[EastSideHBG]

I dunno, I must admit that it sounds like a lot of propaganda to me. And taxing the same people that will support you even more, possibly scaring them off? Sounds like the typical "Cutting off your nose to spite your face" PA response LOL


Reed said transforming the study's words into action rests with the proposal for a 1 percent increase in the hotel room tax.

Thursday, May 25, 2006
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

To attract more visitors, Harrisburg needs to develop its own brand as a national tourism destination, distinguishing it from higher-profile neighbors such as Hershey, Gettysburg and Lancaster.

It must develop a well-marked heritage trail connecting its rich history, complete with an audio guide. And it should proceed with plans for a museum of black history and a National Sports Hall of Fame to bolster its roster of attractions.

To help pay for it all, the county tax on hotel rooms should be increased by 1 percent, generating about $340,000 annually for the city.

Those were some of the major conclusions of an 18-month, $292,540 city tourism study conducted by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. The study was released yesterday.

"I see no reason that Harrisburg can't be a very important destination in five to seven years, maybe sooner than that," said study consultant Carolyn Brackett, of the National Trust's Heritage Tourism Program.

"Harrisburg has a great tourism product already," she added. "It's already very well-regarded, and people have a good time when they're here."

Mayor Stephen R. Reed, who commissioned the study, hailed it as a guide for putting Harrisburg on the national tourism map.

"This report outlines the best practices that have been proven to produce the dollars, the visitors and the jobs in the tourism industry," Reed said.

But one-time mayoral candidate Jason Smith, who has criticized Reed's museum plans and pushed for more community involvement in projects, criticized the plan as surprisingly light on big ideas.

"I'm hearing a lot of support for museums here," Smith said. "We shouldn't be paying a consultant $300,000 to tell us to keep doing what we're doing."

Instead, Smith said the study should offer a detailed prescription for making Harrisburg's biggest museum, The National Civil War Museum, a success.

Since opening in early 2001, the $33 million museum atop Reservoir Park has suffered from funding problems, attendance dips and a remote location that's proved difficult to find for many visitors.

"What I would like to see is a strong effort to make what we already have work before expanding," Smith said.

But Reed said he sees support for his vision of a "critical mass" of museums in the tourism study, and he vowed that both the National Sports Hall of Fame and the African American Heritage Center would move forward.

Reed said plans and construction budgets are all but completed for the sports hall of fame, proposed for City Island. He said he would seek City Council's approval for bonds to finance the project in the next several months.

Reed has promised the project would be self-sustaining because of the planned addition of 60,000 square feet of office space to the 120,000-square-foot museum, bar and restaurant project.

The African American Heritage Center has been slated for a two-building site at Third and Verbeke streets, across from the Broad Street Market. But the project will not move into the final design phase until more money is raised, Reed said.

The tourism study did not endorse Reed's long-held dream for a Wild West museum in Harrisburg, but it didn't condemn it, either.

Instead, the study suggested that support for the project could be tested by placing the city's vast collection of Western artifacts, which Reed amassed using more than $4.5 million in city money, on a traveling display.

But it all starts with money.

Reed said transforming the study's words into action rests with the proposal for a 1 percent increase in the hotel room tax.

Such tax increases must be approved by the Legislature, and Reed said they are usually adopted countywide.

Dauphin County has a 3 percent room tax, with Harrisburg receiving about $660,000 annually and the largest share going to pay off debt from Hershey's Giant Center.

If the hotel tax were raised countywide, Reed estimated, the city's cut would be about $340,000 more a year. At the least, Reed said, he wants an increase for city hotels.

"It's one of the least painful taxes," Reed said. "We're asking our out-of-town visitors to pay for the cost of tourism marketing and attractions."

The plan was "very well-received" at a briefing yesterday for about 30 area hoteliers, restauranteurs, and representatives from local attractions, according to Edward Nielsen, director of the Mayor's Office of Economic Development and Special Projects.

Brackett said there were "not really any complaints" from business owners about raising the hotel tax.

Correspondent Phyllis Zimmerman contributed to this report.

[EastSideHBG]

Correction
Friday, May 26, 2006

Aero Services International Inc. will pay Harrisburg International Airport $158,000 a year to lease eight acres of land at HIA. Aero had been leasing six acres of land and will add two acres to that lease. A story in yesterday's Business section was unclear about the lease deal.

************

[EastSideHBG]

Wow, what bad news! And you know the crime is getting out of control when you have to reconsider being open overnight! :no:

NIGHT-SHIFT HORROR

Clerk's death in $100 robbery shocks community

Friday, May 26, 2006
BY TOM BOWMAN
Of The Patriot-News

Hitender Thakur normally worked the afternoon shift at City Gas and Diesel but switched shifts with a friend so Thakur could attend classes at Harrisburg Area Community College until 9 p.m. Wednesday.

An hour after class ended, Thakur, who was studying to become a nurse and wanted to work with the World Health Organization, started his shift at the all-night convenience store at 16th and State streets. Three hours later, Thakur, 22, of Mandi, India, was dead.

"We saw him at 10 o'clock, and he relieved us and said, 'See you tomorrow,'" said Narender Atwal, a friend, also from India, who worked with Thakur at the store. "And then in the morning we got a call, and there he is. He is no more."

Harrisburg police, who viewed a videotape of the holdup from security cameras, said the robber pointed a handgun at Thakur through an open window in the glass that surrounds the counter as protection for the clerk.

Thakur bent over and tried to shut the window. The gunman fired, striking Thakur in the chest. Then the robber jumped over the counter through the open window, emptied the cash register and ran from the store.

Because Thakur was alone, there was nobody to call the police or an ambulance.

Minutes later, a customer found Thakur's body behind the counter and called for help.

Police said they have few leads. The gunman is described as a black man with a thin build, shorter than 6 feet, wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and blue jeans.

County Coroner Graham Hetrick said Thakur was killed by a single bullet from a small-caliber handgun. The bullet tore through Thakur's chest at a downward angle because he was bending over to shut the window. It struck his heart and nicked his aorta, Hetrick said.

The coroner said Thakur probably "bled out" rapidly from the wound.

The robber netted a little more than $100.

"It's another tragic waste of life," Hetrick said. "It was just one bullet, but unfortunately, it was a terribly lethal shot. My belief is it comes down to money for drugs."

"He should've taken the money" and not shot Thakur, said store owner Nirmal Singh Gill.

After police took photos and looked for evidence inside the store, Gill and his family locked the front door.

Almost everyone who stopped at the store in the morning wanted to know which clerk had been killed. Customers from the neighborhood and one from as far as Union Deposit gathered outside, talking about the clerks as if they were family.

"I know them pretty good," said George Johnson of 17th and York streets. "I thought I'd come over and say something."

Three ladies who work next door in the Lincoln School cafeteria stopped by the store to try to comfort Gill's family and say how sorry they were to hear the news.

Atwal said Thakur was pleasant to all the customers.

"It's unbelievable because [Thakur] was so friendly with all of them," Atwal said. "It's basically the neighborhood. He was so friendly with all the old people. He would sing songs. We had a little tape recorder over there. We would tape record songs, and he would sing songs in our language. The other people wouldn't understand it, but they didn't care because he was always so lively and so happy. And always laughing and cracking jokes with everybody."

"He was just a baby, a sweetheart, a really nice kid," said Lucille Anders who lives on State Street across from the store. "He used to flirt with the girls. All the girls loved him. He sure didn't deserve to go out like this."

Anders said she moved here from New York City three years ago.

This was the fourth shooting in the area since she moved here, the first fatality, Anders said.

City police spokesman Randy King said he didn't know for sure how many shootings there were, but it could be four.

Atwal, a Penn State Harrisburg student, said such violence is unknown in India.

"I can't even think of any robbery where a friend of mine or a person I knew died," Atwal said. "If there's a shooting, it's probably between a gang or something. The mafia or whatever. There are never armed robberies where people get killed at stores. ...

"We don't have that fear until something like this happens," Atwal said. "I used to hear stories from other people. Like some Indian guy died in a gas station [holdup] in Atlanta or whatever. We'd be like, 'Oh man, that's bad, that's bad,' but we didn't know it would happen to people like us, right now."

*********

Fear of crime has some stores closing overnight

Fear of robbery has some stores closing for desperate hours

Friday, May 26, 2006
BY IRVIN KITTRELL III
Of The Patriot-News

Stephanie Diaz has an image about convenience store robberies locked in her mind, and it has her afraid to work an overnight shift.

Diaz, an early-evening cashier at Uni-Mart on Front Street in Susquehanna Twp., said, "It's really dangerous. That's the time when things happen. I have that scenario in my mind all the time."

Al Patel, who works at Shop and Drive in the 2200 block of Herr Street, said his store closes at 10 p.m. because no one wants to face desperate robbers in the early morning.

"We have to protect ourselves," he said. "We have families, too, and we want to go home."

A 22-year-old cashier at the City Gas and Diesel convenience store at 16th and State streets in Harrisburg didn't make it home yesterday. Hitender Thakur of Mandi, India, was killed when a robber shot him in the chest.

There were no witnesses to the crime, police said. No arrests have been made.

Thakur, who normally worked the afternoon shift, changed to nights to attend Harrisburg Area Community College and study nursing. He wanted to work with the World Health Organization.

D. Lee Bigelow, who works at the A-Plus in Camp Hill, said he would have no problems working the overnight shift. He has worked as a cab driver and said he was robbed three times doing that job.

"I had plenty experience being robbed," Bigelow said. "It's no fun."

Bigelow, a Republican committeeman in Harrisburg's 15th Ward, said businesses and police must work together in stopping crime. He said he believes a convenience store should not have to close because of crime.

"I wouldn't want to put this on a business, to have to shut down because of an increase in crime," he said. "I don't know what you can do."

Vijay Patel, a relative of Al Patel, works at One Stop at Third and Forster streets in Harrisburg. He said his store closes at 11 p.m.

"There's too much risk," he said. "We want to be safe."

[EastSideHBG]

Man, is this going to be weird at first! My whole life I drove only one way down that section of Paxton St.

SWATARA TWP.

Paxton St. to become two-way in July

Tuesday, May 30, 2006
BY MARY KLAUS
Of The Patriot-News

Over the past four years, David Balinski has gotten used to people saying, "You can't get there from here."

He hopes that excuse becomes obsolete in July, when the eastern part of Paxton Street becomes a two-way thoroughfare from the Harrisburg Mall to Eisenhower Boulevard in Swatara Twp.

"For four years, people have been telling us, 'We see you but don't know how to get there,'" said Balinski, vice president of development for Crossgates, the developer that opened the TecPort Business Center on the former AMP Inc. campus.

"People get frustrated when they see TecPort from Interstate 83 but can't get to it," he said. "But now that all of Paxton Street will be two-way, they will have direct access to our frontage."

The east end of Paxton Street, recently renamed Bass Pro Way from the Harrisburg Mall to Eisenhower Boulevard, was a two-way road linking Harrisburg and Hershey in the 1960s.

The goal was to convert this area to a two-way segment by last Thanksgiving.

Greg Penny, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, and Swatara Twp. Administrator Paul Cornell said that work on sewer lines and manhole covers caused some delays.

As part of the $4.1 million project, nearly a mile of Paxton Street has been widened and traffic signals were being installed at 40th and Paxton streets and at both ends of Friendship Road.

The eastern part of Paxton Street will have two, three and four lanes in areas, plus turning lanes for those wishing to go to the mall, TecPort and businesses.

Mark Noble, Harrisburg Mall general manager, said the two-way Paxton Street will benefit the mall, its employees and its shoppers.

"With the renovation of the Harrisburg Mall, the growth of TecPort and housing behind the mall, there is obviously a heavier positive traffic flow," he said.

"Now, everyone who leaves the mall has to go right, although I'm sure many would like to go left.

"Despite the inconvenience this project has caused, mall management and most tenants understand that PennDOT has been doing the best it can to get things done."

Businesses at and adjacent to TecPort include ComputerAid, Capital Blue Cross, Trane Corp., Commerce Bank/Harrisburg, K&W, Masco Construction, G-Tech, Faulkner Nissan, Health America, Homewood Suites and Sheetz.

Several restaurants have opened, including Ruby Tuesday, Fuddruckers, Isaac's Restaurant and Deli, Toscano's and Cornerstone Coffeehouse.

[MetroJunkie BJR]

Great news about Paxton Street. That whole area never made sense to me the way it is. It was like that old New England phrase, "Yah cahn't get theh from here."

[wrightchr]

^ lol. i'm glad to hear paxton street is being reconverted into a two way arterial road.

[EastSideHBG]

I am happy to report that a lot of the trucks and what not have been cleared out of the area south between the train tracks and Front St and construction is about to begin....the Southern Gateway Project is underway!!! :banana:

It will be very cool now that I am living out of the area, as each time I come back to HBG I will be able to see the progress!

[MetroJunkie BJR]

Yo Yo EastSide...be sure to bring your camera on your trips back to Harrisburg...some project progress pics (try saying that 3 times fast...) would be an excellent addition to the Thread.

[EastSideHBG]

I most certainly will do, MJBJR! :yes:

Btw, I am totally moved and [almost] all settled in now (just got my internet back today in fact :banana: ), and really loving SE PA! There is a HUGE difference between the regions (much more than I expected to be honest with you) and you don't notice just how much until you live here. I have adjusted quite nicely, and although it may sound strange, I feel more at home here in the last few days than I have in all of my 28 years in da 'burg...

...but make no mistake, I will always have a soft spot in my heart for my love/hate relationship with my hometown!


I decided to check on some of the HBG news and boy, am I glad I did! :eek:

NEWS INFORMATION FROM THE OFFICE OF MAYOR STEPHEN R. REED
City of Harrisburg
King City Government Center
Harrisburg, PA 17101-1678
Telephone: 717.255.3040

FOR IMMEDIATE USE
05 June 2006

MAJOR UPGRADE TO HARRISBURG TRANSPORTATION CENTER UNDERWAY

Mayor Stephen R. Reed and U.S. Representative Tim Holden today announced that major upgrades are now underway at the historic Harrisburg Transportation Center in the 400 block of Market Street.

The Center, which dates to the 19th Century, is the modern hub for interstate and local bus service and interstate passenger rail. It will be the main hub for the planned regional rail transit system when this system is operational with the first transit corridor being from Harrisburg to Lancaster.

