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And the land, near the center of the township, is expected to get plenty of use by generations to come.
After all, "the forecast for the number of soccer, lacrosse and other sports over the next five, 10 years is for continued growth," as one township official said.
Manheim Township officials this week identified a 40-acre site in Neffsville that will serve as a community hub for football, soccer, lacrosse and other practice fields.
Township commissioners voted unanimously Monday to pursue acquisition of the land, with the purchase expected to be finalized by the end of the month.
The cost to buy the land is more than $1 million, but the specific figure will be disclosed when the acquisition is finalized, township officials said.
The site, at 312 Petersburg Road, on the east side of Weaver Road, is near Manheim Township Community Park and appears perfectly suited for use as fields, township leaders said.
"We're pretty excited about this," Commissioner J. Michael Flanagan said.
"It's largely a flat piece of land, so we won't need to make a tremendous amount of changes" to make it suitable for sports fields, he said.
Visiting the community park recently, Flanagan noticed homes nearby. He said he was "grateful that someone from the township 50 or 60 years ago had the wisdom to buy that (park) land and keep some open space for the public" as the township grew all around it.
"Hopefully, we're doing something here that is equally appreciated 50 or 60 years from now," Flanagan said.
The first football players should be using the new athletics fields in Neffsville by August 2010.
The effort to add the practice fields began a year and a half ago, when the township youth football club lost its former practice field next to Highland Presbyterian Church.
The township agreed to let the players practice, short-term, on the fields in and around the township municipal complex, Flanagan said.
"But it's obviously adjacent to a neighborhood in here," he said during Monday's meeting at the township building, "and we've been promising the neighborhood that we'd be looking for a (permanent) field."
Another commissioner, Carol Simpson, said that township officials created a committee to find potential sites after the sports teams came to them a year or two ago.
The committee of township and sports officials met each Friday morning at 7 o'clock for more than a year and "really did a thorough analysis of the need for fields for the kids of Manheim Township," Simpson said.
"We're very comfortable that this is a kind of ultimate solution."
The township is taking over the property in what officials called a "friendly eminent domain" proceeding, which saves the township on taxes.
The owner was identified as a group known as New Generation at Weaver Road LLC.
The site will feature two synthetic fields for sports such as football, soccer and lacrosse, and "will be getting a lot of use," Simpson predicted, for sports and possibly other community activities.
This week marked the first time township officials identified the site.
The fields, along with being used by the sports clubs, also are to include walking paths and passive recreation areas.
At a meeting in late June, township officials approved borrowing millions of dollars for the fields and other future projects.
The township was planning to borrow the money at an average interest rate of 4.55 percent to 4.75 percent over the 25-year bond issue, officials explained at the time.
The township has an "AA" bond rating, the best of any Lancaster County municipality, and because of that will get a better interest rate on the borrowing, officials said.
E-mail: doconnor@lnpnews.com
