Fayette County seeks grants for Dunlap Creek Park dock
Fayette County is going after additional improvements at Dunlap Creek Park.
The county board of commissioners voted to apply for a $75,710 grant from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission for a new Americans with Disabilities act-compliant boat dock at the park, located off Route 40 in Menallen Township. An estimate from Board-Safe Docks of Fleetwood put the cost at $151,420.
To help cover the county’s 50% match for the first grant, commissioners also applied for a $37,855 grant from the Pennsylvania Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
The dock at the county-owned park was among the priorities outlined in the county’s 2022 Parks Master Site Development Plan.
“This is another major upgrade we’re trying to get accomplished at Dunlap Creek Park to help improve things out there,” said Commissioner Vince Vicites. “That’s in our master plan. We’re focused on carrying out that plan, and hopefully we can get those grants to make this happen and improve the park even further.”
Menallen Township Supervisor Steve Myers said the dock would make for a much-needed improvement at the park.
“I think it’s going to be a huge help,” he said. “We have a lot of handicapped fishermen that go there; that dock was in bad shape.”
In June, the county held a ribbon-cutting for another project outlined in the plan, a nearly 1.9-mile walking trail around the park’s 50-acre lake.
Myers said the township is working together with the county on improvements to the park.
The township recently applied for Local Share Account funding for solar lights to be placed around the walking trail. They’re also clearing the vegetation off an old basketball court, which will be converted into two pickleball courts.
Soon, the township will also be paving the main road coming into the park, which will be widened by two feet.
“They bring fishing boats in that way all the time, and it just wasn’t safe the way the road was,” he said.
With the trail complete, the township is planning future projects to accompany it, including a dog park and tot lots.
“It’s benefiting us and our residents and residents outside the township,” Myers said. “It’s amazing how many people are out there walking every day. I would have never guessed that many people.”