UPPER MACUNGIE TWP., Pa. — The site was barren, the reactions were not.
They gathered at Grange Park on Thursday morning under a white tent and blue skies for ground-breaking ceremonies for the $47 million Lifestyle Community Center.
Local, county and state officials and major donor company representatives joined township residents to celebrate the 188,000-square-foot, multi-functional indoor facility that will include a 130,000-square-foot, turf soccer field, a running track, volleyball and basketball courts, lounges, a workout area, a cafeteria and meeting rooms.
A separate part of the center will be available for large community events, concerts, cooking and craft events, meetings, senior programs and fitness classes and pickleball.
With Lehigh Valley Health Network among several Lehigh Valley founding partners, the center also will offer many health-related events such as fairs, screenings, support groups and vaccination clinics.
But all of that is yet to come; the grand opening is scheduled for Summer 2026.
However, when those on hand Thursday were asked their impressions of the community center to come, well, the “eyes” had it.
As in, wide-eyed approval.
“In roughly 22 months from now, when we open the doors and cut the ribbon, we’ll show everyone what Upper Macungie Township is all about.”Upper Macungie Township Supervisor Jeff Fleischaker
“In roughly 22 months from now, when we open the doors and cut the ribbon, we’ll show everyone what Upper Macungie Township is all about,” township Supervisor Jeff Fleischaker said.
'A gift to the community'
With five bulldozers quietly poised on the site behind her in the distance, Laura McHugh gushed over the community center project plan that was adopted by the township board of supervisors in 2011.
As vice chairwoman of the township Community Fund, the fundraising arm of the project, McHugh defined the center as “a gift to the community.”
“Upper Macungie Township residents will have an amenity like this that is going to be world-class. There is truly nothing else like it. It is so unique in scale and design.”Laura McHugh, vice chairwoman of the township Community Fund
“Upper Macungie Township residents will have an amenity like this that is going to be world-class,” she said. “There is truly nothing else like it. It is so unique in scale and design.”
The community center project currently has $20 million in hand, with $16 million more expected from pending grants.
“We anticipate the center will attract about a half-million people each year,” McHugh said. “That will help generate enough money to help the center become sustainable.”
No final decision has been made on what township residents will be charged to access the community center, Assistant Township Manager Kal A. Sostarecz Jr. said.
Sostarecz has said that township funds will contribute to the project.
The Lifestyle Community Center timeline:
- 2011: Board of Supervisors adopt the project plan.
- 2017: Feasibility study and residents survey.
- 2020: Parks and Recreation Board prioritizes the center as its No. 1 project.
- 2021: Financing options are explored and evaluated.
- 2022: The township Community Fund Board expands.
- 2024: Permission granted to commit funding.
'Today we start that process'
Township Manager Robert Ilbach Jr. defined the ground-breaking ceremony as “a really positive day” for the township.
“I think it’s really going to redefine what Upper Macungie Township is and what is available to our residents,” Ilbach said.
Two years ago, the township did a comprehensive plan, a roadmap to the township’s future.
“There was no central place to say, ‘That’s us.’ Today, we start that process.”upper Macungie Township Manager Robert Ilbach Jr.
“One of the things that was identified is Upper Macungie Township has a lot of separate villages and subdivisions, but has no community center,” Ilbach said.
“There was no central place to say, ‘That’s us.’ Today, we start that process.”
On such an eye-opening day, among the observations from some township residents was the absence of a swimming pool in the community center plans.
“We’ve heard people asking about a swimming pool and a hockey rink,” Ilbach said. “There’s always a possibility.
“One of the nice things about the design of this structure is it’s very much a pole barn — just big poles and trusses.
"So we have plenty of room for other things if funding becomes available for Phase Two or Phase Three. There’s always a possibility.”
Upper Macungie Township is among the fastest-growing areas in the commonwealth, said state Rep. Mike Schlossberg, D-132nd District, who attended the ground-breaking.
“At its current rate of population growth, we need adequate facilities like this one,” Schlossberg said.