The $5,144,495 project includes:

o Exterior plaza upgrade, involving the removal of existing cobblestone pavers, and placement of new roadway, sidewalks, curbs, planting beds and flagpoles, along with major deck repairs

o In the building’s interior, work will include repair or replacement of floors, walls, wood panels, railing, signage, toilet accessories, plumbing, two elevators, ceilings, beams and new mechanical units and roofing work

o Placement of a new security station in the office lobby area

o Installation of a new fire alarm system

o Replacement of an existing sanitary sewer line

o Replacement of concrete sidewalks around bus shelter

o The addition of two interior water fountains for passenger use

o Extensive interior and exterior painting

o Addition of two new air handling units, and extensive other mechanical, roofing, safety and site work

Reed said work has now started. With exterior plaza and entranceway upgrades underway, the taxi cab area has been temporarily relocated from the front of the Transportation Center to Blackberry Street, directly across from the plaza.

Further, until October, Capital Area Transit buses that normally travel through the Transportation Center plaza will use S. 4th Street to travel to Chestnut Street. The bus stop shelter inside the train station is relocated to S. 4th Street and Chestnut Streets for Routes 8, 15 and 19. All other bus routes will pick-up and drop-off passengers at the same 4th and Chestnut Streets bus shelter.

Funding for the project comes from multiple sources, with most of it deriving from federal transportation monies totaling $4,081,100. The remainder is provided by the state and city.

“We especially appreciate the leadership and successful efforts of Congressman Holden in assuring that this inter-modal transportation facility would be upgraded to accommodate the expanding bus and rail traffic we handle,” Reed said. “This is a project vital to the region and state and our Congressman’s good efforts have made it possible.”

The Harrisburg Transportation Center is managed and operated by the city’s Redevelopment Authority and is owned by Amtrak. In addition to accommodating major bus and rail passenger components, it includes upper floors of office space rented by various businesses and agencies, and additionally includes retail space in the main station lobby.

*********

DEE & DEBS RESTAURANT ADDS TO RESTAURANT ROW MENU

Mayor Stephen R. Reed today cut the ribbon to officially open the new Dee & Deb’s Restaurant at 221 N. 2nd Street, in the heart of downtown’s Restaurant Row District. The new eatery features breakfast and lunch service and is open 7 days a week.

Reed said the Dee and Debs is owned and operated by longtime city restaurateur Deb Saphore, who previously operated a downtown lunchtime restaurant on Walnut Street. The new dining establishment is considerably larger than her former space, occupying 3,500 sq. ft. of space and seating 45. Four full and part time jobs are created by the new restaurant opening.

The Mayor said Dee and Deb’s will be open 7 days a week for breakfast and luncheon service. Dee and Deb’s features homestyle cooking with an extensive breakfast menu that features Deb’s signature homemade pastries. Soups, sandwiches, salads and other American fare highlight the luncheon menu.

“We are delighted to welcome Dee and Deb’s back to downtown’s growing culinary scene,” said Mayor Reed. “Deb’s delectable creations have been a popular favorite for downtown diners for many years, and we are pleased she has now returned.”

Reed said Dee and Deb’s is open Mondays through Fridays from 6:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., and Saturdays and Sundays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The restaurant also provides catering services for up to 500. Dee and Deb’s can be reached at (717) 233.1645, or via fax at (717) 920.5322. They are also located on the Internet at www.DeeDebsCatering.com.

[EastSideHBG]

Who would've thunk it, progressive thinking in Dillsburg?!? ;)

CARROLL TWP., YORK COUNTY
Plan for housing complex builds on some old basics
Tuesday, June 06, 2006
BY T.W. BURGER
Of Our Dillsburg Bureau

DILLSBURG - The old is new again in Carroll Twp., York County.

Presbyterian Homes Inc., based in Mechanicsburg, is building a complex in the "traditional neighborhood" format for low- to moderate-income older residents.

The style features mixed residential, retail and green space, all within easy walking distance.

If the design seems familiar, it should.

It is how most towns and cities in this region evolved in the late 18th- through early 20th centuries.

Because the "live-work" concept of community planning fell out of favor nationwide toward the middle of the last century, municipalities typically have to change their zoning regulations to allow this traditional style of living.

The result, planners say, is what is called urban sprawl: open space being gobbled up by separate retail and residential areas, laced together by a tangle of traffic-choked roads.

PHI broke ground on Schartner House, the first phase of its Carroll Village project, on May 27. The site is on 65 acres between U.S. Route 15 and the Gettysburg Pike.

Township Manager Dianne Price said that, to her knowledge, it is the first project of its type in the region.

The $8.5 million project will be made up of 50 one- and two-bedroom apartments for residents 62 and older whose annual income falls below 60 percent of the median income in the area. Rent for the apartments will range from $235 to $825 a month, said Stephen E. Proctor, CEO of Presbyterian Homes.

n six to eight years, the project will expand across the 65 acres and include apartments, single-family houses, duplex cottages and town houses, all linked by open walkable areas and undetermined civic space, such as a community center.

Carroll Village will have a population of around 300 seniors when the project is complete, Proctor said. PHI will move its offices to the complex.

"This project will be used us as a model for other folks. Projects like this are gaining popularity in other areas around the country, and we expect there to be more in the Dillsburg area," he said.

Price said the design works well for all demographics, not just older residents.

"It would be nice in all age groups. We are trying to connect a lot of these places with walkable spaces," she said.

The firm had its offices in Dillsburg from the 1940s until the early 1980s. The Rev. Albert Schartner, for whom the project is named, was a Dillsburg resident and 30-year CEO of PHI. Proctor and his family live just outside Dillsburg.

Patty Adami of Harrisburg, a planner for Third Age, which does strategic planning for consultants on retirement communities, said retirement communities no longer are relegated to remote areas.

"People want to stay close to services, transportation, doctors, things they can access quickly, sometimes without getting into a car," she said. "People want to be able to access the community at large and don't want to be isolated. They don't want to just be around old people."

[danwxman]

From the Central Penn Business Journal:
HU to unveil high-rise plan at meeting
Harrisburg University will unveil a preliminary land-development plan for a high-rise on the corner of Fourth and Market streets at tonight's Harrisburg Planning Commission meeting. The plan is for a 20-story high rise with space for university classrooms, offices, labs, library areas and parking. - Julia Taylor

Since the meeting is tonight, we'll probably see the renderings and article with the details come out tomorrow. I can't wait! I still wish it was going to be the 25-story new tallest it was originally planned to be.

[EastSideHBG]

Wow, that bldg. keeps getting scaled down and it went from 25 to 23 to 22 now to 20. :???: Oh well I am not complaining at all because 20-stories in HBG is still a lot LOL I am curious to see the design and I will be on the lookout for sure, and I hope it is something modern *please be glass* *please be glass*. The HBG skyline is sure filling in isn't it! Add in these new buildings (this and Market Square Plaza; she's still new in my book) and the Southern and Northern Gateway projects and you will have one impressive skyline in the decades to come! :tup:

[wrightchr]

^ i completely agree Dave. the skyline is definately coming along. i like the size of the university building but i do wish other corporate entities would invest in downtown...such as commerce bank or another financial institution with the capital to build a new tallest. i'm tired of seeing big business eyeing up big suburban spreads...when the CBD is ripe for development.

[EastSideHBG]

Anybody catch any renderings yet?!?


HARRISBURG

University tower plan graduates to council

Friday, June 09, 2006
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Like a star pupil, Harrisburg University's planned 20-story headquarters building, proposed for Fourth and Market streets, is acing the city's approval process.

The Harrisburg Planning Commission voted 6-0 this week to sign off on the plans, thereby sending the project to the City Council for final approval.

Steve Cordaro, a senior engineer with Benatec Associates and one of the building's designers, said the plan is to have all of the necessary approvals and permits in hand by the summer and to break ground this fall.

The pre-cast concrete, brick and glass tower is expected to take two years to build, Cordaro said, with initial occupancy scheduled for the winter of 2008.

University officials and building designers said they are pricing materials and working out how much construction would cost.

The headquarters for the Harrisburg University of Science and Technology would contain college classrooms, hundreds of parking spaces, retail businesses, a library and a 125-seat auditorium.

In addition, there would be administrative suites and a rooftop garden and courtyard but no residential quarters for students.

The building's signature feature would be a distinctive over-hanging roof that resembles a graduation cap.

The tower would rise nearly 240 feet above Market Street. Only 333 Market St., home to the state Department of Education across Market Street, would be taller.

Its six stories of classroom and lab space would be enough for as many as 1,800 students.

It would provide a home for the growing university for 10 to 12 years, university officials have said.

It would also boast more than 500 parking spaces and include ground-level connections to Strawberry Square.

The university enrolled its first tuition-paying class of 110 students in September.

It is sharing space with the affiliated SciTech High in the 200 block of Market Street.

While officials have said the proposed building would meet the university's needs until 2018, they remain interested in acquiring the U.S. Postal Service property at 813 Market St.

********

Whoa!!!


FOX'S

Fox's to close area market

Union Deposit store unable to renew its lease

Friday, June 09, 2006
BY TOM DOCHAT
Of The Patriot-News

The owner of Fox's Food Markets Inc. said he will close the store off Union Deposit Road by the end of the month because the lease there will end.

"We were not able to negotiate a satisfactory extension" for the store at Dauphin Plaza, said Bill Fox, president of the family-owned supermarket company.

There are no immediate plans to open another store in the Harrisburg area. "At this point we don't have any other location in mind," he said.

The 52,000-square-foot store employs 70 full- and part-time workers, he said. Many of them will be shifted to Fox's stores in Middletown and Hershey, both of which are otherwise unaffected by the closing, he said.

Fox's has been at Dauphin Plaza since 2000. Previously, it was at The Point shopping center in Lower Paxton Twp.

"We're not happy to close a location," he said. "We have a lot of loyal customers, many of whom shopped with us at The Point, as well."

Dan Mortimer, property manager with WP Realty Inc. of Bryn Mawr, the manager of the Susquehanna Twp. shopping center, said he could not say anything about what would fill Fox's space.

Bob Gorland, a retail consultant who specializes in supermarket and shopping center feasibility studies, said the Fox's space has "been reportedly for sale for a couple years."

Gorland is vice president in the Harrisburg office of Matthew P. Casey &Associates.

Fox said the Dauphin Plaza store was doing "OK" in a very competitive environment.

Gorland said competition has been intense in that area because of a growing volume of stores, including a Giant supermarket that replaced Fox's at The Point, plus the expanded Wal-Mart Supercenter and remodeled Sam's store along Route 322, as well as the Costco store at the Paxton Towne Centre in Lower Paxton Twp.

"They're up against some very strong price-dominated retailers," he said. "While they're a very good overall operator, they're in a very competitive marketplace."

In that type of environment, "it's not an unusual situation that the small independent gets hit the hardest," Gorland said.

Gorland added that the store's location has proven troublesome not only for Fox's, but the previous supermarket company, Festival Foods.

"That location has suffered over the years as far as getting a strong overall draw" from people living east of Interstate 83 who have higher family incomes, he said.

The Fox's closing is the second major tenant at the complex to shut down within the past nine months.

Office Depot closed at the shopping center last September. Mortimer said he expects to be able to announce a deal involving the Office Depot soon.

[EastSideHBG]

CQ Air has a way to go to get off the ground

Friday, June 09, 2006
BY DAN MILLER
Of The Patriot-News

The Web site for CQ Air, a startup airline that says it plans to offer service at Harrisburg International Airport, hints that the airline will let "the secret out" in a few weeks.

CQ Air Chairman Roger Sedlak did not respond to requests to comment. But statements from officials with federal regulatory agencies suggest that CQ Air has a way to go before it can begin flight service at HIA.

CQ Air's interest in HIA became public after a letter of support from Mike Adams, CQ's senior project manager, was included in a grant application for federal funding submitted by Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport.

The application refers to service proposed by CQ Air that would include two flights daily with regional jets and turboprop aircraft. The service would start this summer and run through 2007.

According to the application, CQ Air seeks $100,000, including $75,000 from the FAA and $12,500 each from Luzerne and Lackawanna counties.

"CQ Airlines is pleased to offer this letter in support of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport's Small Community Air Development Grant application for nonstop Harrisburg service on CQ Airlines, and the addition of other Intra and Interstate markets," Adams wrote in the April 6 letter. "The funding of this application will almost guarantee our implementation of low-cost service in this market and the access through our new proposed hub in MDT." MDT is the airport code for Harrisburg International Airport.

CQ Air had set June 5 as the date to announce its service, but the announcement was postponed. Adams told The Patriot-News that CQ Air still plans to offer service in Harrisburg, but he would not say when.

CQ Air is renting space at HIA for its headquarters, HIA Aviation Director Fred Testa said. He said HIA and CQ Air do not have any other agreements, such as a lease for an airport gate.

"This is a startup. It may take as much as a year," Testa said.

Nor does CQ Air have lease agreements at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, according to Airport Director Barry J. Centini.

"We put them down as a potential" carrier in the grant application, Centini said. He said he has not heard whether the federal government will provide funding.

Applications and hurdles:

The U.S. Department of Transportation doesn't have an application from CQ Air for a certificate of public convenience and necessity, known as "a fitness certificate," spokesman Bill Mosley said. Several weeks are needed for an airline to obtain a certificate, Mosley said. During a required public comment period, anyone may object to the airline being granted a certificate.

An applicant also must demonstrate adequate finances to run an airline. In addition, a company must document legal compliance, meet a U.S. citizenship standard and show that it has experienced management to run an airline.

The CQ Air Web site lists openings for pilots, flight attendants, mechanics and administrative positions. In recent weeks, it has run advertisements in newspapers, including The Patriot-News, seeking to fill the positions.

The Federal Aviation Administration normally has startup airlines apply for a new air carrier certification. This process can take up to two years, FAA spokesman Jim Peters said.

Peters said a CQ Air official told FAA officials in Harrisburg that CQ had purchased "an existing operating certificate from another carrier." Peters said the official didn't provide further information.

"There are a lot of questions that need to be answered. They haven't provided the information we need to assist them for starting up service," Peters said. "CQ representatives need to contact the FAA to tell us what their intentions are at HIA."

Even if CQ Air has purchased the certificate, the company still needs FAA approvals related to who is running the airline and what kind of aircraft it will use, Peters said.

The FAA also must approve the airline's "city pairs," basically the arrangements CQ Air has in place to fly from one airport to another.

Peters said CQ Air might intend to provide service through another airline. If so, CQ Air likely doesn't need pilots.

CQ Air doesn't need state approval to operate an airline in Pennsylvania, said Kirk Wilson, spokesman for the state Bureau of Aviation. The only requirements would be those that apply to any company that wants to do business in the state generally, he said.

[EastSideHBG]

Any renderings yet? I searched briefly but came up with nothing.

