Hatboro To Receive Federal Funding for Memorial Park Upgrades

HATBORO, PA — The Borough of Hatboro will soon receive close to a half-million dollars to make handicapped accessible upgrades to a community park thanks to federal funding secured by an area congresswoman.

U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean, a Democrat serving Pennsylvania’s Fourth District in and around Montgomery County, announced today that the House Appropriations Committee recently released its fiscal 2022 budget, and the spending plan includes a total of $7,012,350 that the congresswoman advocated for projects across her entire district.

Of that total dollar figure, $460,000 will be given to Hatboro toward the upgrade work at Memorial Park, a community space located at 330 West Moreland Avenue.

“I am delighted to have these projects included in our annual budget,” Dean said in a statement. “This process was an opportunity for our office to advocate for funding for community-based projects that address our district’s most pressing needs.”

Dean’s office provided an outlining of the various projects that were seeking funding across her district. For the Hatboro project, her office explained that the borough would be making various upgrades to the local Memorial Park in an effort to aid visitors with disabilities.

The upgrade work will involve installing an ADA-accessible trail throughout the park, running from the parking lot on the northwest side of the park to the bridge that connects both sides of the park, according to information on the project found on Dean’s congressional website.

The description goes on to state that on the other side of the bridge, the trail will link directly into a children’s playground, thereby making it an area more easily accessible to children with physical disabilities. The trail is also expected to connect to the popular Memorial Park pool and pool parking lot.

The Borough of Hatboro also plans to use the funding to construct an ADA-compliant bridge that will connect both sides of the park trail, since the existing bridge is not ADA accessible. Currently, parks visitors with disabilities would not be able to get a wheelchair across the bridge.

“By replacing the bridge with an ADA friendly bridge, we will be increasing the accessibility of the park by allowing those with disabilities to enjoy the park to its fullest capacity,” reads the project description on Dean's website.

The website states that the improvements and upgrades to Memorial Park would help the borough achieve its goal of becoming a fully accessible community that is “friendly and inviting to everyone.”

The planned park upgrades were included in both Hatboro’s 2040 Comprehensive Plan and the parks and recreation plan.