If you've driven Lowries Run Road toward Mount Nebo any time in the last decade, you've probably passed the same sign without giving it much thought. FOR SALE, planted at the edge of what used to be Green Valley Golf Course. The fairways went quiet years ago. The trees crept back over the greens. At one point there was talk of a sewage treatment plant going in instead, a plan that never got past the rumor stage. The sign just kept standing there, a placeholder for a piece of land nobody quite knew what to do with.
That changed in January 2026, when Ohio Township announced it had closed on the property. The parcel runs 138 acres along Camp Horne Road and Lowries Run Road, picked up with more than $500,000 in state grant money behind it. It sounds like a routine land deal until you look at what it actually represents. This is only the second municipal park the township has owned outright in its entire history.
One Park, For Most of Two Centuries
Ohio Township was formed as the third township in Allegheny County, back in September 1803, and for most of that time it has operated with a single park of its own. Ohio Township Community Park on Nicholson Road centers on a two-story Nature Center, an outdoor amphitheater tucked behind it, a five-acre ballfield up the street used by the Avonworth Girls Athletic Association, and a paved nature trail that AllTrails reviewers describe as a favorite for local families, "quiet and tucked away."
For anything bigger, the township has never gone it alone. Swimming, large-scale athletic fields, and event space have always come from Avonworth Community Park, a 119-acre property the Avonworth Municipal Authority bought in 1968 for $150,000 and leases jointly to Ben Avon, Ben Avon Heights, Emsworth, Kilbuck, and Ohio Township. That's where the pool sits, along with the Kids Kingdom playground and the Mayernik Center. It's a good park, but it belongs to five municipalities at once, not to Ohio Township specifically.
So when the township describes Green Valley as its second municipal park, that's not a marketing phrase. It's a literal count. In roughly 220 years, Ohio Township has built exactly one park by itself. It's about to have two.
The Money, and Who Pushed It Through
The purchase leaned on Pennsylvania's Local Share Account program. Ohio Township pulled in over $500,000 through the LSA to acquire the Green Valley land, and additional funding requests tied to the broader project now total more than $1.25 million. State Rep. Arvind Venkat and State Sen. Devlin Robinson are the two names attached to securing that money, and Venkat framed the acquisition plainly:
"This is an incredible opportunity for us to have a new, expansive community space."
For a township with 7,232 residents as of 2026, a $500,000-plus grant covering a 138-acre acquisition is not a small assist. It's the difference between a parcel sitting behind a for-sale sign indefinitely and a township actually being able to act on it.
What's Actually Happening First
Here's where it's worth being precise, because it's easy to hear "new park" and picture a ribbon-cutting with a splash pad and a dog park already built. That's not where this stands. According to the township, the initial phase of work will focus on three things:
- Roadway access to the site
- Parking
- Trail restoration and clearing
Everything past that, ballfields, a playground, any structure, is described as a decision for later stages, and the township has said it wants community input before those calls get made. As of this writing, no construction start date or amenities list has been published beyond that initial scope.
Why This Isn't a One-Off
There's a second piece of news from this year that's easy to miss but adds context to the park purchase. Ohio Township was named a 2026 Banner Community, a distinction from Allegheny County and the Allegheny League of Municipalities that recognizes professional development, sound fiscal management, and transparency. The township is one of just a handful of communities to have received that recognition every single year since the program began in 2013.
Put those two facts side by side and the Green Valley purchase reads less like an unusual splurge and more like what a township with a consistent track record of steady management eventually does when the right piece of land, and the right grant, line up at the same time. It's not a reach. It's closer to what you'd expect from a municipality that's kept its books in order for over a decade finally having the standing to act on a property that's been in limbo since before most of its current residents moved in.
What This Means If You Live Here
The land isn't going anywhere, and neither is the process. If you have opinions about what belongs on 138 acres of former fairways, this is the moment those opinions matter most, before the design gets locked in rather than after. The township's Parks and Recreation Department has invited residents to share input directly at [email protected].
For everyone else, the honest takeaway is patience. What changed in January was ownership, not amenities. What changes next, trail access, parking, the shape of the park itself, is still being decided, and the township has said updates will come as planning moves forward.
Either way, it's a rare thing for a place this size to add a second park to its own name after a couple hundred years of getting by with one. Worth watching, and worth having a say in while there's still a say to have.
If you're weighing a move into Ohio Township, the North Hills, or anywhere else in the Pittsburgh area and want a clear read on what a neighborhood's daily rhythms actually look like beyond the listing photos, Emily Wilhelm can walk you through it. Let's Connect.