And for those interested, my thoughts on HBG:

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=102221&page=5

[klingy04]

Hey Eastside,

Here's a link to an HU site article with a pretty nice rendering. This is the same pic I think I saw in the Patriot as well.

http://www.harrisburgu.net/news/article.php?id=96

Also, I can really appreciate your comments about central PA. I lived down between Baltimore and DC (about 15 mins from either city) for a couple of years, and things are definitely a lot different. But also, like you said, its a total love-hate relationship. When I was down there, there were definitely awesome parts about it, like just hopping on the Metro and being in DC in a few minutes and having a lot of shops, restaurants, sites, etc that you can't get in H'burg. But at the same time, I still found myself missing things about PA (quick escape to great hiking, outdoors, the river; relatively ease of travel around the area i.e. not nearly as much traffic, and a much lower cost of living) I can afford an apartment here that is honestly twice as nice as the craphole I had in MD. It's a trade off either way, but again, like you stated, different stages of life make the scales tip one way or the other. I think this area does have a great future ahead of it, and it's nice to feel like I can be a part of it. But I can also definitely see the advantages of a larger, different metro. Hope everything stays great for you in SE PA Eastside, and keep on posting here, cause it gives a few of us geeks something to blab about. :banana:

[EastSideHBG]

Hey Eastside,

Here's a link to an HU site article with a pretty nice rendering. This is the same pic I think I saw in the Patriot as well.

http://www.harrisburgu.net/news/article.php?id=96
Oooo, I REALLY like that building! Thanks a lot, klingy04. :)

Also, I can really appreciate your comments about central PA. I lived down between Baltimore and DC (about 15 mins from either city) for a couple of years, and things are definitely a lot different. But also, like you said, its a total love-hate relationship. When I was down there, there were definitely awesome parts about it, like just hopping on the Metro and being in DC in a few minutes and having a lot of shops, restaurants, sites, etc that you can't get in H'burg. But at the same time, I still found myself missing things about PA (quick escape to great hiking, outdoors, the river; relatively ease of travel around the area i.e. not nearly as much traffic, and a much lower cost of living) I can afford an apartment here that is honestly twice as nice as the craphole I had in MD. It's a trade off either way, but again, like you stated, different stages of life make the scales tip one way or the other. I think this area does have a great future ahead of it, and it's nice to feel like I can be a part of it. But I can also definitely see the advantages of a larger, different metro. Hope everything stays great for you in SE PA Eastside, and keep on posting here, cause it gives a few of us geeks something to blab about. :banana:
LOL thanks a lot, klingy04! :)

And yes, that is one thing that will always draw people to HBG: the cost of living is dirt cheap compared to the rest of the NE/Mid-Atlantic region! Even though Philly is not up there with DC standards, it is still WAY more expensive than Harrisburg for sure, and I can easily see why you would be able to find an apt. twice as nice as what you had in MD. Heck, for what we pay for our 2 BR apt. in the Philly area we could be renting a 3 BR HOUSE...literally!

[EastSideHBG]

Hey Eastside,

Here's a link to an HU site article with a pretty nice rendering. This is the same pic I think I saw in the Patriot as well.

http://www.harrisburgu.net/news/article.php?id=96
Oooo, I REALLY like that building! Thanks a lot, klingy04. :)

Also, I can really appreciate your comments about central PA. I lived down between Baltimore and DC (about 15 mins from either city) for a couple of years, and things are definitely a lot different. But also, like you said, its a total love-hate relationship. When I was down there, there were definitely awesome parts about it, like just hopping on the Metro and being in DC in a few minutes and having a lot of shops, restaurants, sites, etc that you can't get in H'burg. But at the same time, I still found myself missing things about PA (quick escape to great hiking, outdoors, the river; relatively ease of travel around the area i.e. not nearly as much traffic, and a much lower cost of living) I can afford an apartment here that is honestly twice as nice as the craphole I had in MD. It's a trade off either way, but again, like you stated, different stages of life make the scales tip one way or the other. I think this area does have a great future ahead of it, and it's nice to feel like I can be a part of it. But I can also definitely see the advantages of a larger, different metro. Hope everything stays great for you in SE PA Eastside, and keep on posting here, cause it gives a few of us geeks something to blab about. :banana:
LOL thanks a lot, klingy04! :)

And yes, that is one thing that will always draw people to HBG: the cost of living is dirt cheap compared to the rest of the NE/Mid-Atlantic region! Even though Philly is not up there with DC standards, it is still WAY more expensive than Harrisburg for sure, and I can easily see why you would be able to find an apt. twice as nice as what you had in MD. Heck, for what we pay for our 2 BR apt. in the Philly area we could be renting a 3 BR HOUSE...literally!

Best of luck to you too, klingy04, and please help keep this thread going and you, wrightchr, harrisburger, etc., need to be my new eyes and ears in Harrisburg. ;)

Btw, if my memory serves me correctly, was it your wife that was having a tough time finding a job? If it was, I sure hope she did and is liking it! :)

[wrightchr]

^ thanks dave. i'm working a lot lately, so i'm finding it hard to keep up with things on the forum. i think everytime i log on, you've already beaten me to posting stuff on here :D my wife was having a terrible time finding a job in her field, so now she decided to go back to school and get her teaching certificate. it may take her another year or so but she wants to be an elementary school teacher. i found out i'm going back on active duty for the army this october...5 month training school down in suburban DC (northern virginia).

[EastSideHBG]

I'm glad to hear things are going well for you guys overall, Chris! You will be in my thoughts for sure. :)

Here is something interesting. Go Harrisburg!!!

NEWS INFORMATION FROM THE OFFICE OF MAYOR STEPHEN R. REED
City of Harrisburg
King City Government Center
Harrisburg, PA 17101-1678
Telephone: 717.255.3040

FOR IMMEDIATE USE
12 June 2006

BEACH BOYS TO HEADLINE 2006 AMERICAN MUSICFEST LINE-UP

Mayor Stephen R. Reed today announced that the Beach Boys will perform in a free, live concert in Riverfront Park as part of the city’s upcoming American MusicFest held over the July 4th Holiday weekend. The Beach Boys headline more than 250 hours of free, live music by nearly 60 different musical and other acts. Over 300 local, regional and national entertainers will be presented by the city during the extended, four-day festival, which begins on Saturday, July 1, and concludes with the region’s largest holiday fireworks display, set for 9 p.m. on Tuesday, July 4.

Reed said the Beach Boys will appear live in concert on the Comcast Star Stage in South Riverfront Park from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, July 4. The concert is free and open to the public, who are invited to bring blankets or lawn chairs to watch the show. In the event of rain on July 4th, the concert will be rescheduled for the following evening, Wednesday, July 5th, from 6 to 8 p.m., as will be the Grand Finale Fireworks, set for 9 p.m.

The Mayor said the quality of the musical line-up for this year’s MusicFest is outstanding, and in addition to the Beach Boys, features such popular headlining artists as the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra(Saturday, July 1, 8- 9:30 p.m.); Tito Puente, Jr.(Sunday, July 2 – 8-9:30 p.m.); The Marvellettes(Monday, July 3 – 5:30–7 p.m.); and the Classic Rock All-Stars, featuring members of Iron Butterfly, Rare Earth, Sugarloaf and Cannibal & The Headhunters(Monday, July 3-7:30 – 9:30 p.m.). All of the headliner shows are on the Comcast Star Stage in S. Riverfront Park, and are free and open to the public with festival-style seating available on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Because of the extended holiday weekend, Mayor Reed said there will also be five consecutive nights of fireworks along the waterfront, thanks to a holiday weekend homestand of the Harrisburg Senators. Fireworks displays will occur each evening beginning Friday, June 30, through Monday, July 3, following the conclusion of each evening’s Senators’ game. The festival-concluding Grand Finale fireworks display are set for 9 p.m. on Tuesday, July 4th, with a raindate of the following evening, same time.

Reed said the American MusicFest is the largest Independence Holiday Weekend Festival in the midstate, with over 130 separate performances on six stages. Dozens of food and other amusement vendors will also be on-hand, including the popular Belco Children’s Village, where games, activities, puppet and other theatrical performances, and music occurs.

The Mayor said the entire festival, including all of the musical performances, is free and open to the public and will be held rain or shine. In addition to the activities in Riverfront Park, an array of events and activities, including nightly Senators’ games, are slated for on City Island. All of the Island’s vendors and other attractions will likewise be open.

Reed said other notable performers slated to appear at this year’s American MusicFest include: Salsamba; Joanne Shenandoah; Ubaka Hill, The Sauce Boss; The Crawdaddies; Ayanna Hobson and the Soulmates; The Jellybricks; Rock Dog; Brave The Day; The Mint; Voxology; CD East Jazz Band; St. Lawrence Adult Tamburitzans; the Julie Schriber Band; Darcy Miner and Parallex Project; Cruise Control; Red Room; Naked Blue; Red; Hollis; Charles Lee & Band; Jambulay; Lareau; The Impact Band; Chopped Liver River Band; Mike Banks; and many more.

The Mayor said the American MusicFest is planned, produced and sponsored by the City of Harrisburg with the generous support of dozens of cosponsors. Providing support this year are Advanced Communications, Ambassador Home Improvements, Bath Savers, BELCO Community Credit Union, Big Brothers-Big Sisters, Blue Green Corporation & The Suites at Hershey, Capital Blue Cross, Citadel radio stations 105.7 The X, MIX 106.7, and RED 102.3, Citizens Bank, Coca Cola, Comcast, Dauphin County Human Services, Dauphin County Young Lawyers, FastSigns, Flinchy’s Restaurant, WPMT Fox 43, Great Eastern Resorts, Harrisburg Hilton Hotel and Towers, Innovative Spas, Nextel Communications, One Wireless World, Patriot News, Schopf Brothers, Scott’s Grille, T-Mobile and W&L Distributors.

For a complete listing of American MusicFest performances and times please call the city Department of Parks and Recreation at (717) 255.3020, or visit the official website at www.AmericanMusicFest.org, via the city’s website at www.HarrisburgPa.gov.

[EastSideHBG]

Typical PA: mismangement of the borough leads to heavy taxation which leads to businesses leaving your jurisdiction! No, I don't think HIA can and will go anywhere, but Cramer's is a different story.

And $4.88 MILLION in collected taxes and the airport still cries for money from time to time?!? LOL get real...

*And somebody's math is WAY off here, because 10% of $4.88 mil. is not $48,000-$50,000. :uhh:

Good Lord, what a mess...


Ruling favors tax on HIA parking

Middletown schools win support on fees dispute
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
BY REGGIE SHEFFIELD
Of The Patriot-News

A Dauphin County judge says the Middletown Area School District can tax parking at the Harrisburg International Airport, while school officials still pledge to share 10 percent of the proceeds with the airport.

In March 2005, the school district suggested imposing a 10-percent tax on those who park at the airport. HIA officials immediately moved to block it, claiming the tax would be unfair.

In a 66-page decision released late yesterday afternoon, Judge Lawrence F. Clark Jr. overruled arguments from airport attorneys that municipal bodies aren't supposed to tax each other.

"We're very pleased," said Middletown Area School District superintendent Audrey L. Utley.

"It's a win for the taxpayers of Middletown," she said.

The Middletown Area School Board likely will discuss the issue Monday night.

Clark acknowledged in his opinion that the school district could not legally compel the airport to collect a tax for the district, but urged both parties to work together.

"Obviously, this court hereby strongly encourages these parties to adopt a combined single transaction process for collecting the tax so as not to burden the departing parking patrons," Clark wrote.

The school district's attorney, Jeff Litts, said school officials are willing to turn over 10 percent of their proceeds to the airport for costs HIA incurs in collecting the tax.

Litts estimated that would amount to between $45,000 and $50,000 a year.

HIA director Frank Testa declined comment on the decision.

"I gotta see the whole body of the opinion," said Testa, who is an attorney.

Airport attorney Tim Nieman similarly declined comment, saying that he had not had a chance to review the opinion.

School district officials have estimated that they are missing out on the 10 percent of $4.88 million in parking fees collected by the Susquehanna Area Regional Airport Authority in 2004.

Similar taxes have been in effect at airports in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and the Lehigh Valley, district officials have argued.

The school district also seeks to tax the adjacent Cramer Airport Parking, a private business.

State Attorney General Tom Corbett in September filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against the airport authority, accusing it of seeking to acquire Cramer Airport Parking to create a parking monopoly around HIA.

SARAA launched its effort to take Cramer by eminent domain in March. The property has been appraised at $1.57 million.

[Spudmrg]

Just dropping in......was in another city much like 'da burg recently, and DT was dead after 5 PM. HBG should be very verythankful for 2nd street, it's one of the few things that gives people an incentive to stick around past 5 PM.

[EastSideHBG]

I agree, Mike!


A Lemoyne awakening

Leaders hope shops, restaurants, streetscapes redefine borough

Wednesday, June 14, 2006
BY DEBRA MASSIC
For The Patriot-News

Lemoyne is on the verge of big changes. Consider new sidewalks, improved street lighting, increased off-street parking, enhanced store frontages and variety in housing options.

Add also a plan to improve pedestrians' safety with crosswalk signs and better traffic flow.

All hinge on $945,000 in state and local grants, but officials are proceeding with confidence that the borough will receive the money.

"We consider ourselves the gateway to the West Shore," said council President James Yates at a recent council meeting. "We need to look good, we want to look good, we will look good."

Officials said residents should see more trees, flowers, shrubs and lampposts on Market, State and Third streets as early as fall. Paving of these streets is expected in the next two years.

The borough has secured a few retailers for Market Street and hopes to encourage more, especially along the stretch where a building was torn down after a fire. A museum, coffee shops, restaurants, art galleries and bookstores are among the businesses officials would like to attract.

Borough Council recently added a revitalization committee, which has generated positive public response.

"In the 20 years I've been involved with this council, we were happy to see eight to 12 people in the audience," Yates said. "At the revitalization meetings, we've seen three times as many people interested. It's really exciting. We hope to keep the stimulation going."

Resident Tom Beene said the focus of the revitalization committee meetings has become clearer in the last few months.

"It's wonderful to see cooperation between the local government and community folks," he said. "I'd like to see downtown, around Third and Market streets, open up with more places, so people stop in Lemoyne rather than just drive through it. It is realistic."

The changes would be financed with six grants and help from Cumberland County Housing and Redevelopment Authority's Executive Director Chris Gulotta. Officials have applied for a $25,000 Growing Greener II grant through Cumberland County for preliminary streetscape plans and a parking study.

The largest grant would be $500,000 from the Hometown Streets/Safe Routes to School grant program, to be used for street lights, trees and more.

The five themes Gulotta and the borough are focusing on are: an attractive community, a connected community, a defined community, a community of the old and new and a diverse community.

"We're going to hit the ground running," Gulotta said. "We have six grant opportunities for the borough to bring in about $1 million."

The borough will work in conjunction with Wormleysburg, Camp Hill and New Cumberland on things such as walkways and bicycle routes.

