site offers and what still remains of the historic Lambert farm. The park address is 1340 East Lisburn Rd.
Yours truly asked for a path to be mowed which roughly follows the uncompleted portion of the paved “loop trail”. Look for the mowed path as it allows visitors to see more of the site and hopefully think about whether the various roads, features, etc. shown in the latest concept plan make sense. Carrying along a copy of the latest plan would be helpful.
Note that only non-motorized bikes are allowed on the trails and dogs are to be kept on a leash. Beware of ticks in the high grass.
The latest plan was developed by staff and the Township’s contracted engineer with zero input by Commissioners Fairchild and Walsh. This is how Upper Allen rolls under the direction of Commissioners Ken Martin, Rick Castranio and Jim Cochran. They have their own agenda and vision. Their vision has an estimated cost of $20+ million.
Given the width of roads, amount of parking, # of restrooms, etc.; it appears the end goal is an event venue perhaps utilizing the Barn, Amphitheater, etc.
The latest plan shows 223 paved parking spaces with 7 new spaces near where the historic Lambert farmhouse once stood. The area near the large parking lot in the middle is expected to accommodate 300+ overflow/grass parking spaces. This area could also support a future soccer or lacrosse field – but we are told no field is planned.
A tremendous amount of land, asphalt, and dollars will be wasted on wide roads and parking lots vs. the original pocket parking design by Derck & Edson. This is the greatest flaw in the current design. One can only wonder who benefits from all the paving.
A skatepark is still shown even though one is soon to be built at Koser Park. A 660 seat Amphitheater is still shown even though it garnered only 4% of the “acorn” votes at the public input sessions. 8 restrooms are still shown and the township has filed a lawsuit against a neighbor (Gutshall Estate) in an apparent attempt to aid in extending sewer to the site. The engineer has still not provided a cost estimate for the cost of infrastructure. This is no way to build a railroad.
Generations Park is actually 58.4 acres vs. the 60 acres advertised. This compares to 74.5 acres at Winding Hills and 115.3 acres at nearby Lower Allen Park. New visitors to Generations Park might want to take the 1/2 mile drive over to Lower Allen Community Park at 4075 Lisburn Rd. to see how it compares. Note that Lower Allen manages to get by with an 18 ft. wide entry drive, gravel trails, and 2 restrooms.
The latest plan calls for 16.59% of the site to be impervious surface. This equates to 9.7 acres of mostly paved surface! In addition; there are 23.1 acres to be mowed and 13.3 acres of meadows.
Upper Allen may call Generations a passive park but this does not square with this U.S. Legal definition: “A passive recreation area is generally an undeveloped space or environmentally sensitive area that requires minimal development.”
Yours truly took a tour of Generations Park with the Park & Rec. Board last week. What stands out is how many stormwater retention ponds there are and how few parking spaces (20) have been created so far given all the paving. The crisscrossing network of internal trails is truly baffling.
The upcoming May 20th primary election may prove to be the last opportunity to change course on the design of Generations Park. There is a lull in work being done this year and the next round of implementation will fall to the 2026 Commissioners.
4 candidates are running for 2 Commissioner seats in the May 20th Republican primary. 2 are for the design seen here and 2 would scale it back. 2 Democrat candidates are also running but they are unopposed in the primary.
Here is how Generations Park could be scaled back to something more in keeping with the farm site, a reasonable budget, and what a passive park should be:
- Eliminate the Skate Park and 660 seat Amphitheater.
- Make the area around the picnic paddock the main parking area and utilize pocket parking elsewhere.
- Keep separate parking at the Senior area and consolidate pickle ball courts here and away from homes.
- Forget about re-purposing most of the horse paddocks as they are dissimilar and poorly situated. There are too many small buildings cluttering the site.
- Consider 4 to 6 custom built timber framed pavilions strategically placed around the loop drive. Dead Ash trees on site could be milled for the timbers.
- Consider on site septic or small flow treatment system.
- Consider the Barn as the main park feature but be prepared to spend $4-5 million if it is adapted to a new use.
- Consider a Community Garden area.
- Move overhead electric to underground.
Upper Allen Park Spending
April 29, 2025
Upper Allen has budgeted $2,766,510 for park spending in 2025. After $426,300 of grants are received; net spending should be $2,340,210. Park spending is spread out over 5 funds. The total is about 7.7% of overall budgeted expenditures of $30,452,120. Here is a link to the 2025 Budget:
https://cms3.revize.com/revize/upperallen/2025%20Budget%20Complete%20-%20Website.pdf
The calculation of net park spending takes some work. There is a short (28 pg.) and long form (56 pg.) budget document; however only the short form is shown on the township website. Grants are accounted for under revenue. Also, there are transfers between some funds which need to be netted out:
There is little spending budgeted for Generations Park in 2025 because the next phase of trails will not occur until 2026. Also worth noting is that Upper Allen dropped its customary $50,000 annual contribution to the Mechanicsburg Pool in 2025 pending renegotiation of the agreement. $10,000 budgeted for training includes airfare or other travel to the PRPS and NRPA convention(s) by the Parks Director and/or Parks and Facilities Coordinator.
Upper Allen is also spending money on Parks outside the budget process through “Fund 21 2021 Bond Proceed Fund”. This comes from the additional $2 million borrowed in 2021 for a soccer complex and there is now about $300,000 left in this fund. Commissioner Fairchild has objected to not including these funds in the budget as it masks spending and accountability.
