The owner of a North Huntingdon business who organizes and manages youth sports leagues is proposing a $10 million, privately owned, indoor-outdoor sports complex at the township’s public works property.

Shane Larkin, owner of the N Zone Sports — Westmoreland franchise, said the proposal he presented to the North Huntingdon commissioners last month during a closed-door executive session would involve the construction of a multi-field-and-court sports complex that would cover about 15 to 18 acres on public works property off Route 30.

Larkin said the company would seek a long-term lease from the township for use of the land.

“This community needs it,” Larkin said.

As proposed, the athletic complex would include an indoor turf field and track, two football fields, multiple indoor basketball courts, an outdoor dek hockey rink, an in-line skating area and possibly a pickleball court.

“We’re in the process of exploring this,” Larkin said. “This is in the very early stage. There’s still a lot to do,” including engineering and design work.

Jason Atwood, president of the North Huntingdon Board of Commissioners, said the sports complex would be a facility that would be available for the region to use.

“It is something any community would be envious of,” Atwood said.

Larkin, who works for the N Zone Sports All American program based in Tampa, Fla., said he is working with Sean Street, whose Las Vegas-based S&S Development would construct and own the facility. Street has a business relationship with N Zone Sports because his Roc Street Sports business provides uniforms for teams organized through N Sports Zone’s franchises, Larkin said.

Street said he would either seek investors to finance the $10 million project or obtain the financing himself.

“That’s a significant cost,” Street said.

As to why he would want to build an athletic complex in a town about 25 miles from Pittsburgh, Street said “it brings credibility to the brand — Roc Street.”

To protect their investment, Larkin said they would need to reach an agreement with the township on a long-term lease — possibly 40 years — or even a perpetual lease, Larkin said. He said a 25-year lease would not be long enough.

The municipality could not sell any part of the 77-acre public works property to the developer without advertising for bids on the property, as required by state law, said Harry Faulk, township manager.

Bidding against other prospective buyers likely would make the site too expensive, Larkin said.

If a lease agreement can be reached, Larkin said, he hopes to obtain the necessary permits by late February or early March, with construction to begin this year. It could take between 18 and 20 months to complete, he said.

One potential problem with the site at the public works property is that the complex would have to be built into the hillside on the west side of the property, thus increasing the cost of site preparations, Street said. If that becomes too costly, Street said, they might look for property to purchase.

Building a sports complex that would attract more vehicles to the public works property could pose traffic issues on Route 30, as Public Works Drive connects to the westbound lanes of Route 30.

There is no middle turning lane for eastbound motorists who want to enter the property or those leaving the site. The other access road to the property is off Skellytown Road. That access road is an unnamed tar-and-chip road.

Both Atwood and Faulk said no commitments have been made to lease the property. Any vote on a lease would have to be made at a public meeting.

“We want to examine all options before deciding what to do with the site,” Faulk said.

The township would do its due diligence on the proposed project and the financing to construct such a sports complex, Faulk said. North Huntingdon does not want to lease the land for a building, then have a developer go bankrupt and the taxpayers are stuck with the building, Faulk said.

“The taxpayers would be protected,”Atwood said.

Over the past several years, the commissioners have been approached about creating an athletic complex, possibly at Oak Hollow Park. None of the seven commissioners showed any support for a municipally operated recreation center.

The commissioners in September fielded comments from residents both supportive and critical of creating a multipurpose field at that park.

Voters in 2011 rejected a proposal to build a community center with recreational facilities, such as a swimming pool. That project would have saddled the municipality with an annual debt service estimated at about $1 million.

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