"We recognize the value in creating a sense of place that is Lemoyne -- a local and regional destination," Gulotta said.

IF YOU GO

The Lemoyne revitalization committee meets at 7 p.m. the fourth Monday of every month in the borough building, 665 Market St.

[wrightchr]

^ that's really great. i was just driving through lemoyne and wormleysburg the other day on the way back from my parents home in camp hill. the downtowns definately need some aesthetic improvements.

[chuikov]

LeMoyne!

Good things are in store!

:tup:

[EastSideHBG]

SWATARA TWP.

Derry Street slated for widening

Monday, June 19, 2006
BY MARY KLAUS
Of The Patriot-News

Motorists traveling on Derry Street between 50th and 61st streets are used to sitting in traffic.

"From 3 p.m. to 6:30 p.m., Derry Street is like a big parking lot," said John Bottiglia, owner of Billow's TV & Appliance at 6100 Derry St.

"You can't move. Traffic backs way up as people try to cross the Rudolph Dininni Bridge to go to Wal-Mart and Sam's Club," he said.

Officials say those traffic jams could ease after the state Department of Transportation adds a center turning lane to Derry from 50th to 61st streets.

Greg Penny, a PennDOT spokesman, said the $1.2 million project involves widening Derry Street by 16 feet on the railroad side between 50th and 61st streets and adding an 11-foot wide left-turn lane and a five-foot wide shoulder.

The project also includes milling or removing the old asphalt surface, then paving an overlay on a 1.6-mile section of Derry Street between 42nd Street and 61st Street.

J.D. Eckman, Inc. of Atglen, the contractor, had planned to start construction by mid-May and finish by the end of the year, although the official completion date is May 18, 2007.

"The contractor is being held up by sewer work that needs to be completed by the township sewer authority," Penny said.

Scott Snoke, Swatara Twp. Sewer Authority assistant superintendent, said the township will open bids Wednesday for what he called "extensive" sewer line work.

"We are replacing old sewer pipes and manhole covers from 42nd to 50th street," he said. "Then, after PennDOT resurfaces from 42nd to 61st streets, we will make sure all our manhole covers are at the right height."

Swatara Twp. Commissioner Tony Spagnolo, who represents the Lawnton neighborhood, said he has been waiting for this project for years.

"I remember submitting a traffic scheme like this to PennDOT at least 14 years ago," he said. "This will make Lawnton safer."

Erin Plank, manager of Ice Cream Heaven at 5890 Derry St., and Tina Polychronis, manager of Promenade Family Restaurant at 5290 Derry St., agreed.

"Traffic backs up every day, especially from 3 to 4:30 p.m.," Plank said. "I've seen two rear-end accidents where one car was stopped to turn and the next one plowed into theirs. A turning lane would help the people who want to turn off Derry Street."

Polychronis said her business is on a section of Derry Street which curves.

"There are a lot of accidents because someone stops to turn and someone else turns into their car," she said.

Bottiglia said the project should be extended to 63rd Street instead of stopping at 61st.

"Cars congregate there to cross the bridge to go to Wal-Mart and Sam's Club," he said. "They also need to make the traffic light at Grayson Road and Mushroom Hill Road green longer. The Wal-Mart traffic backs everything up and creates a back flow that goes the whole way down Derry Street. They have proposed only half a solution."

Bottiglia said traffic has gotten worse over the past two years. "Our roads cannot handle the traffic." he said.

[EastSideHBG]

I sure hope it doesn't come to this! :fingerscrossed:


HARRISBURG SCHOOLS

Dire warning sounded over cash shortfall

Tuesday, June 20, 2006
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

The Harrisburg School District's planned no-tax-increase budget has a dark side.

It is based on getting $20 million more in state aid than is contained in Gov. Ed Rendell's budget proposal. If the extra money doesn't come through, the district could face teacher layoffs, program cuts, larger class sizes and even school closings.

"All the gains we have made in the school district would be lost," Superintendent Gerald Kohn said yesterday.

Kohn said he is upbeat about the chances of getting the extra money because of an expected $720 million state budget surplus.

He has ruled out a tax increase to support the proposed $134.7 million district budget for 2006-07, saying property taxes are too high already.

The budget is up for final adoption next week.

If the extra state money does not come through, there could be deep cuts, including as many as 132 of Harrisburg's 761 teaching positions and elimination of the early childhood program for 3- and 4-year-olds.

Elementary school class sizes would balloon from an average of 22 students to 35 to 40, officials warned.

About 42 of the district's 113 administrative positions also could be lost -- office secretaries, information technology workers, principals, program directors and coordinators.

The district said it would eliminate the dozen city police officers in the schools and about 10 of its 40 security guards.

Preparing for the worst, the district's Board of Control voted unanimously last night to authorize Kohn to notify affected employees of the possible furloughs.

"We don't anticipate doing this, but we are prepared," Kohn said.

Richard Askey, president-elect of the Harrisburg Education Association, the teachers union, described his members as "very concerned" about the prospect of job losses -- so much so that an end-of-school teacher picnic turned into an impromptu union meeting.

Askey said union leaders urged teachers to call their state lawmakers and push for the extra state money.

The district's lobbyist, Roy Wells, president and managing director for Triad Strategies, said yesterday that he's pressing the case at the Capitol.

The district's pitch has three key points: Harrisburg's slow but steady improvement in state test scores, its large percentage of tax-exempt properties and resulting high real estate taxes, and its large proportion of students who receive free or reduced-price lunches, a key measure of poverty.

For two years, Harrisburg has been successful in obtaining an extra $8 million in state funding for its alternative education program. However, the additional money has come in the form of grants that must be renewed each year.

Wells said the district this time is pushing for the added money to be included in its basic education subsidy so school officials can rely on it from year to year. If the effort is successful, Harrisburg's annual state subsidy would increase from about $36 million to $56 million.

A similar effort last year fell $12 million short of the $20 million goal, forcing more than $9 million in cuts in Harrisburg's operating budget.

Next year's proposed $134.7 million spending plan represents an 8.5 percent increase over the present $124.1 million budget.

Kohn said the increases are driven by an additional $2.6 million in debt service for school construction, $5.2 million for rising salary and benefit costs, and $1.5 million for retirement funding and special-education contracts.

JOHN LUCIEW: 255-8171 or jluciew@patriot-news.com

HOLDING STEADY

# The Harrisburg School District's real estate tax rate would remain at 21.23 mills for 2006-07, meaning the owner of a home assessed at $100,000 would continue to pay $2,123 in school property taxes. A mill equals $1 per $1,000 of assessed value.

[Wheelingman04]

^Terrible:shrug:

[wrightchr]

wow...this sucks.

[EastSideHBG]

HIA

Midstate to get daily flights to Dallas hub

Friday, June 23, 2006
BY DAN MILLER
Of The Patriot-News

Daily nonstop flights from Harrisburg International Airport to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport will begin Sept. 7.

American Eagle, the regional affiliate of American Airlines, will offer the flights on 70-seat Canadair regional jets.

Passengers flying out of HIA will be able to make connecting flights to more than 120 destinations served by Dallas/Fort Worth, including cities throughout the Southwest, Mexico, the Caribbean and South America, said Dave Jackson, a spokesman for American Eagle.

American Eagle has had good success with its four flights a day from Harrisburg to Chicago, Jackson said.

"It's a growing market," he said. "We see a lot of opportunity for traffic on it."

This is the first time an airline that uses HIA has provided service to Texas, HIA spokesman Scott Miller said.

"Dallas/Fort Worth is the largest hub in the United States for American Airlines," Miller said. "We've been working on this for a year and a half."

An American Eagle plane will leave Harrisburg at 7:05 a.m. daily and arrive in Dallas/Fort Worth at 9:25 a.m.

A daily return flight will leave Dallas/Fort Worth at 4:15 p.m. and arrive in Harrisburg at 8:15 p.m. All times are local.

Miller said HIA will roll out a marketing campaign throughout July and August to promote the service to Dallas/Fort Worth.

Reservation and ticket information about the service is available at the Americans Airlines Web site, www.aa.com.

The Web site yesterday listed a lowest average round-trip fare of $334 for a flight leaving Harrisburg on Sept. 7 and returning from Dallas/Fort Worth on Sept. 9. Fares are subject to change.

[EastSideHBG]

It's only, what, 2006?!? LOL But I guess better late than never!

And this article highlights some VERY important things like A) the region is finally working together and B) ridership is way up! I am a little leery of putting so much stock in buses, though, as they sit in the same traffic jams the rest of the commuters do, and this is even further proof IMO that CorridorONE, CorridorTWO, etc., will be a great success!


York area commuters make jump to buses

Drivers tired of traffic, rising gasoline prices hop on rabbitExpress

Saturday, June 24, 2006
BY DAN MILLER
Of The Patriot-News

Veronica Ulrich is enjoying lower gasoline bills and less stress.

She started using a new bus service this week that is offered by rabbitExpress, a division of York-based rabbittransit. The York County woman commutes to downtown Harrisburg every day.

On Monday, rabbitExpress began the service, which includes six round trips each weekday from the York area to downtown Harrisburg and Harrisburg Area Community College. The one-way fare is $3.

The black rabbitExpress buses feature satellite television, but Ulrich said she is too busy catching up on reading to notice. She arrives in Harrisburg early enough for a workout before she has to be at her job in the state inspector general's office.

"I really hate driving on Interstate 83," Ulrich said Thursday while waiting for the 5:10 p.m. rabbitExpress bus for a return trip to the Emigsville park-and-ride lot. "My knuckles would be white, my teeth chattering, and my stomach lodged in my throat from watching people trying to kill each other."

The service has been in the works since 1999, said Richard Farr, executive director of rabbittransit.

The bus company had projected the service would be used by about 50 passengers daily. Farr now estimates daily riders at 60 or more.

"We think it's only the beginning," he said.

Capital Area Transit views rabbitExpress as an opportunity, not a competitor, said CAT Executive Director Jim Hoffer. CAT allows rabbitExpress to use its transfer center at Second and Market streets in Harrisburg.

"This could mean some additional business and new customers for CAT," Hoffer said. "I see this as a win-win for the citizens, for rabbittransit and for CAT."

Farr said rabbittransit also is following up on Hoffer's suggestion for a joint transfer pass.

RabbitExpress riders can use credit cards on the bus to buy fare cards and discounted multitrip passes. Farr said the company wants to sell tickets online.

Rabbittransit is working on a commuter-alert system. Text messages would be sent to passengers' cell phones at a bus stop to alert them that a bus is delayed.

The service includes a free ride home if there is an emergency and a customer cannot wait for the next bus.

As for CAT, it has had 28 straight months of ridership exceeding the same month in the year before. In May, CAT's average daily ridership was 22 percent higher than in May 2005, Hoffer said.

He attributed the increase to higher fuel prices and new routes.

[EastSideHBG]

It could be a GOP ploy to get Reed out of city

To vote for Mayor Stephen Reed or any other candidate for world mayor, go to: www.worldmayor.com.

Saturday, June 24, 2006
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

After you've been elected mayor of Harrisburg seven times and counting, what else is there?

How about mayor of the world?

According to the Web site WorldMayor.com, Mayor Stephen R. Reed is in the running for that title.

To win, Reed will have to beat out 49 other mayors who made it through the initial phase that saw 677 mayors from around the world get nominated for this year's award.

The Web site said it registered 53,000 votes from all over the world in the first round of the 2006 World Mayor contest. According to the Web site, the project is run by an organization called City Mayors, which describes itself as "an international network of professionals who work together to promote strong cities."

Reed finds himself in competition with mayors from Antananarivo, Madagascar, to Zurich, Switzerland. Nominees include New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin.

The World Mayor project is in its third year. As before, this year's contest is seeking mayors with "vision, passion and skills to make their cities amazing places in which to live, work and visit," according to the Web site.

Previous winners were Dora Bakoyannis of Athens and Edi Rama of Tirana.

[EastSideHBG]

IMO this just goes to show, yet again, how little our federal government cares for its people. :mad: :no:


HARRISBURG AWAITS A COURTHOUSE SITE IN LIMBO

Sunday, June 25, 2006
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

It's the kind of development most cities would dig out their golden shovels for, all the better for the ceremonial ground breaking.

It's a $100 million investment that would employ hundreds and attract scores more doing business. It is expected to spawn a spate of businesses, everything from eateries and coffee shops to copying centers.

There's just one catch: This project is a federal courthouse for Harrisburg, and the U.S. government is calling virtually all the shots when it comes to locating, designing and constructing the 263,000-square-foot building.

Mayor Stephen R. Reed, usually a shepherd of development in the city, has seen both of his suggested locations -- tracts on North Sixth and South Second streets -- rejected by the feds.

A chorus of community complaints has surrounded all three locations selected by the U.S. General Services Administration last year. The sites are at Verbeke and North Sixth streets, North Sixth and Basin streets, and North Third and Forster streets.

All have homes and apartments. The Third Street site includes businesses, clubs and restaurants, along with historic structures. The buildings would have to come down to make way for a courthouse to replace the one at Walnut and Locust streets, mainly to meet security requirements.

A five-member panel is expected to pick its "preferred site" by the end of July, GSA spokeswoman Gina Gilliam said. That recommendation will go to a GSA regional administrator for final approval.

All of this is to be done by the end of summer.

"My life's on hold," said Mike Billo, owner of row houses at 805 and 807 Green St., both of which would be taken for the courthouse. He said he has postponed renovating his rental unit and refurbishing his roof.

"You feel like you are in limbo," he said.

Controversy appears certain:

The GSA's decision almost assuredly will be controversial.

Does it bulldoze the diverse and historic neighborhood a stone's throw from the Capitol? Will it force about 100 mostly minority residents out of subsidized apartments at Cumberland Court? Or does it oust about 140 elderly and disabled people from the Jackson-Lick public housing tower?

Another question remains: What, if anything, will this mix of government investment and relocation pain do for the city's overall growth and development?

Such concerns might not matter, said experts who have followed the federal process.

"Typically, urban planners look at the development of the city and try to gain economic benefits from developing different areas," said David Zwifka, executive director of Historic Harrisburg Association, a preservation group. "That's not what comes first with the federal government."

The needs of the courthouse and its employees do, Gilliam said. But she said the GSA looks to "promote community development."

The GSA wants at least 21/2 acres for a building of eight to 14 stories, along with enough land to allow 50- to 100-foot security setbacks.

The GSA was going to consider only locations downtown. Because of Harrisburg's population density and flood plains, Gilliam said the agency explored 25 sites in the city.

This single concession could be the biggest break for future development in Harrisburg, said retired architect Martin Murray, formerly the head of Murray Associates Architects of Harrisburg.

