- A basketball hoop, lines and benches have been restored at the Wood Street Playground in Whitehall Township
- Officials say they were removed after a PennDOT plan to expand Route 22 and eliminate the park was presented. It since has been put on hold
- The $2,200 "Legacy Grant" was presented by Whitehall Area Chamber of Commerce officials at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Thursday
WHITEHALL TWP., Pa. — Basketball is back at the Wood Street Playground in Whitehall Township.
A $2,200 "Legacy Grant" from the Whitehall Area Chamber of Commerce was awarded in April toward buying new basketball nets and backboards, with parks and recreation officials restoring the court's lines and benches.
The hoops had been removed because of designs and construction from the state Transportation Department anticipating a future expansion of Route 22 that would overtake the park lands for an exit ramp.
"We want to put something back here for the kids in that community," Whitehall Recreation Chief Brandon Hibbler said.
"I can remember my first year teaching at Whitehall in '71 playing basketball here. We had summer leagues here. Now we're going to have pickleball thanks to the chamber, thanks to the cooperation of Whitehall Township."Lehigh County Executive Philip Armstrong
Officials from Lehigh County, the township and the chamber, along with the staff of local elected officials, gathered at the playground area Thursday for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
They also highlighted the implementation of a pickleball court space on the park grounds where other former basketball hoops were located.
"I can remember my first year teaching at Whitehall in '71 playing basketball here," Lehigh County Executive Philip Armstrong said. "We had summer leagues here. Now we're going to have pickleball thanks to the chamber, thanks to the cooperation of Whitehall Township."
Honoring police officers
Whitehall Mayor Michael Harakal said that while the park likely will go away at a future date because of the expansion, they wanted to fill that need in the meantime.
"We were told that within maybe a year or two years we were going to see this go away because there will be widening [Route] 22. Then we find out it's not going to go away. And now we're probably two or three years away from this getting done and beginning to widen 22."Whitehall Township Mayor Michael Harakal
"We were told that within maybe a year or two years we were going to see this go away because there will be widening [Route] 22," Harakal said.
"Then we find out it's not going to go away. And now we're probably two or three years away from this getting done and beginning to widen 22."
He said the basketball hoops most likely will be relocated to the nearby Jefferson Street Playground when state plans to expand Route 22 come to fruition.
The Whitehall Area Chamber Legacy grant is awarded annually to projects that improve Whitehall Township and the boroughs of Catasauqua, North Catasauqua and Coplay, according to the Chamber.
Other recipients of the 2023 Grant program were North Catasauqua Township’s Recreation Committee, which will use grant funds to replace picnic tables in William J. Albert Memorial Park.
Officials said the park will be monitored after the installation, with a second hoop planned to be installed soon.
