A recreation facility worries me because the plot is next to West Chester Pike & Lawrence Road - two heavily commuted roads with cars driving at excessive speeds. If a baseball field is built what if a ball flies onto one of these roads & hits a car - this has potential to cause some serious damage to both the car & the driver. Also, what if a child was to chase after a loose ball that was heading towards one of these busy roads - the child could become severely injured or worse a causality.

All of the other townships are getting state of the art recreational facilities and fields. Marple is getting left in the dust. If we want young families to continue to move into Marple we need to get with the times. We have enough grocery stores in Marple. Our fields and facilities are an embarrassment.

I love the idea of having a recreation facility there. It would be the perfect location, since it has public transportation accessability. Jennifer is right, with pointing out the security factor. Maybe the solution would be a semi indoor outdoor compromise, where security would be established with fencing and/or netting. It would be nice to have a ice skating in the winter around here. Even a pool for exercising would be nice, for an affordable price, where a Family can exercise together. There is even enough room for maybe a youth center? However, besides security issues, I also have a concern about the price tag. Let's not forget, the roof is leaking, the elevator has had problems on a regular basis and the building is now empty for over a year; The parking lot is not level, so this could be an issue as well. The building needs to be looked at a little closer, to determin if it can be used with some remodelling or if it needs more extensive repairs.
A nice alternative would be a Wegman's or Trader Joe store, where we would have some other, maybe healthier food shopping options.

I don't know if the site is large enough to accommodate a Wegman's, but that would be my first choice. There are two other developments in Newtown Square where the owners should consider a Wegman's- our area deserves a first class food store that is sorely needed.

Many other townships have large recreational spaces for various youth (and adult) athletic programs; this would certainly be a valued enhancement to our community. Open space is something our township needs and should have (we have more than enough buildings). I certainly encourage Marple Supervisors to look into this matter.

We have sufficient recreational locations. Some are underused, such as Veterans Memorial Park and Kent Park. And, yes, some facilities do need upgrading. By keeping this site a tax generating business location, we can fund improvements on what we have. However, creating a new sports facility will loose revenue while exponentially increasing taxes.

Ok, seriously this cannot be another recreational facility. I can appreciate the comments about an inviting, upscale recreational facility for families but isn't that what the community center is for? I don't understand. What about the recreational parks that are completely underused like the other comment mentioned? Why build something new when we already have that? Maybe people should start asking when the communicity center will actually finish its construction?

I agree with other comments posted here about creating something that will bring in revenue, such as a grocery stores. Yes, we have many in the area (ie, giant, acme, etc.) but we do not have an upscale one like Wegmans or Whole Foods. Bringing these types of stores will absolutely provide more revenue and plus, the infrastructure is already there! More importantly, many people will be able to benefit from these stores from young to old. Recreational facilities in my opinion are more accodomadating for one demographic, young families. As a new mom myself, I think a recreational facilitiy is a good idea, but its not practical.

WEGMANS!!! WEGMANS!!!! We need one in our area!

Simple solution for this property is a HOTEL. What Delaware county lacks is a hotel space for out of town guests, local weddings, business conferences, etc. Placing a hotel on this property would generate a tremendous amount of tax revenue.

Hey I have an idea is to make a SUNOCO and a FOOD COURT and have Bus tickets for SEPTA sold and run through there too. j.tripmaster@aim

The property just sold 1/30/2013 to a locally based real estate investment company, and it was not De Botton / National Realty Corp. The new owner focuses on medical/office, retail, and student housing. My bet would be on med/office for this location.