The federal process led to two of the possible sites being situated north of Forster Street, the boundary for what's considered downtown.

Murray described Forster Street as "a wall" that has limited Harrisburg's growth to the north. The barrier was buttressed by monolithic state buildings, he said.

"They were like slabs that said, 'This is the end of the downtown,'" Murray said.

That the U.S. government is considering two tracts north of Forster could be a development boon of the magnitude of Strawberry Square and the office tower at 333 Market St. in the 1970s, Murray said.

"You have to lead with office buildings," Murray said. "That brings the people. It creates the traffic."

For that reason, Murray said he'd favor either option on North Sixth Street. The demise of the Jackson-Lick towers would be addition by subtraction, he said.

"They were badly conceived in the first place," he said. "I wouldn't shed a tear."

Seeking the 'least harm':

Reed has said Jackson-Lick is the alternative that would do the "least harm." Only one of the towers is occupied. Reed's office has said relocating its 140 residents would be easier than moving those in Cumberland Court.

Reed also sees the potential for further economic development north of Forster Street.

"Regardless of whether they choose Jackson-Lick or Cumberland Court, we expect the new courthouse to have a very substantial economic spinoff impact on the surrounding blocks and neighborhoods," said Randy King, Reed's spokesman.

"Neighboring property values are most assuredly going to be profoundly impacted for the better," he said.

The opposite is true of the Third and Forster site, according to Reed's office. King calls the proposal "simply unacceptable."

Yet GSA officials have expressed misgivings about Jackson-Lick, saying it is the most expensive option because the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development would demand replacement costs for the lost units. The GSA also has concerns about crime there.

Whichever site is chosen, the GSA is promising assistance in relocating residents. People won't have to move for at least two years, with construction scheduled to begin in 2009 and end in 2012, Gilliam said.

That's little solace to Elizabeth Washington, 80, a resident of Jackson-Lick.

"We're too old to be moving about," she said. "It's got the old people all upset. They've taken no interest in us. They're only interested in what they want to do. All they can do is tear down."

[EastSideHBG]

CAPITOL AREA NEIGHBORS

MIKE BILLO, 50, owns row houses at 805 and 807 Green St. and has lived at 805 Green St. for 19 years. Both will be taken if a courthouse is built. "I love the convenience. I work for the state, I worship at St. Patrick Cathedral, I work out at the Y. I'm used to walking."

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Its fiercely loyal residents say it's the last real neighborhood downtown, this mix of turn-of-the-century town houses, eateries and clubs.

"The unique thing about this neighborhood is that it is a neighborhood," said Ronn Fink, 70, co-owner of the Bare Wall, a crafts-and-video gallery. "Everybody knows everybody."

He then greeted several people by name as they strolled past his shop.

His building on the west side of Green Street would be spared. No matter. He said the plan to take residences and businesses between Third and Green and North and Forster streets would destroy the neighborhood he has safeguarded since moving here in the 1960s.

It's a mix of gay and straight, owners and renters, clubs and sidewalk cafes. Many buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places.

Among the establishments that would go are the St. Moritz jazz club, Roxy's Cafe, Mangia Qui restaurant and Stallions, a gay nightclub. Even the U.S. government noted the impact, reporting that there's no obvious alternative spot for Stallions.

Residents realize the value of their corner of the city a block from the Capitol and are prepared to fight.

Signs are posted in almost every window: "A Courthouse Is Not a Home," "Fight or Move!" The area has its own activist group, Capitol Area Neighbors.

"Someone's always interested in building something here," Fink said. "Can't they see that this is what life in the city should be?"

************

JACKSON-LICK APARTMENTS

MADELINE AUSTIN, 84, has lived in the Alton W. Lick apartment building at North Sixth and Basin streets for 17 years. "I hope they don't take it. After you've done fixed up your room and gotten comfortable, you hate to move."

Sunday, June 25, 2006

The Jackson-Lick apartments are twin towers of monolithic public housing dating back to 1960. Their design is outmoded, and Jackson, the larger, northern tower, is vacant.

But the 12-story Alton W. Lick Building is home to 146 residents, most of them elderly or with disabilities. And many don't want to move.

"I will live here," Velya Monuson, 79, said in a thick Russian accent, banging his cane on the sidewalk for emphasis. This has been his home for 16 years.

"All the people who live here would vote no," he said of the courthouse. "They're old. They're disabled. They have illness. One has no vision. This is a good place for them. It is very ideal."

What the brick-and-concrete tower lacks in beauty, it makes up for in amenities, residents said. On nice days, they sit on the benches and look onto North Sixth Street. There's a bus stop out front. Across Sixth is the Broad Street Market. Next door is Ben Franklin School and a swimming pool. Children at play provide background noise.

The Harrisburg Housing Authority runs the building and keeps it clean and secure, residents said.

Madeline Austin, 84, said a deacon from her church picks up her lady friends for services uptown on Sundays. They have someone they trust to run to the bank and the store.

"If you move somewhere else, you have to find someone honest," she said. "You can't find honest people everywhere you go. We all have one another, and we hate to leave one another."

[wrightchr]

with regard to the new federal building, i was in favor with the mayors proposals downtown within the southern gateway. but obviously the GSA has no clue what their doing....that said, i hope they decide on the Jackson/Lick site along 6th/7th streets. it's not far from Forster Street and the Capitol Complex and it's close enough to the Midtown market district to make a large impact on the vibrancy of Midtown, as well as impact Downtown. a modern 8-14 level building would definately look better than the housing stock of Jackson/Lick...especially since only one of the towers is actually in use.

thanks for keeping up to date on this Dave.

[EastSideHBG]

No problem, Chris! :) I am curious to see what site the feds pick. If they pick the historic district, I am guessing a group of lawsuits would block the buildng for a while and I would be fighting along side of the residents/business owners even though I don't live there anymore; one more voice can't hurt...

I am deeply, deeply saddened by the federal gov't and there are much better options being offered to them...options that wouldn't displace people! :mad:

[EastSideHBG]

I have mixed feelings on this, because look what happened to Williamsport! :no:


Drug detoxification center planned

Tuesday, June 27, 2006
BY FORD TURNER
Of The Patriot-News

Four hundred opiate-addicted people, from welfare recipients to professionals who make $200,000 a year, visit the drab-looking building on South Cameron Street on a regular basis.

Discovery House, Harrisburg's only methadone treatment program, soon might take on a greater role in combating drug addiction in the midstate.

It has filed for state approval to run a detoxification center -- a separate function from long-term methadone care -- where addicts in the physically wrenching early stages of opiate withdrawal can be treated.

"There is probably room, especially in the Harrisburg area, for more programs," said Cheryl Floyd, executive director of a Harrisburg-based treatment advocacy agency, PA Recovery Organizations Alliance.

A typical client at a detoxification center might be in heroin withdrawal after years of use, vomiting, sweating, shaking and unable to think clearly.

"It's horrible, nasty," said Nate Knaub, a recovering heroin addict, referring to the "dope sickness" experienced when a heroin habit is halted abruptly. "It's not something you would wish on your worst enemy. Your head feels like it is going to split open."

Knaub, who graduated from Lower Dauphin High School in 2000, said, "When you are a full-fledged junkie, you feel like that every morning until you score."

Treatment for opiate withdrawal involves medicine and oversight by doctors. Pennsylvania has 32 non-hospital, inpatient detoxification centers. Three are in the midstate: Gaudenzia in Harrisburg, New Perspectives in Lebanon and Roxbury in Shippensburg.

Deb Beck, president of the Drug and Alcohol Service Providers Organization of Pennsylvania, said there should be a detoxification center within a 90-minutes drive of every Pennsylvania resident.

A parent, she said, might have no idea what to do with a teenager or young adult going through withdrawal. A "myriad of physical complications" can occur, she said, including seizures.

Detoxification centers are licensed by the state Department of Health. Department spokesman Richard McGarvey could not specify when the process would conclude for Discovery House's application, but he said, "It won't be long. They know what they are doing. We have experience with them."

In Pennsylvania, treatment episodes for people addicted to heroin declined less than 2 percent in the latest year, to 20,668, following a jump of 25 percent from 16,811 in 2002-03 to 21,043 in 2003-04.

Heroin was the second-most-prevalent drug of choice among people entering drug treatment centers in the latest year, after alcohol.

Short-term narcotic detoxification might take up to 30 days. Afterward, recovering addicts usually are steered to long-term programs.

Discovery House has operated a methadone treatment program on South Cameron Street for about 12 years, according to Juan Deas, the program director.

Methadone is a manmade substance with chemical qualities that block an opiate high. A recovering addict taking methadone daily will get no rush from taking street drugs, Deas said.

Clients agree to stay in the program for at least a year. They pay $100 a week.

"These are people who are at the end of their rope," Deas said. "There is nothing else left. Either death or long jail sentences."

[EastSideHBG]

Jobless rate rises

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

The Harrisburg-area unemployment rate inched up to 3.9 percent in May, from 3.8 percent in April. A year ago, the area jobless rate was 4.1 percent.

The Harrisburg area -- Cumberland, Dauphin and York counties -- continued to have the fourth-lowest unemployment rate in the state.

The Lebanon area had the lowest rate last month, at 3.6 percent, while the State College and Lancaster areas each had unemployment rates of 3.7 percent.

The York-Hanover area unemployment rate was 4.2 percent in May.

The statewide unemployment rate in May was 4.8 percent and the national rate was 4.6 percent.

The number of jobs in the Harrisburg area totaled 332,600 in May, an increase of 3,700 from April and 5,400 more than a year ago. The April-to-May increase was higher than normal because of the addition of more goods-producing jobs.

Manufacturing jobs in the Harrisburg area totaled 24,700 in May. That was up by 200 from April, but down 500 from a year ago.

Leisure and hospitality jobs increased by 2,000 from April due to seasonal hiring.

The average manufacturing wage in the Harrisburg area totaled $16.18 an hour in May, compared with the statewide average of $15.37. The average manufacturing work week in the area was 38.8 hours, compared with 41.1 statewide.

***********

HARRISBURG UNIVERSITY

Accreditation move might boost enrollment

Tuesday, June 27, 2006
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

A stamp of approval for the Harrisburg University of Science and Technology should help it boost enrollment in its second year.

The Middle States Commission, which rules on college and university accreditation, has approved Harrisburg University as a candidate for accreditation in the university's first year of operation, Mayor Stephen R. Reed and university officials announced yesterday.

Typically, this candidate status occurs in the second year, Reed said. Final accreditation takes four years, after the first undergraduate class graduates, he said.

Candidate accreditation status opens the doors to Harrisburg University students being eligible for a wider range of loans and grants, as well as tuition reimbursements, including the Pell Grant program offered by the U.S. Government, university officials said.

In addition, the Middle States Commission provides an independent assessment regarding the university's academic program.

"This represents an important benchmark in our growth as a private comprehensive university," said University President Melvyn Schiavelli.

Schiavelli said Harrisburg has enrolled about 110 students for the fall, equal the number of its inaugural class last Aug. 29 and guaranteeing the university will double in size.

But with Harrisburg University attracting many transfer students and older adults, it's looking to build enrollment over the summer, a time when other universities have finished recruiting, spokesman Steven Infanti said.

Toward that end, the university is holding an admissions night from 6 to 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at the campus, 215 Market St. A second admission night is scheduled for July 11.

Infanti said the event would be a chance for students to speak with university officials about academic programs and financial aid.

The university has received about 250 applications and attracted more than 600 student inquiries this year, Infanti said.

As an incentive, students enrolling for the fall semester beginning on Sept. 5 are eligible for a $3,000 scholarship and might be able to get other scholarships, loans or payment plans. Harrisburg High School graduates can get $2,500 scholarships in addition to the other funds.

Harrisburg University is the first comprehensive university chartered in Pennsylvania in more than 100 years. It focuses on advanced studies in math, science and high technologies, offering full- or part-time enrollment, day or evening classes, and undergraduate and graduate studies.


Here's another article about it on the city's site:

http://www.harrisburgpa.gov/pressReleases/prArchives/2006/june-06/hbg%20university%20achieves.htm

[EastSideHBG]

Well I just received a phone call and apparently we moved out of Shipoke in the knick of time, as it is about to be underwater AGAIN! :drowning: :Titanic:

http://www.harrisburgpa.gov/

And here is the sad part in all of this: a few months before we moved we noticed a lot of homes going up for sale but they weren't selling. I just spoke to my old landlord the other day and he said one of the houses is actually going to auction because it sat on the market for so long! With a devestating flood in '04 and now AGAIN in '06, I highly doubt people are going to want to buy there now. Now stop for a second and add the Southern Gateway Project into the mix...will Shipoke still be desirable with all of these factors working against it? If so, will ins. companies continue to insure such a high risk place? Very, very doubtful and I fear HBG will be losing one of its treasures very soon. I don't think the city will let it toally go down the drain mind you, but I HIGHLY doubt it will remain the neighborhood it is now in the years to come. Very, very sad. :(

[EastSideHBG]

This is EXACTLY the kind of crap I am talking about. Why would you need a 4th store in the area, especially in this location where the one in Colonial Commons is so close?!?!?!?!?!?

RETAILING

OfficeMax to open store

Wednesday, June 28, 200

OfficeMax will open a new store at 3823 Union Deposit Road on July 9.

It will be the fourth OfficeMax store in the Harrisburg area, but among the first nationwide to replace the chain's standard warehouse look with a new design, officials with the Illinois-based retailer said.

The new store will feature OfficeMax Cafe, a community area with wireless Internet access and televisions broadcasting cable TV news.

The 18,000-square-foot store will employ about 25 full- and part-time workers. It is one of 50 stores with the new design that OfficeMax plans to open this year.

[EastSideHBG]

VERY interesting, and the Mayor sounds pretty ticked (rightly so!):

NEWS INFORMATION FROM THE OFFICE OF MAYOR STEPHEN R. REED
City of Harrisburg
King City Government Center
Harrisburg, PA 17101-1678
Telephone: 717.255.3040
FOR IMMEDIATE USE
28 June 2006

FLOOD LEVEL PREDICTION DOWNSIZED
To: Residents and Businesses

Yesterday, on Tuesday, June 27 at 4:00 p.m., the federal River Forecasting Center predicted the Susquehanna River would go to 25.1 feet by Thursday night and into early Friday morning, which would be a major flood.

Today, they have revised their predictions twice. They now forecast the river to reach 20.5 feet tomorrow, Thursday, June 29 around 1:00 p.m., with a slow drop in river levels after that.

To give citizens an idea of the range of predictions received in the past three days, this is the information received by the City:

- On Monday, at 7:00 a.m., the river crest (maximum level) was projected to be 6 feet; at 9:00 a.m., it was revised to 15.3 feet.

