South Buffalo officials seek IUP building as new municipal center

The Indiana University of Pennsylvania branch campus in the Northpointe Industrial Park might become the next South Buffalo Township Municipal Building.

That’s if the university accepts the township’s bid of $400,000.

Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s branch campus at Northpointe sits on nearly 5.5 acres of land. Its lone building includes administrative offices, a library, seven classrooms and four science laboratories. Last March, the IUP trustees voted to put the building up for sale.

University officials said classes, including current course offerings for several bachelor’s degree programs and upper-level classes for students in the respiratory care bachelor’s degree program, will continue while the facility is up for sale. But officials have announced at least one program is being moved to a location in Monroeville before classes begin next fall.

Township supervisors said the current offices at 384 Iron Bridge Road have become too small to operate comfortably.

Chairman Joe Charlton said they often would use the fire department’s fire hall to host meetings because of the lack of space, and maintenance costs have become cumbersome.

Officials hope to move the police department, township management offices, tax collector, municipal authority and other related services from the estimated 800-square-foot building to the IUP building of nearly 23,000 square feet at Northpointe.

Supervisors this month authorized sending a $400,000 offer to the university for the property.

Michelle Fryling, IUP’s executive director of media relations, reached Wednesday could not confirm how many offers were received or who submitted one.

“It’s early in the process,” she said.

The move comes after township officials had Senate Engineering look into developing a new township building.

Charlton said engineers presented various options ranging from $500,000 to $800,000, including the cost of land acquisition and constructing a building.

Going that route also would involve a lot of time and energy in finding a location, drafting construction documents, acquiring permits, going through a bidding process and, ultimately, construction.

“Everything was a wild card,” Charlton said. “We were exploring those (options). When this opportunity came up, we shifted gears.”

Supervisor Paul Bergad said it made more fiscal sense to try to buy a property at a lesser price while still addressing all of the township’s needs.

“We have to make an offer,” he said. “One of the allures to us making that offer was allowing us to have a community center. It’s large enough to do that.

“If they do approve (the sale), this will give us far more than we anticipated being able to give to the community. It will be a fantastic building if it goes through.”

Plans to repurpose the current township office, should the IUP offer go through, were unclear.

When IUP’s trustees approved the sale in March, the university released a statement “endorsing the university’s plan to maintain a regional presence.” If IUP sells the building, officials did not say how that would happen.

“We continue to appreciate our regional partners and our host communities for their collaboration and support,” IUP President Michael Driscoll said via news release. “There is no timeline for transition of the property, but we will continue to work closely with our regional stakeholders throughout the process.”

IUP’s plans at Northpointe come at a time when Butler County Community College is building a new campus in nearby Ford City.