Horsham Secures Transfer of 'Southeast Clear Zone' From Old Base

HORSHAM, PA — Local officials are celebrating the first transfer of property from a former U.S. military installation in the township that has been shuttered since early last decade.

Horsham Township Council Members recently executed a deed for an eight-acre parcel of land known as the 'Southeast Green Zone' situated in the former Naval Air Station - Joint Reserve Base in the Willow Grove section of the municipality.

The news was announced in the township's summer newsletter to the community.

The property, bordered by Girard and Columbia Avenues along Easton Road, and is connected to the Wayne Avenue neighborhood park.

According to the township, the property, which measures just over eight acres, was previously open space/farmland that had been transferred to the local school district back in the 1920s.

The former Horsham Elementary School was built on the property in 1927 to serve school children in the eastern part of the township. The U.S. Navy acquired the land in 1982 from the school district and tore down buildings so the property could instead serve as a crash zone, according to information from the township.

The Naval Air Station - Joint Reserve Base subsequently closed back in 2011, and Horsham Township, along with its Land Redevelopment Authority, had been looking to acquire the property for open space purposes for years.

"We're thrilled to add this parcel to the list of open space in our parks system!" reads the township newsletter.

The township says it was able to secure the deed to the land with the help of the National Park Service's Federal Lands to Park Program.