- On Tuesday morning, this was revised to 13.2 feet; at 11:30 a.m., it was changed to 18 feet; at 4:00 p.m., the ominous message that it would be 25.1 feet was received, which triggered a far greater preparatory response; as officials responsible for emergency management, we have the absolute duty to initiate major steps as and when a major flood warning is received.

- Today, at 6:30 a.m. and again at 9:00 a.m., the prediction was again revised and affirmed to say 19.7 feet and at 11:10 a.m., it was changed yet another time to predict a level of 20.5 feet. (The National Weather Channel briefly posted an announcement of a river crest for 15.3 feet but National Weather Service representatives advised this was not accurate.)

In 25 years, this is the most significant series of varied river level forecasts ever seen and, as a direct result of yesterday’s 25.1 foot prediction, extensive activity --- and their costs --- were undertaken. Many residents and businesses also endured expense and effort to prepare for what was expected to be major flooding and, in some areas, evacuation.

The current prediction of 20.5 feet is subject to further change.

No one should assume we are “out of the woods”. There will still be flooding. Based on a 20.5 foot prediction, it is not likely there will be any evacuations but some streets will have street water and many basements will have back-up water. This will be especially true in the Shipoke Neighborhood. A large part of City Island, including the surface parking lots, will be covered by river water. The Paxton Creek and Spring Creek have a high potential of backing-up and creating localized flooding in their basin areas, which will also cause some street closures.

The flood warning bulletin issued Tuesday night, June 27, is therefore modified as a result of this new and revised forecast.

The City is asking the appropriate agencies to conduct a review of how the river level forecasts could vary so widely in such a short period of time to see if more concise and accurate predictions can be achieved in the future --- not only to prevent what turns out to be unnecessary cost and effort by local government and citizens but to avoid the inevitable doubt and skepticism that would arise if predictions lack public confidence.

Mayor Stephen R. Reed .

[EastSideHBG]

HARRISBURG

City Council's override vote snuffs out veto of smoking ban

Thursday, June 29, 2006
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

The City Council this week breathed new life into a smoking ban for Harrisburg.

Voting 6-1 Tuesday night, council overrode a veto by Mayor Stephen R. Reed that would have snuffed out the anti-smoking ordinance.

The smoking ban takes effect after a 90-day phase-in period. It applies to city-owned or city-run buildings, playgrounds and vehicles. Violators will face a summary citation and a minimum $50 fine.

The ban will force Reed to end his practice of lighting up and puffing away at his desk and in his city-furnished car.

The privilege also is enjoyed by many members of Reed's staff, as well as by other city employees whose workspace is separate from public areas.

"They've overridden the veto, which is their right," Reed said of the council. "It's not going to affect me all that much. It does affect a lot of employees, especially in wintertime."

The ban's passage caps a series of council meetings and public hearings devoted to the issue of public smoking. But the measure didn't pass without some last-minute maneuvering.

Originally, the resolution to override the veto was not on Tuesday's agenda.

Council member Gloria Martin-Roberts, the author of the smoking bill, said council President Vera Jean White refused to add the resolution to the agenda, so Martin-Roberts resorted to an unusual tactic that didn't follow the council's normal rules.

In the middle of the meeting, Martin-Roberts motioned to pull the resolution from the table and add it to the agenda for immediate action, effectively bypassing White.

Backed by Councilwoman Linda Thompson, Martin-Roberts was successful.

All members except White voted to override the veto.

"I want to thank those six members," Martin-Roberts said. "They stuck to their guns. It truly shows this is not a political issue."

However, Reed warned that there could still be fallout from the smoking ban.

He said one or more of the city's three labor unions could choose to challenge the ban as a unilateral change in working conditions.

Reed said such an action could delay or thwart the ban, while piling up legal expenses.

But Martin-Roberts countered that the 90-day phase-in period was built into the ordinance in order to notify employees and union officials, and negotiate if need be.

"This was never intended to target anyone," Martin-Roberts said. "This is a public health issue. Secondhand smoke is dangerous."

Asked what he plans to do if the ban takes place as scheduled in three months, Reed seemed resigned to join his fellow smokers outside.

"I guess we'll all be going outside on a regular basis," said Reed, who joked that critics would no longer be able to accuse him of being holed up in his office.

[EastSideHBG]

YIKES!

Furloughs sent to 190 teachers as precaution

Saturday, July 01, 2006
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

The Harrisburg School District yesterday sent furlough notices to nearly 190 teachers, but school officials said they hope the correspondence will end up being as unnecessary as junk mail.

Superintendent Gerald Kohn said it depends on how Harrisburg fares in the state budget.

http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/115172255494650.xml&coll=1

*************

Real estate investors make deal

Saturday, July 01, 2006
BY DAN MILLER
Of The Patriot-News

A Media-based real estate company is moving into the Harrisburg commercial market with an investment tool more common in big cities.

DeSanto Realty Group has purchased the Crums Mill office complex in Lower Paxton Twp. for $20 million. It bought the property from A/A Realty LP, a unit of Kusic Capital Group LLC.

It was DeSanto's second acquisition of a midstate commercial office property using the tenant-in-common strategy. In 2005, the group bought Yellow Breeches Office Center in Fairview Twp. for $13.5 million.

Under tenant-in-common, up to 35 investors share property ownership, have separate deeds and get a percentage of rental income, said Gary DeSanto, CEO of DeSanto Realty Group.

The arrangement also allows investors to share tax benefits, such as deferring payment of taxes on capital gains realized from other real estate transactions.

Tenant-in-common investors in this area are typically older folks looking for stable retirement income, DeSanto said.

DeSanto Realty sponsors tenant-in-common transactions. A sponsor acquires the property and attracts investors. DeSanto said Crums Mill will involve 15 to 20 investors. The group turns day-to-day operations over to a management company, a DeSanto subsidiary, that must be approved by investors.

"This is a way for people with $250,000 to $500,000 who want to get into real estate but don't want to manage real estate," said Thomas T. Posavec, a vice president at Landmark Commercial Realty Inc. He did not represent either party in the DeSanto deal.

Posavec said tenant-in-common transactions are more often found in big cities because the properties involved are usually sold for at least $15 million.

"I don't know if Harrisburg has enough substantial properties that the floodgates are going to open with more of these transactions," Posavec said. "The jury is still out."

Tenant-in-common deals first became popular on the West Coast and have made their way into larger cities in the East, said James Koury, a broker with RSR Realtors who represented DeSanto in the transaction.

DeSanto Realty will acquire three more properties in tenant-in-common transactions in the Harrisburg area, DeSanto said. The properties -- two office complexes and one retail property -- represent about $70 million combined. He would not identify the properties.

Harrisburg, because of government offices, offers a stable economy with low unemployment and low vacancy rates for prime office space. The area so far hasn't attracted many institutional investors competing for commercial real estate, but that is starting to change, DeSanto said.

Posavec said Landmark has been contacted in recent months by other firms outside Pennsylvania that specialize in tenant-in-common deals. Enough of these deals would help drive up commercial real estate prices, Posavec said. "These are large groups, and they are raising the bar a bit," he said.

One candidate for a tenant-in-common deal could be the former PHICO headquarters in Silver Spring Twp., Posavec said. The building, sold in 2005 for $15 million, is being renovated.

[EastSideHBG]

Who will make way for federal courthouse?

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

The government says it needs a new federal courthouse for security reasons, and it will require a lot of space.

The GSA wants at least 21/2 acres for the building, which will hold eight to 14 courtrooms.

A snapshot of each neighborhood:

Third and Forster:

The Third and Forster site offers a mix of homes and businesses, including the Mangia Qui restaurant, the St. Moritz jazz club and Stallions, a gay nightclub. The State Museum of Pennsylvania is across the street from the site under consideration.

A group of homeowners, Capitol Area Neighbors, has lodged a visible lobbying campaign with signs in many homes that say "Fight or Move!"

North Sixth and Verbeke:

Residents in the Cumberland Court Apartments, a 108-unit subsidized housing complex, would have to move if the courthouse were built here.

While some residents have said they would move, others like the neighborhood: Broad Street Market is nearby, as is the Ben Franklin School. Residents say it is generally safe.

North Sixth and Basin:

The Jackson-Lick apartment buildings have been here since 1960. The Jackson tower is vacant, but 146 people live in the Alton W. Lick Building.

Most of them are older or have disabilities. The Harrisburg Housing Authority runs the building.

Mayor Stephen R. Reed has said the Jackson-Lick site would do the least harm and that the Cumberland Court option could help spur economic development in northern Harrisburg.

The mayor's office has said the Third and Forster site is unacceptable, but the federal government has the final say.


3 city neighborhoods wait for courthouse decision

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Residents of three Harrisburg neighborhoods have been waiting for a year to see whether the construction of a federal courthouse means they have to move.

The federal government is looking to build a $100 million courthouse in the city, and the U.S. General Services Administration selected three possible locations last year. The sites are at Verbeke and North Sixth streets; North Sixth and Basin streets; and North Third and Forster streets.

A five-member panel appointed by the federal government is supposed to make its recommendation by the end of this month, according to the GSA. A GSA administrator will make the decision for final approval, which is expected by the end of the summer.

The Patriot-News has visited each of the neighborhoods. The three are different but share one thing: They are home to people who want to stay.

[EastSideHBG]

LPT needs this for sure, as it is turning into a sprawling mess!


LOWER PAXTON TWP.

Zoning changes would save green space

Thursday, July 06, 2006
BY DIANA FISHLOCK
Of The Patriot-News

Lower Paxton Twp. officials want to preserve more open space and protect creeks and mountains with a new zoning ordinance.

While the township is enjoying lots of interest from developers, officials want to keep open spaces for walking and playing.

Since the current zoning ordinance was written in 1988, people have learned a lot about suburban sprawl and the importance of green spaces, said George Wolfe, township manager.

The new plan would encourage developers to build homes closer together and keep more open space, said Fredrick W. Lighty, chairman of the planning commission.

"It can be preservation of existing stands of trees; an open, grassy area; they can put a playground in there. There's a lot of flexibility there, but it must be open."

The commission approved the ordinance and township supervisors plan to vote on it at a public meeting Tuesday.

The commission, supervisors, developers and residents met for more than a year to create the plan, making it simpler to use and compatible with the township's comprehensive plan created in 2004, officials said.

"I give the township high marks for giving residents an equal seat at the table," said Eric Epstein, chairman of the Stray Wind Area Neighbors, a coalition seeking to promote conservation and natural assets and safer traffic patterns.

The proposed ordinance would regulate land uses, signs, parking, the location and height of structures and changes to existing structures and lots.

The ordinance won't affect existing homes unless they are redeveloped, Lighty said.

It also won't dramatically change the way the township looks, just improve land use and development, Wolfe said.

"It does a better job at protecting neighborhoods from incompatible development. It protects Blue Mountain. It protects the village of Linglestown," Lighty said. "It has better protections for wetlands, streams and steep slopes. It allows for traditional neighborhood development. ... It plans better for retirement communities. We know that's a big need as the baby boomers reach retirement age."

John Kerschner, vice president of developments at Fine Line Homes, doesn't anticipate any problems with the ordinances if passed.

"We just work within the zoning, and we work within the requirements," Kerschner said. "They study, they have the consultants, and we will work within the framework they set up for us within their tracts."

[EastSideHBG]

Pretty crappy news, and HBG is blowing yet another great parcel of land for a sub-par (in height) building. :(


Harrisburg U scales down tower

Friday, July 07, 2006
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

If it were a science experiment, it might be called the "incredible shrinking building."

But a proposal for a suddenly shorter headquarters for the Harrisburg University of Science and Technology has everything to do with money, not back-firing chemical reactions.

The latest design, unveiled this week before a Harrisburg City Council committee, lops off four floors, shrinking the once 20-story tower to 16 floors.

Harrisburg University President Melvyn Schiavelli said the smaller building fits better with the university's estimated $70 million budget for construction.

Officials blamed the down-sizing on skyrocketing prices for construction materials and the high costs of outfitting science labs.

"It's mostly cost-related," Schiavelli said. "This makes it an absolutely doable proposal."

The tower would be at Fourth and Market streets on what is a parking lot. It would serve as the year-old university's headquarters for the next decade or more.

The building would contain seven floors of classroom and office space for the university, or about 180,000 square feet, and nine floors, or about 190,000 square feet, for parking.

The scaled-back design eliminated two floors of classroom and office space, as well as two floors of parking, Schiavelli said.

The City Council is to vote Tuesday on the final design for the tower. If approved, construction should begin in October. The city planning commission has approved the plans.

The pre-cast concrete, brick and glass tower is expected to take two years to build, with occupancy scheduled for winter 2008.

The tower also would contain street-level retail businesses, a library and a 125-seat auditorium.

There would be administrative suites and a rooftop garden and courtyard, but no residential quarters for students.

The building's signature feature would be an over-hanging roof that resembles a graduation cap.

To pay for construction, Schiavelli said, the university is counting on at least $30 million in commitments from the state and an estimated $36 million bond issue, among other sources.

Schiavelli said there is interest from several institutional investors, whom he described as comfortable with the university's business plan and enrollment projections.

The university enrolled its first tuition-paying class of 110 students in September and is expected to more than double enrollment this fall, especially now that students will be eligible for more government grants and loans.

The university is sharing space with the affiliated SciTech High in the 200 block of Market Street.

While the proposed headquarters is projected to meet the university's needs until 2018, officials remain interested in other sites for future development.

Seemingly stymied in a bid to acquire the U.S. Postal Service property at 813 Market St., Schiavelli said the university is exploring other sites, including land in Mayor Stephen R. Reed's so-called Southern Gateway Project, a large area south of Chestnut Street.

Reed has said the transportation and economic development project would open about 35 acres of underutilized land at the southern end of center city, virtually doubling the size of downtown.

The most ambitious portion of the long-range plans involves constructing a raised platform that would cover several blocks of South Second Street and the surrounding land. Buildings would be constructed on top of the platform, while traffic and parking would be ushered underneath it.

[japmes]

I haven't been to HBG in several years, but I've heard there has been a lot of development downtown. Can someone post pictures of a few of the projects? I've heard there is an actual nightlife in HBG now.

[EastSideHBG]

Welcome, japmes! :) Yes, Harrisburg actually dioes have a nightlife now, and a pretty good one too at that. Check out these sites for more info:

http://www.floor-9.com/wp/

http://harrisburgnightlife.com/

As for the pictures I no longer live in HBG and don't have any updated ones. Maybe the other HBG forumers can be of some assistance.

[wrightchr]

wow...a scaled back university...again!!! this really sucks and your right Dave...it's definately a great parcel of land downtown and it could be so much more than another 16 floor highrise.

