"I absolutely feel for the residents at Jefferson who have their senior center right there," Councilman Shawn Kerestus said at the Nov. 2 special meeting, as reported by TribLive. "I would love the opportunity to keep the old senior center, but I'm just going to level with you, I don't see how the math works to keep both running."
That night Penn Hills Council took the first formal step toward buying the former YMCA at 11817 Frankstown Road and turning it into a Community Recreation Center. The rec center is how the plan has been described, and it is what most residents will picture. But the one use the township has already named for the building is the Penn Hills Senior Center, which now operates from 147 Jefferson Road. The new gym, the youth programs and the equipment are all still undecided. So the first change residents would notice is where seniors go for lunch and bingo, well before anyone goes there for a pickup game.
How a YMCA ended up back on council's agenda
The building has been out of public use for longer than many newer residents have lived in Penn Hills. Here is the sequence:
- July 2018. The YMCA of Greater Pittsburgh announced that its Penn Hills branch would close by Aug. 31 as part of its reorganization after bankruptcy. CEO Kevin Bolding told WTAE that the closures, together, would save more than $1 million a year.
- February 2019. The YMCA sold the 31,000-square-foot building and its seven acres to Monroeville Assembly of God for $1.1 million. The asking price had been $1.8 million, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
- Oct. 29, 2026. At a town hall on the plan, the public seating was full and about 15 people spoke.
- Nov. 2, 2026. Council met at a special meeting. The vote had originally been set for Nov. 9 and was moved up because the church wants to sell the building by the end of the year.
- Nov. 16, 2026. Council's regular meeting is at 7 p.m., the third Monday of the month.
The church's year-end deadline is why this moved quickly. In the same TribLive preview, Mayor Pauline Calabrese said the schedule left residents "only one business day to respond after the town hall." Councilman Alan Waldron called the town hall "healthy debate." He said most people there supported the rec center but had questions about the process and the financing.
The seven acres are a big part of the case
The building alone does not explain why the township wants it. In the meeting video posted to YouTube, Waldron pointed to the land. He said the building "and this large piece of land that it sits on" give the township room to grow and add on as needs change. "That's a luxury that we don't have today," he said. "We don't really have places that we can just build new facilities, add on."
That flexibility also shapes the plan for seniors. Asked what would happen if the building didn't work well for the Senior Center, Waldron said one option would be an addition with dedicated space for seniors or for other programs.
The township has described two other uses beyond recreation. Acting Manager Diane Fitzhenry said the building could serve as an emergency shelter. Waldron's budget outline included a full-site generator, a repaved parking lot and a hot water tank. A shelter needs power, so the generator is the piece that makes the shelter idea work.
On programs, Waldron said Parks and Recreation Director John Scaglione "has a long list of ideas" covering kids, teens, adults and seniors, and that the township wants to hear from residents first. He invited people who run local soccer, football and track programs to talk about expanding them. He also named Hebron Community Center as the kind of organization the township wants to work with, so that visitors to the new building learn about activities elsewhere in Penn Hills. Hebron is also on Frankstown Road, at 10460 Frankstown Road.
According to Waldron's answers at the meeting, gym equipment has not been settled, and one idea is to seek equipment that gyms and medical facilities donate when they upgrade. He said the township is "pretty far away" from a staffing plan.
What moving the Senior Center would change on Jefferson Road
The Senior Service Center on Jefferson Road serves residents 60 and older, as well as homebound older adults and those who are hard to reach. Its number is 412-244-3400. Its November 2026 newsletter lists lunch followed by bingo, Lunch & Learn talks, blood pressure checks, Medicare and dementia information sessions, a computer class, and shopping trips and outings. Starting Nov. 9, lunch moved to noon to 1 p.m., with bingo right after.
At the Nov. 2 meeting, much of the public comment was about where this center sits now. According to TribLive's post-meeting report, residents asked:
- how seniors would get to Frankstown Road, especially those living in the nearby Jefferson Manor high-rise
- whether the former YMCA would suit the center's operations
- whether Senior Center management had been part of the planning
- why the current building has fallen into disrepair and why it can't be fixed
Waldron said shuttle options are being considered and that the move is still "some time" away. Several residents who questioned the Senior Center move said a recreation center for younger residents could still be a good thing, TribLive reported.
Kerestus tied the issue to the township's overall budget. He said next year's estimated budget numbers had him "very worried," and he said he is meeting with the finance director to try to "thread this needle." He also said he thinks buying the building is a smart decision.
Who uses the building on Frankstown Road now
The former YMCA is not empty. It is a satellite location of Monroeville Assembly of God, and the church runs a free health clinic there for people without insurance.
The clinic is Sheep Inc. Health Care Center, a faith-based nonprofit. It is not an emergency facility. Its hours page lists walk-in hours at 11817 Frankstown Road on Thursdays from 5:45 to 8:30 p.m. and on the second and fourth Saturdays from 9:30 a.m. to noon. Patients are seen first come, first served, and the clinic may close early when it is full. The clinic lists itself as closed for Thanksgiving week on Thursday, Nov. 26, and Saturday, Nov. 28, so Saturday, Nov. 14, is the only Saturday walk-in session left this month.
At the meeting, Waldron said Fitzhenry had met with the clinic that day. He said getting the building ready and starting programs "is going to take some time," and that the township has no plans to ask the clinic to leave soon. "We understand they provide a valuable service to the community," he said.
The price, the payoff schedule and the second vote
The Nov. 2 vote passed. Councilman Ian Cartwright, Councilman Kerestus and Deputy Mayor Kimberly Refosco voted yes, and Mayor Calabrese voted no. Waldron recused himself, TribLive reported. The ordinance lets the township's bond counsel go to market with a ceiling of $9.4 million. The final bond amounts have to come back to council for another vote before either project can go ahead.
That ceiling is much higher than the actual plan. The two projects together are estimated at about $6.5 million. That includes $4 million to replace the leaking salt dome on Leechburg Road, which is more than 20 years old, and $2.5 million for buying the former YMCA plus related costs. Waldron's outline put the property itself at about $1.35 million. For comparison, the church paid $1.1 million for the property in 2019, and the YMCA had been asking $1.8 million.
Chris Shelby, a managing director at Piper Sandler who advises the township, told the Oct. 29 town hall that the bond would be paid off by 2030. He said the payments are timed so that each year stays within the township's current bond payments, as older bonds are paid off. He also said the structure does not require a tax increase to repay the bond. He explained that the $9.47 million figure was advertised to meet state Department of Community and Economic Development requirements, and that it is "not a ticket to take any more" than the $6.5 million in projects.
Waldron made a similar promise at the meeting:
"Tonight's vote is just to authorize the bond officers to start the process and get us final numbers. We will have a second vote to authorize whatever numbers they come back with. And honestly, I'm going to give my promise that if those numbers come back much different than that 6.5 number, then we are absolutely going to pump the brakes on this project."
Council's next regular meeting is Monday, Nov. 16, at 7 p.m. at the Municipal Government Center, 102 Duff Road. Senior Center members, clinic patients and youth league organizers will hear the next set of numbers there, at a meeting held under the church's year-end deadline.
A public building changing hands on Frankstown Road is the kind of local change we follow closely, because neighbors ask us how it fits into their own plans. If you live near Frankstown Road or Jefferson Road and want a clear, local read on your own home, the Jen Mascaro Team is happy to talk it through. Start with one question: What's Your Property Worth?
