NEWTON TWP. — More than three years after John Cicilioni purchased the 20-acre Red Barn Village property on Newton Ransom Boulevard for $1.6 million, plans are in place for a new, modern miniature golf course on the site.
Cicilioni brought on Sal and Katie Conaboy — owners of Scranton-based Harris Miniature Golf Courses Inc. — and siblings PJ and Mara Lahey — who own Lahey Family Fun Park in South Abington Twp. — to bring new life to the once-popular attraction.
Cicilioni hopes to open the new miniature golf course, along with reestablishing a grocery store, on the property sometime in the spring.
“We want to create an atmosphere they’ll want to come back to,” Sal Conaboy said. “The whole vibe is going to be inviting. We want dad, who is an avid golfer, to be able to line up and strategically hit a putt and make a hole-in-one, but then also have an 8-year-old accidently whack the ball, it ricochets, and he makes a hole-in-one.”
Conaboy, who grew up on Maple Drive in Newton Twp., remembers playing the Red Barn course and aims to make the new layout a destination for the whole family.
“Driving past it every day and knowing what it used to be, it’s just something we felt like we needed to do for the community,” he said. “The whole layout is going to change but it’s going to maintain the same footprint. People want to get out, get away from their phones and just have a good time.”
The new course will feature waterfalls and streams, Conaboy added.
A rendering of the new miniature golf course planned for Red Barn Village in Newton Twp. (Courtesy Harris Miniature Golf Courses Inc.)
The miniature golf course on the Red Barn Village property in Newton Twp. Thursday, September 10, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
The Red Barn Village property in Newton Twp. Thursday, September 10, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
The bed and breakfast is framed through gazebo at the Red Barn Village property in Newton Twp. Thursday, September 10, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Standing on the Red Barn Village property in Newton Twp. are the owners of the miniature golf course Mara and PJ Lahey, of North Abington Twp., and Katie and Sal Conaboy, of Newton Twp., and Red Barn Village property owners John and Heather Cicilioni, of Newton Twp. Thursday, September 10, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Show Caption
1 of 5
A rendering of the new miniature golf course planned for Red Barn Village in Newton Twp. (Courtesy Harris Miniature Golf Courses Inc.)
Expand
“This was a great course for its time, but now they build them so they have more banks and undulations,” he said.
Heather Cicilioni noted that she and her husband, John, plan to preserve many of the old buildings from the former course on another part of the property as an homage to the past.
Wayne Ayers — who still resides on the property — recalled the bustling scene there when his brother established the original mini-golf course in the late 1970s.
“Back in the day, when Burt put the golf course together, it was booming,” he said. “They used to come up from Met Life at lunchtime on Fridays and they would fill the whole place.”
Wayne’s father, Carl, bought the property as a farm in the early 1960s and developed it into Red Barn Village. Wayne said he’s happy to see the property becoming vibrant again.
“We’ve got it spruced up pretty good,” he said. “It’s good to get it going.”
The property also includes 18 apartments and a bed-and-breakfast, which currently has two rooms but will have two or three more in the coming months as renovations continue, John Cicilioni said.
Heather Cicilioni, a lifelong Newton Twp. resident, thought it was important to buy the property and maintain the traditions.
“I was so afraid that if somebody (else) bought it, they were going to demolish the building and put in a high-rise or townhouses,” she said. “I just wanted to see us be able to continue that legacy and offer amenities to the community. The grocery store switched hands many times in my lifetime, but it was always there. It’s always been our goal to reestablish these places for our community.”