[EastSideHBG]

Townships draw people from cities, census says

Midstate numbers reflect state trend

Monday, July 10, 2006
BY DIANA FISHLOCK
Of The Patriot-News

Lance and Miste Diehl lucked into their dream house last fall.

The house was next door to that of her parents, with a big yard for their daughter, Hayley, 2, and their Siberian husky, Chewbacca.

So in November, they moved from the North Middleton Twp. house where they'd lived for six years to Silver Spring Twp., joining more than 1,850 other people who had moved there since 2000, according to the Census Bureau.

The bureau recently released its July 1, 2005, population estimates. Regionally, York County saw the biggest boost in the last five years, with 7.1 percent. Cumberland and Lebanon counties grew by 4.4 percent. Perry County bumped up 2.6 percent. Dauphin County's growth was slight, up just 0.9 percent.

The Diehls' new hometown, Silver Spring Twp., grew by 17.6 percent. Dillsburg and the townships of Union, West Hanover, South Londonderry, Jackson (Lebanon County), Bethel, Fairview and Upper Allen saw large increases.

South Hanover and West Hanover have exceeded population projections for the year 2020, said Janine Park, senior planner for the Tri-County Regional Planning Commission. "There's just so much new growth."

The area's cities took a hit. Harrisburg lost 1,478 people, or 3 percent of its population. Lebanon lost 2 percent and York, 2.1 percent.

Some boroughs also lost population: Camp Hill, 2.8 percent; Mechanicsburg, 2.4 percent; and Elizabethville, Highspire, Steelton and Mount Gretna, about 3.5 percent each.

Population trends in the midstate reflect those statewide, with cities and some boroughs losing population and many townships growing, a Pennsylvania demographer said.

Some area officials dispute the numbers.

Harrisburg Mayor Stephen R. Reed disagreed with the census counts.

"The number of residential building permits is way up," Reed said. "We have market-rate homes being built, people buying them and moving in. The tax data indicates increases as well, and beyond that, the number of vacant properties has been reduced. Those are all positive trends.

"The Census Bureau uses a computer model that has no basis in fact. For example, if for the last 40 years, there's been a downward trend in population, then their model will assume a further drop in population, and then they estimate what that drop is."

Census Bureau estimates draw from births, deaths, federal tax returns, Medicare enrollment and immigration, according to its Web site.

Lower Paxton Twp.'s 1.1 percent growth rate seemed low to officials there.

"That's a ridiculous estimate," township Manager George Wolfe said. "We've grown 8 to 10 percent every decade for the last 30 years. That should be at least 4 percent. We typically do 1 percent a year, and that's been a standard trend since 1970."

Wolfe said he expects Lower Paxton to surpass the city of Harrisburg, with 49,000 or 50,000 people by 2010.

Pennsylvanians have moved from boroughs and cities to townships for some time, said Dennis Pickeral, senior research coordinator of the data center at Penn State Harrisburg. The reasons are many.

Older people are aging in place, keeping their homes in the cities and boroughs, said Gordon DeJong, a demography professor at Penn State. "So they're keeping their home that they've lived in a long time, but there's only two of them or maybe one. So the population is changing from past times when there would have been a whole family to just now one or two people."

While boroughs and cities have housing available, many people want larger homes on larger lots, Park said.

"Pennsylvania's highly decentralized growth patterns are weakening the state's established communities, undercutting the very places whose assets the state needs to compete in the knowledge economy," said to a 2003 study by the Brookings Institution, a research and policy institute. The commonwealth's economic future depends on revitalizing its older towns and cities and curbing sprawl, the study said.

"There are places that this is turning around, but those are in the bigger places -- Lancaster, Reading -- largely being turned around by Hispanic immigrants," DeJong said.

For the next five to 10 years, DeJong predicts current trends will continue. Pennsylvania will be 45th to 50th among states for population growth, and older communities will bleed population into townships, he said.

People such as Silver Spring Twp. Manager Bill Cook will keep an eye on roads, water and sewage plants, making sure they can keep up with growth.

"It's actually accelerated recently," Cook said of the growth. "I think Silver Spring Twp., just by its geography, is a very attractive place to locate. It has good school systems, and it's within 15 miles of the city."

[wrightchr]

good article and it states the obvious for any of us on this forum. PA has a huge problem in maintaining its long established boroughs and cities. older communities have older population trends and smaller lots...yes...but they also have in many cases in PA, poor and/or failing infrastructure. Harrisburg definately fairs better than many PA cities in infrastructure. Pottsville is terrible. roads, sewage, water, utility, etc...are in very poor condition in NEPA and a definate deterrant to future economic growth and luring additional residents.

[EastSideHBG]

It's hard for me to get excited about this, when a mere year ago that lot was going to have HBG's new tallest on it, and their first residential condo building too! But as we all know, HBG Univ. got the parcel and it went from 22 to 20 to now just 16 stories. :no:

Yes, I am happy to see a building there vs. the empty parking lot that has been there for decades. This is Harrisburg's third DT building in a few years (the other two are the 8-story on Front St. and the 18-story Market Sq. Plaza) and that is definitely something to be proud of. HBG Univ. will certainly bring the student-base the city is going for and we all know that college students lead to housing, development, etc. But HBG will never shed its small town image with development like this...never...


HARRISBURG

University to start building in October

Council approves University building
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

It's all academic now.

The Harrisburg University of Science and Technology can begin building its $70 million headquarters at Fourth and Market streets. The City Council voted unanimously last night to approve plans for the project.

Construction should start in October on a parking lot. The precast concrete, brick and glass tower is expected to take two years to build, with occupancy scheduled for winter 2008.

The building will be a little smaller than first proposed, shrinking from the initial 20 floors to the 16-floor tower approved last night.

Harrisburg University President Melvyn Schiavelli has said the downsizing helps keep the project within the university's estimated $70 million construction budget.

Plans call for seven floors of classroom and office space for the university, about 180,000 square feet, and nine floors, about 190,000 square feet, for parking.

The building is expected to serve as the year-old university's headquarters for a decade or more, but officials are already looking for sites to handle growth.

The building will have administrative suites and a rooftop garden and courtyard, but no residential quarters for students. Its signature feature will be an overhanging roof that resembles a graduation cap.

"I think it's a great project," said Councilman Dan Miller, the chairman of the committee that reviewed the plans.

The university enrolled its first tuition-paying class of 110 students in September and is expected to more than double enrollment this fall, especially now that students will be eligible for more government grants and loans.

The university shares space with the Harrisburg School District's affiliated SciTech High in the 200 block of Market Street.

[EastSideHBG]

Hey big surprise, another chain restaurant in South Central PA! :rolleyes: The CC Mall is already going to be adding chain restaurants to its food court and now they will have this on their lot too?!? Saturation, anyone????


Liquor license transfer OK'd for restaurant

Wednesday, July 12, 2006
BY CHRIS A. COUROGEN
Of The Patriot-News

A Texas Roadhouse restaurant may soon be added to the list of dining choices coming to Lower Allen Twp.

Township commissioners on Monday agreed to transfer a liquor license for the restaurant.

Texas Roadhouse would not confirm plans for the restaurant. Company spokesman Travis Doster said in an e-mail that the chain "is very interested in the Camp Hill market" and thinks the demographics are a good fit. He said the company is looking at possible locations, but nothing has been finalized.

The company's request for the license transfer said the restaurant will be on the southwestern corner of The Bon-Ton lot, near Route 15 along Zimmerman Drive, township Commissioner Dan Christ said.

Texas Roadhouse would be the only full-service restaurant adjacent to a planned Zimmerman Drive interchange on Route 15. That interchange is part of the restructuring of the Route 15-Route 581 intersection. Construction work for that $91 million project is expected to begin next year.

It would be the 15th Texas Roadhouse restaurant in Pennsylvania and the fourth in the region. The chain has restaurants in York, Lancaster and off Union Deposit Road in Susquehanna Twp.

According to the company's Web site, Texas Roadhouse operates more than 235 restaurants, with an active expansion schedule. Its 15 restaurants in Pennsylvania rank fourth behind Texas, Ohio and Indiana.

About half of the restaurants are owned and operated by the company, and the remainder are operated by franchisees. It was unclear whether the Lower Allen Twp. restaurant would be owned by the company or a franchise. The license transfer was sought under the name Texas Roadhouse Holdings LLC.

Despite its name and marketing affiliation with legendary Texas singer and songwriter Willie Nelson, Texas Roadhouse was started in 1993 in Clarksville, Ind. Its headquarters is in Louisville, Ky.

Texas Roadhouse went public in 2004. Its stock, traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker symbol TXRH, closed yesterday at $12.17 a share, down 2 cents. Signature items in Texas Roadhouse restaurants include fresh-cut steaks, ribs, chicken and beer, the chain's Web site says.

In March, the township approved a similar request to transfer a liquor license for a Garfields Restaurant and Pub to be located at Capital City Mall.

[EastSideHBG]

And you get all of this for the bargain price of $42.95 + $7 to park (and that's if the prices don't go up by next season)! :rolleyes:


With 5 new water attractions in 2007, Hersheypark plans a big splash

Thursday, July 13, 2006
BY BARRY FOX
Of The Patriot-News

Milton S. Hershey built his empire based on the premise of doing things in a big way.

That legacy lives on with yesterday's announcement of the largest project in the history of Hersheypark.

The $19.7 million Boardwalk at Hershey will be the new attraction for 2007, the year of the Derry Twp. landmark's 100th anniversary.

Under construction near Midway America, the new area will include five water attractions, 11 food outlets, six games, seven stores, shade areas, hundreds of lounge chairs, two changing rooms with lockers and showers and a building for guest services and first aid.

The Boardwalk's centerpiece, East Coast Waterworks, will have 225 feet of bridges, seven slides, two crawl tunnels and 200 water toys such as sprays and dump buckets.

Coastline Plunge, a separate slide complex, will have a 50-foot-long tube and four slides (Whirlwind, Vortex, Surge and Riptide) that deposit riders into one of two pools.

Waverider is described as an "interactive sport/skill ride" that will allow two surfers to ride side by side on machine-made waves.

The mellower Bayside Pier will be a 48,000 gallon, zero-depth entry pool (the shallow end is nearly even with the deck) surrounded by lounge chairs.

Sandcastle Cove will include an oversized sand castle and water elements designed for younger children.

Frank O'Connell, Hersheypark's general manager, said the Boardwalk will combine two summer activities, the beach and theme parks.

"Through guest surveys, we kept hearing water, water, water, and we were looking for just the right combination of attractions," he said.

Scott Newkam, chairman and CEO of Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Co., said the planning and research for the '07 attraction began five years ago. Hersheypark officials zeroed in on the Boardwalk concept in 2004, and construction began last year.

"There's something in there for everyone," Newkam said.

The Boardwalk is being built on a 4.6-acre plot adjacent to the Ferris Wheel and Lightning Racer.

For its centennial celebration, Hersheypark will also debut shows and hold fireworks displays, beach parties and promotions throughout the 2007 season.

Hersheypark.com is holding a "100 Years of Happy" contest, in which people can send in their favorite park memories. The winning entry earns 100 hours in Hershey -- a hotel stay, admission to the park and, of course, chocolate.

The Boardwalk at Hershey is scheduled to open Memorial Day weekend.

[EastSideHBG]

I am and have always been mixed on this project...


HARRISBURG

Authority might finance sports hall of fame

Sunday, July 16, 2006
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

The Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority is considering a $30 million deal to finance a combination sports hall of fame, office space, and restaurant and bar project for City Island.

A resolution authorizing the financing, which likely would come in the form of a bond issue, is on the authority's agenda for its meeting at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday.

John Levenda, director of the city's National Sports Hall of Fame Foundation, said he expects the authority board to discuss the financing on Tuesday but added that the deal likely won't come up for a final vote until August.

Levenda said he still would need City Council to pledge the city's guarantee behind the bond issue, a move that generally lowers the interest rate on the bonds and provides more security for investors but costs the city nothing.

Levenda said that no city money would be used for the project, which he expects to "pay for itself."

The museum also is scheduled to get $9.5 million from the state's capital projects fund, but that won't be released until the city spends an equal amount of its own.

If all the approvals for the financing fall into place, Levenda said it's possible to break ground on the project before the end of the year, a schedule favored by Mayor Stephen R. Reed.

However, some members of City Council, including Linda Thompson, Susan Brown-Wilson and Gloria Martin-Roberts, have said the city has far greater needs than a hall of fame on City Island. And the council has in the past rejected several requests for seed money for the sports museum.

Since then, however, three new members have been seated on the seven-member board. Dan Miller, one of the new members, chairs the council's economic development committee. He said he doesn't know how he'd vote on the project.

"We've not actually discussed it at any committee meeting," he said. "I don't really want to comment. I don't want to get out in front of anything."

The City Council is on summer break until Aug. 28.

Levenda said he will stress the self-sufficiency of the project provided by the revenue the office space and restaurant are expected to generate.

A $30,000 feasibility study by International Theme Park Services Inc. of Cincinnati concluded that the 120,000- square-foot museum, bar and restaurant and office complex could pay for itself with the addition of 60,000 square feet of office space.

Office rentals would add $613,000 in revenue in the first year of operation, growing to $934,952 by the fifth year, the report said.

The rental income -- along with revenue from museum admissions, restaurant, bar and gift shop operations and various other sources -- would help the project gross $3.9 million the first year, and up to $6 million annually by year five, the report said.

Levenda said these revenue numbers will be what attracts investors.

"The project is self-liquidating," he said.

In fact, Levenda said, the project won't need the city's guarantee for the entire life of the bonds, usually 25 years. In addition, the hall of fame foundation would assume the city's $300,000 debt in architectural fees for early designs of the project.

"Once we reach a particular level of self-sufficiency, the guarantee will be taken off the bonds," Levenda said. "This project may very well be one of the most successful tourist attractions in the city."

The hall of fame is part of Reed's vision of a "critical mass" of museums in Harrisburg.

In addition, he has proposed an African American Heritage Center for a two-building site at Third and Verbeke streets, across from the Broad Street Market.

That project is not expected to move into the final design phase until more money is raised.

***************

HARRISBURG

SEC upholds $1 million ruling on Forum Place bonds liability

Sunday, July 16, 2006
BY JACK SHERZER
Of The Patriot-News

The Philadelphia-based bond underwriter involved in the financially troubled downtown Forum Place office building deal has been ordered to pay about $1 million in fines and penalties by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Dolphin and Bradbury and its CEO, Robert J. Bradbury, were initially found liable for wrongdoing this year by an administrative law judge and appealed the finding to the SEC, which ruled Thursday.

The case involved the 1998 decision by the Dauphin County General Authority to float $75.4 million worth of bonds to buy Forum Place from developer John O. Vartan.

