For decades, the three abandoned dairy farm buildings in Upper St. Clair's Boyce Mayview Park have stood as remnants and reminders of a bygone era.

Two of them, the wooden barn and the root cellar, stand in the way of the proposed community recreation center development, and the township's board of commissioners is weighing their fate.

Although the board will address the issue at its Monday meeting, members probably will await the report of an official of the state Historical and Museum Commission who will tour the site Dec. 13 to evaluate the three buildings' ages and conditions.

The visit was arranged by Nancy Page and Larry Burke, of Upper St. Clair, who want to preserve all the structures for their historical value.

At the board's meeting Monday, Mr. Burke said the evaluation was the first step toward obtaining grant money.

At the same meeting, the township staff recommended that the barn and root cellar be demolished.

Mark Mansfield, senior assistant township manager, said the structures are in poor condition, not historically significant and are in the parking area of the proposed recreation center.

Timbers from the barn, he said, could be salvaged and reused elsewhere in the park development.

An estimate is expected at Monday's meeting on the cost of securing the largest structure, a brick dairy barn with four silos. The recommendations from Gateway Engineers include placing plywood sheets over all openings except the main entrance and maintaining barriers around the silos.

Once a decision is made on the building's fate, staff will pursue grants.

The dairy barn is not in the way of anything involving the recreation center.

Driving by the structure recently, Commissioner Ched Mertz said the thought came to him, "This thing really is unique."

The township estimated it would cost $1.2 million to restore the three buildings to their original state.

Relocating the barns was raised as an option at the meeting.

The buildings were abandoned by Mayview State Hospital, a treatment center for the mentally ill, which, in its prime, maintained farms as part of its therapy program.

The exact ages of the barns are not known. But, according to plot plans of Mayview reviewed by Mrs. Page, the dairy barn first appears on a 1925 plan, while the wooden barn appears on a 1943 plan.

After acquiring the land and buildings in the early 1990s, the township erected a fence around the structures to keep them secure. While they are boarded up to protect them from the weather, they continue to deteriorate.

Mrs. Page said she would like to see the exterior of the dairy barn preserved, with the interior used as a theater or community center.

While she is concerned about the loss of the two buildings because of the parking space commitment, she said she would be happy if the township would preserve at least the dairy barn, which still contains milking equipment.

Besides serving as a reminder of bygone farming techniques and the history of the township, the building enhances the green design of the property, she said.

"Once history is removed, it can never come back," she said. "We have got to be better stewards of what we have for those coming after us."