What's Rising at Route 202 and Jolly Road, and the Money Math That Put It There
The building going up beside Centre Square Park is Whitpain Township's biggest public project ever, and the money behind it settled most of what it will be. A gift that had to be accepted by a deadline left the township holding cash for years before it had a design, and that cash earned interest the whole time. A road-widening bill the township decided not to pay chose the address. When the Whitpain Community Center opens on the old dog park site, its location, size and missing second floor will all trace back to that math.
The township calls it "the largest public project in the history of the Township." Construction began in May 2026 at the corner of Route 202 and Jolly Road. The township's Fall/Winter 2026–27 newsletter expects it to be finished in mid-2027. Here is the path from a check to a building.
The money arrived anonymously near the end of 2022. In a 2024 update published in Wiss Now, Board of Supervisors Chair Scott Badami listed the three conditions the township accepted:
Each condition still shows in the project. A community center was the only allowed use, so the gift could not go to other township needs. Because the naming rights are reserved, the building rising on Jolly Road has no name yet, and no public source says who will name it. The deadline meant Whitpain took the money in hand years before it had a site, an architect or a design. That gap in time turned out to matter more than anyone expected.
A $10 million check accepted in late 2022 sat through a period of high interest rates. Badami wrote that the township split the money in half and invested it in secure instruments backed by irrevocable letters of credit. As of April 30, 2024, the original $10 million had grown by more than $645,000. The township was earning about $46,000 a month.
He wrote that the extra million was meant to help pay soft costs: architect fees, engineering, legal expenses, permitting, and the cost of moving the dog park. By August 2026, Wiss Now reported that $1.3 million in investments was part of the construction funds.
During those years, the township put out a request for proposals that drew more than 20 design firms and chose Phillips & Donovan Architects. It also met with community groups. Badami wrote that many of them asked for a larger building with more athletic space. They listed uses from youth basketball, volleyball, scouting and cheer to senior pickleball, yoga and Pilates.
Two sites made the final list. One was the dog park beside Centre Square Park at DeKalb Pike and Jolly Road. The other was part of the Mermaid property, most likely on the far side of Arch Street Road. Some people asked the township to buy and reuse empty or underused buildings elsewhere. Badami wrote that buying land, with or without a building, would have used up too much of the donation.
The deciding factor was a road bill. Building at Mermaid would have meant widening Arch Street Road, adding a turn lane and building more parking, which the township estimated at $300,000 to $500,000 extra. The Board of Supervisors voted unanimously for the dog park site. A May 2025 Wiss Now report on the renderings put it another way. Building at Mermaid would have spent about 10% of the project budget on road and traffic work along Arch and Jolly roads.
The Centre Square site also already had what a public building needs. The park has two accessible parking lots, restrooms, pavilions and a frontage on Route 202. Choosing it kept that 10% of the budget for the building.
The trade-off fell on the dog park. Before construction could start, it had to move, so the dogs arrived at Mermaid well ahead of the building, which went to Centre Square.
In 2025, township Public Works crews built a new dog park along Arch Street Road across from Mermaid. They forecast about $80,000 in costs, mostly for buying and installing new fencing. That bill was paid from the Community Center Fund. The township held a ribbon cutting on November 16, 2025, for the new dog park and a new inclusive playground at Mermaid Park. The playground has three nature-based "pods" offering sensory, physical and educational play.
The Whitpain Dog Park is now at 1610 Arch Street Road. Entry is for registered members only, with a key fob or access code. The Fall/Winter 2026–27 newsletter lists 2027 annual fees of $45 for residents and $60 for non-residents, with registration for 2027 opening in December.
Getting there on foot should get easier. The township has won a $1 million federal grant for the Mermaid Park Connector Pedestrian Trail. It is planned as a 5-foot-wide concrete path along parts of Jolly Road and Arch Street Road, with painted crosswalks and traffic controls. Jolly Road connects both sites, so the walk from the old dog park to the new one runs along the same corridor.
In May 2024, the board looked at three layouts. Wiss Now's 2025 report describes them:
| Option | Size | Interior |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 30,000 sq. ft. | Fitness center and community rooms |
| 2 | 25,000 sq. ft. | Fitness center only |
| 3 | 27,500 sq. ft. | Fitness center and community rooms side by side |
The township chose the largest, Option 1. Its first cost estimate came in at nearly $12.3 million. That was more than the original gift, and the township said it would not add a second story over the community rooms and fitness center without significant new funding.
Grants closed part of that gap. In August 2026, the state's Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program awarded another $500,000, the township's third state grant for the center. Wiss Now reported the state grants together at about $2.2 million. Wiss Now also reported construction funds as of August 2026:
On March 12, 2026, the township received bids on six construction contracts totaling about $10 million. It said costs stayed within the facility budget.
The building is nearly 30,000 square feet. Two basketball courts convert into six pickleball courts, with an elevated walking track above. It also has a fitness room, meeting rooms, and trails that tie into the existing sidewalk and trail network. The township expects the indoor space to host year-round meetings, police and firefighter training, youth sports, adult leagues, senior activities and private events. In 2024, Badami described plans to rent space to leagues for games, practices and tournaments, host parties, and offer individual memberships. The township has not published membership or rental prices.
The 2024 plan also described a possible Phase Two. It would remove the back wall and add up to two more full gyms if grants came through. Based on the 2025 cost estimate, no expansion is scheduled. The building going up now is the building the money covers.
In April 2026, the Board of Supervisors gave G&B Construction Group of Feasterville-Trevose a $1.6 million site construction contract. By August, Wiss Now reported that Boyle Construction Management crews were working on site preparation, earthwork, stormwater systems, the parking lot and utility connections. The township's Fall/Winter 2026–27 newsletter now calls the work "in full swing" and keeps the mid-2027 finish date. The township posts updates on its Community Center Project page.
Next door, the township lists Centre Square Park as open. It has two turf fields, five soccer fields, picnic pavilions, restrooms, water fountains and two accessible parking lots. A 0.75-mile paved trail loops through Steuer Woods. The fields are home to WRA programs, and the WRA describes a clubhouse with restrooms, a kitchen and snack stand, a meeting room and a covered patio beside two lit synthetic turf fields. When the new building opens, Centre Square Park will have outdoor fields and indoor courts on the same site.
When the doors open in 2027, the naming rights will still be reserved under the terms the township accepted in 2022.
Projects like this one change how a neighborhood works day to day, and Nicole follows them closely, from the Mermaid Park trail grant to the community center's opening. If you live near Centre Square and want to know how changes along Route 202 and Jolly Road affect your own plans, Nicole Miller-Desantis is happy to talk it through. Schedule a free consultation.
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Nicole Miller-DeSantis serves the Philadelphia suburbs and is knowledgeable about many areas, particularly the towns in the counties of Montgomery, Delaware & Chester