A number of Bills have appeared at BOC meetings related to engineering for a turf soccer field at Winding Hills Park. Most recently, a Bill for $13,675.35 for “W.H.N. Turf Field” was presented at the February 19, 2025 BOC and is discussed on page 3 of those minutes. There needs to be specific audit of the bond proceed fund.
https://cms3.revize.com/revize/upperallen/0%20-%20Minutes%20with%20Cover%20Page.pdf
Per DCED, Upper Allen is spending more on parks than any municipality in Cumberland County. The comparison of net park spending shown is based on 2021-2023 data from the DCED Municipal Statistics website page:
https://apps.dced.pa.gov/munstats-public/ReportInformation2.aspx?report=mAfrForm
Hampden and Silver Spring have their own Rec. Departments; whereas Upper Allen runs its park programs through Mechanicsburg Rec. (part of the school district).
Hampden also owns the 106 acre Armitage Golf Course and the Hampden Pool. While these “enterprises” bring in over $2 million a year in revenue and reduce net park spending; they require significant investment and oversight. As of December 31, 2023, Hampden had $36,238,130 of bond debt.
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October 15, 2023
Eric Fairchild and Phil Walsh support creating or expanding existing parks and making connections with trails and greenways.
Upper Allen recently missed the opportunity to buy the 37 acre Banzhoff tract near Grantham for $750,000+-. Banzhoff could have been used for passive activities and creek access while saving it from development. This is an example of “Save It before they Pave It”. So is Upper Allen’s recent decision to spend $500,000+- paving parking lots at Winding Hills Park.
Banzhoff is now back before the Planning Commission on October 30, 2023 to consider a plan for 54 Townhomes and 9 SF homes. The irony is Upper Allen previously agreed to install sidewalks from Grantham to Banzhoff for nearly the same cost of $750,000+- as its acquisition.
We see possibilities for a greenway in the Trout Run area which could also support it’s historic district. There is a group working on the South Mountain Trolley Greenway in this area which could have multiple connection points. There are also possibilities for connections between Generations Park and Lower Allen Community Park.
The National Recreation & Parks Association has a long standing recommendation of 10 acres of park land per 1,000 population. With its fast growing population, Upper Allen has barely kept pace with recommended park acreage in recent years. At December 31, 2022, Upper Allen had 239 acres of park land and a population of 23,625.
Some communities have floated a separate bond issue to secure larger parcels. Others have partnered with land trust or nature conservancies. It’s important to think ahead and be in a position to take advantage of opportunities. Getting to know large landowners and their future plans helps. Much depends on the commitment a community makes to maintain open space.
Generations Park will be Upper Allen’s largest park at 59 acres when it opens. [Correction: Winding Hills is UAT’s largest park at 74.5 acres] This is not a large park by comparison. Nearby Lower Allen Community Park is 110 acres. Armitage Golf Course (owned by Hampden Township) has 106 acres. South Middleton Township has 347 acres of parkland for its population of 14,500 – over twice the recommended level!
Here is a summary of Capital Assets per the 2022 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report. We note obfuscation regarding how many soccer, baseball and softball fields Upper Allen has – they’re all lumped together as “ballfields”:
When Upper Allen bought the historic 61 acre Lambert Farm on McCormick Rd. in April, 2020, Eric began working with neighbors, walkers, horse boarders and others to “Save The Farm”. He began attending all Commissioner’s meetings, founded Friends of the Farm, and presented an initial “vision” for the farm on July, 15, 2020. See
This vision included saving the historic buildings, returning 10-12 rescue horses for use in existing REC Board programs, and developing the farm/park “passively” with such amenities as nature trails, community and wildflower gardens, and unique recreation and education features not found in most parks. This vision followed the recommendations of the 2016 Park and Open Space Plan and the design principles of Frederick Law Olmsted (designer of Central Park, Yosemite, etc.). See
https://uatwp.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/UAT-Final-Comp-Park-Rec-and-Open-Space-Plan.pdf
Much effort was made to save the historic 1855 Lambert Farmhouse. One incumbent wanted to demolish the farmhouse before even setting foot in it. UAT’s own Historic Architecture Review Board (HARB) was never allowed on site. Police drills using “flash bangs” were scheduled in July, 2020. The township would not seek grants or work with a volunteer group to leave the farmhouse as part of the park. It was only after sustained outcry that the farmhouse was put out for bid so it could be relocated. Mr. Matt Taylor made a successful bid in February, 2023. The modern additions have now been removed and everyone can see the unique and beautiful farmhouse that lay underneath.
Three public input sessions held in October & November, 2021 supported a passive approach even though choices for history, community gardens, equine, etc. were arbitrarily removed by Commissioners. There was also a failure to include Messiah Lifeways (the largest taxpayer in Upper Allen) in developing choices for the farm.
Derck & Edson, hired by the Commissioners, presented its Master Plan for the property in July, 2022.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4onk9f0up2bfr7a/1215%20McCormick%20Road%20Master%20Plan.pdf?dl=0
The master plan for Generations Park was recently turned on its head by incumbents abruptly changing all manner of trails and features for the park including a large amphitheater and creating 547 parking spaces vs. 220 before. Cost estimates were $15-20 million before these changes and will be higher now. This is not what people voted for at the three public input sessions. The recommended (and less costly) passive theme should be followed.
The “Master Infrastructure Plan” prepared by the township engineer suggest Generations Park is now being set up for more sports fields.
As with the 2017 re-zoning of the township, few people are aware that Upper Allen included $2 million for a “turf soccer field and stadium” in its last bond issue. Here is some background on this:
And the “Official Statement”:
https://emma.msrb.org/P21462851-P21135192-P21547948.pdf
Here is a cost summary for Generations Park derived from the Derck & Edson Master Plan. These figures are before changes now proposed by the incumbents:
Save Upper Allen 