At issue has been whether investors were adequately warned that a major tenant -- the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, which was leasing 79 percent of the space -- would be leaving soon after the purchase.

In 2002, a year after PennDOT left the 10-story building, the authority began defaulting on payments to the bondholders when it was unable to attract new leases. The building is overseen now by a Dauphin County Court-appointed receiver, as requested by the bondholders in 2003.

"[Dolphin and Bradbury] acted recklessly in offering and selling the Forum Place bonds based on offering documents that failed to include information about PennDOT's intended move," the SEC ruling said. "The investors to whom PennDOT's intent to move were not disclosed were harmed by the omissions and by the consequently misleading disclosures."

Attorneys for Dolphin and Bradbury and Robert J. Bradbury did not return a call seeking comment.

The SEC ruling slightly lowered the amount of money the firm had to give back, from $482,562.50 to $313,995.31.

Mark R. Zehner, an SEC attorney, said that adjustment was made after the SEC found that one of the bond buyers, Putnam Investments, did have information regarding the short-term nature of the PennDOT leases.

Under the order, the approximately $1 million in fines, penalties and refunds will be distributed among investors. But Zehner said there is doubt as to whether Dolphin and Bradbury, which is no longer operating as a broker/dealer, has the money to pay the judgment.

Barring an appeal, the ruling caps the SEC investigation into the Forum Place deal.

This year, Robert Fowler, a financial adviser from Lower Paxton Twp., was cleared by the SEC of any wrongdoing in the deal.

The authority was also not held liable by the SEC, which said authority members -- none of whom is serving today -- relied on Dolphin and Bradbury and Fowler for guidance.

Although the authority remains the owner of Forum Place, the financial failure did not affect the agency's finances.

Under the terms of the Forum Place deal, the bonds were to be repaid with lease profits -- so when the leases couldn't cover the expenses, those who suffered were the bonds' investors.

[EastSideHBG]

Some interesting news about the housing in the area:

EAL ESTATE

SMALLER IS BIG
Demand remains strong for lower-priced houses

Sunday, July 16, 2006
BY DAN MILLER
Of The Patriot-News

FROM THE ROAD, the plain bungalow in Lower Paxton Twp. could pass as a candidate for the ABC television show "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition."

The white siding has that greenish-gray tint, suggesting it needs paint or a power wash. An unpaved driveway runs uphill from Devonshire Road to a one-car garage in the back that appears newer than the house.

The property doesn't seem like it should spark a bidding war. But that's what happened after Gwen Wallace and Deb Faley, agent partners with RE/MAX Realty Professionals Inc., listed the house and one-acre lot for $80,000 on a Thursday night.

"By Friday, we had people standing in line," Wallace said.

By Tuesday night, the seller had 22 written offers. She chose an offer of more than $100,000. Wallace would not disclose the exact price because the deal hasn't closed yet.

To Wallace, the experience illustrates the frenzy that can occur in the midstate residential real estate market any time a property priced at less than $165,000 becomes available, even those clearly in need of at least cosmetic improvement.

She and other real estate agents and brokers said that, while the area housing market is still strong at the midpoint, the inventory of starter houses remains tight.

Meanwhile, sales of luxury houses have slowed, mostly because of rising interest rates. Mortgage rates fell slightly last week, to an average of about 6.74 percent for a 30-year, fixed-rate loan, but that's still low by historical standards.

Wallace sees demand for affordable housing especially strong among empty-nesters, those whose children have left home. These people often want a smaller house that doesn't need as much maintenance, or a house in a development where maintenance chores are taken care of through a homeowners' association.

"They [empty-nesters] can't afford or they don't want $300,000 and up. They are looking for houses on one level that they can afford to buy. List anything between $125,000 and $165,000 and you just know it's going to sell quickly," Wallace said.

"I wish we had more houses up to $300,000 because that's the price range we are lacking in," said Viola E. Thompson, president/broker at Prudential Thompson Wood Real Estate in Camp Hill.

Thompson predicts a glut in new high-end houses because of the number of builders that have begun to focus on the midstate.

K. Hovnanian, a national home builder based in New Jersey, sees no signs of a slowdown at Bella Vista in Silver Spring Twp., where single-family houses start at more than $400,000. Sales of new houses in the development are exceeding projections, sales associate Amy Berkley said.

Sales also are good at another K. Hovnanian development, Four Seasons at Elm Tree in Mount Joy. Houses in the over-55 community are priced in the $200,000 range.

Projections have doubled from eight sales a month to nearly 16, Berkley said.

Sales of high-end homes are still running at or ahead of projections for Charter Homes, President Rob Bowman said. Lancaster-based Charter builds developments ranging from The Preserve in Hampden Twp., where homes sell for more than $600,000, to Florin Hill in Mount Joy, a mixed-use complex with townhouses in the $100,000 range.

Bowman said demand is "strengthening" in this area for homes priced at less than $300,000, but not at the expense of those who want the luxury.

"It's still a good market," he added. "We've had steady demand and tightening supply of homes. It's been that way for a significant number of years."

Berkley sees evidence of some people putting homes on the market for more than they are worth, and then reducing the price when it takes longer to sell.

She also rejects the notion that national home builders have helped fuel an oversupply of new houses. K. Hovnanian and other national builders haven't been here long enough for that to be possible, she said. Berkley also contends that midstate consumers benefit from the increased competition.

Houses in the Harrisburg area were overvalued by 3.1 percent in the first quarter of 2006, according to a nationwide survey by Global Insight/National City Housing Valuation Analysis. The survey found houses in the Lebanon market to be overvalued by 1.6 percent, in Lancaster by 13.3 percent and in York by nearly 24 percent.

The overvaluing is mostly fueled by outside investors who try to profit by reselling properties for more than they paid, said Carl Fischer, an analyst with EntrustCama, a firm that advises people on real estate investing for retirement income.

Fischer said overvaluation of houses in Harrisburg "isn't as bad as in a lot of other areas," such as in larger cities. But he predicted that values here will begin to drop in the next six to nine months as investors start putting a large number of properties back on the market. Yet individual investors still seem to be interested in the market.

The buyers of the small house in Lower Paxton Twp. are local investors who plan to fix up the house as a rental property or put it back on the market, said H. Robert Kranich, who represented the buyers as associate broker with the same firm as Wallace. Kranich would not identify the investors.

***************

Area land bargains grow scarce

Sunday, July 16, 2006
BY DAN MILLER
Of The Patriot-News

The midstate still is a bargain for many people outside the region who are hunting for cheaper land. But the difference might be narrowing.

Josh Mitten, a real estate agent and sales manager for Dawn and Associates in Carlisle, said he has spent seven months trying to find a 10-acre farm for a woman seeking to relocate from just outside New York City.

The prospective buyer has horses and other animals and feels pressured from development closing in where she lives, Mitten said.

She wants elbow room but also to be close New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore. She found Mitten's firm on the Web.

"She wants the country setting, but she wants to know it's 15 minutes from Wal-Mart and 10 minutes from Interstate 81," Mitten said.

He has been scouring the area from the other side of Gardners to around Shippensburg looking for available farms.

"When you find them, we are talking serious, serious money. We're talking $400,000 for 10 acres and a little house. The same property has gone up $50,000 since we started our search," Mitten said.

Developers are gobbling up farmland and flooding the market with new homes, Mitten believes.

The woman plans to pay cash for the property here. She expects to get at least $425,000 for her 2,000-square-foot Victorian on four acres in New York.

But Mitten said his client is amazed at how land prices are increasing in this area and, for the first time, has admitted to second thoughts.

But Carlisle is a slam dunk for transplanted New Yorkers Jane and Ralph Armbrust.

They just bought a house in one Carlisle-area development for $250,000. The Armbrusts paid cash and hope to get $800,000 to $1 million for their property on Long Island, said Kim Brenneman, also an agent with Dawn and Associates.

Jane Armbrust, 61, and Ralph, 68, have entered a semi-retirement that they hope will become permanent. They also wanted to be closer to their son, whose job brought him to this area, and to their grandchildren.

Ralph Armbrust spent 30 years in the aerospace industry with Northrup Grumman Corp. and has been a Long Island fisherman "on the side," Jane said. She holds two part-time jobs as a church organist and a clerk/bookkeeper. The couple hope to be here permanently by October.

Their old home is about the same size as here, but the Long Island property has more land and needs more upkeep.

"It was getting a little too much for us to take care of at retirement age," Jane said.

The midstate isn't always cheaper. Brenneman just sold a home in Newburg for $189,000 to a man from Indiana, where prices are lower.

The man came to central Pennsylvania to accept a position as a professor at Shippensburg University, where he will make more money, Brenneman said.

[EastSideHBG]

This was a screw job all the way around, but I am sure happy to see the historic area is being saved! And I am very surprised to hear that the feds will be demolishing the Quaker Meeting House too.


FEDERAL COURTHOUSE PROPOSAL

MAKING THE MOVE
Panel picks Cumberland Court as preferred project site

Tuesday, July 18, 2006
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

A leafy subsidized apartment complex at Sixth and Verbeke streets in Harrisburg is the U.S. government's preferred site for a $100 million federal courthouse project.

A government panel's selection of Cumberland Court apartments caps a 28-month search by the U.S. General Services Administration for a replacement site for the courthouse at Walnut and Locust streets, mainly to meet security requirements.

Construction is scheduled to begin in 2009 and end in 2012. The government also would raze the nearby Quaker Meeting House.

The GSA is promising relocation assistance for Cumberland Court residents, who would move within two years.

"It's time for a change," said Cumberland Court resident Reese Shakoor, 22, who lives there with her three children. "It's quiet here. There's lots of grass. But change is good."

Shakoor was among several residents who accepted the news in stride, saying they'd move as long as they are given acceptable housing.

The decision provided relief to residents at two other sites considered by the government: The Jackson-Lick public housing towers at Sixth and Basin streets, and a close-knit neighborhood of historic homes, businesses and restaurants in the shadow of the state Capitol at Third and Forster streets.

"I am ecstatic," Diane Staub said upon learning she would not have to leave her home in the Alton W. Lick building.

Staub, 49, who developed multiple sclerosis 28 years ago, has lived in the brick building for 13 years. She said she is comfortable navigating its corridors and sidewalks in her wheelchair.

"I couldn't find another place as big as mine," she said.

At the other passed-over site, Monica Grieco, an artist and bartender, said the decision means she'll be able to keep her job, her art studio and her apartment -- all located within the proposed site between Third and Green and North and Forster streets.

"I am pretty happy and relieved .... my life would have been pretty upended," she said.

The five-member selection committee's decision is expected to become final pending further study and approval by GSA's regional administrator, perhaps as early as next month.

Mayor Stephen R. Reed, who was informed of the decision yesterday morning, said final approval appears to be a formality.

He added that GSA is already distributing leaflets notifying residents.

"They are going to proceed," Reed said.

In choosing from among the three sites, GSA faced a tough decision:

Either it would bulldoze a diverse and historic neighborhood near the Capitol; oust about 140 elderly and disabled people from the Jackson-Lick public housing tower; or force the mostly minority residents out of Cumberland Court.

GSA spokeswoman Gina Gilliam said the Cumberland Court site is preferred because of its location near downtown and its similar amenities and character. Razing the apartments would have far less historic impact than other alternatives and relocating residents to similar housing should not pose a problem, she said.

Reed, who disliked all three alternatives, said the government's final analysis might have come down to money.

Reed said taking Jackson-Lick would have required that replacement housing be built under U.S. Housing and Urban Development rules. That would have pushed the site preparation costs above $30 million, well in excess of the $20 million GSA has allotted to prepare the site, Reed said.

Ramifications at the Capitol-area neighborhood were just as formidable, said Reed.

Many buildings are on the National Register of Historic Places. The establishments that would have been forced to close or move were the St. Moritz jazz club, Roxy's Cafe, Mangia Qui restaurant and Stallions, a gay nightclub.

"They would have ran afoul of multiple statutes on historic preservation," Reed said. "It would have been in litigation for years."

The GSA needed at least 21/2 acres for a building of eight to 14 stories, along with enough land to allow 50- to 100-foot security setbacks. The agency initially explored 25 sites in the city.

By settling upon the Cumberland Court site, the GSA could help expand the traditional boundary for what's considered downtown.

Retired architect Martin Murray, formerly the head of Murray Associates Architects of Harrisburg, has described Forster Street as "a wall," buttressed by state buildings that has limited Harrisburg's growth to the north.

City spokesman Randy King has said the 262,970-square- foot courthouse would have a "very substantial economic spinoff impact" on the area.

"Neighboring property values are most assuredly going to be profoundly impacted for the better," he said.

Reed said the city would push for a courthouse design in keeping with the 19th century houses and buildings of the adjacent Old Fox Ridge historic district. He said a lower-rise building with a brick facade would be more appropriate there.

"A glass-and-steel building would look extraordinarily out of place," Reed said.

The city will take a modest hit when it comes to taxes.

Cumberland Court is assessed at $1.2 million and pays about $46,000 in annual city and school taxes. The Quaker Meeting House is assessed at $253,500, but pays no taxes because of its religious use.

Selecting the Capitol-area neighborhood would have cost the city $1.4 million in annual taxes and revenues, while Jackson-Lick would have meant no tax hit as the public housing towers are tax-exempt.

[wrightchr]

^ interesting that Cumberland Court was chosen...i thought for sure it would be the Jackson/Lick towers. like you Dave, i am very surprised about demolishing the quaker meeting house. it seems to me that it could have been left intact.

[Evergrey]

This is a random question... but what has become of the cow statues from CowParade? Are they still gracing Harrisburg's public spaces... or have they been auctioned off? What is their fate?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f3/Hbg_cow_skyline.jpg

[FlyersFan118]

Shit, I want that cow for my living room. :banana:

[EastSideHBG]

Man, LPT is really chewing away at the countryside!


LOWER PAXTON TWP.

Officials OK zoning change, pave way for development

Wednesday, July 19, 2006
BY DIANA FISHLOCK
Of The Patriot-News

At least 443 homes can be built on the former Stray Winds Farm after Lower Paxton Twp. supervisors last night unanimously approved a developer's request for a zoning change.

http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/115328138887770.xml&coll=1

********************

HARRISBURG

Court site chosen for security, U.S. says

REPORTED YESTERDAY AT 3:23 P.M. ON PENNLIVE.COM
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

A day after naming a subsidized housing complex at Sixth and Verbeke streets in Harrisburg as the preferred site for a federal courthouse, a U.S. government agency yesterday released its final report evaluating three sites it considered.

A General Services Administration committee selected the 108-unit Cumberland Court apartments as a replacement site for the courthouse at Walnut and Locust streets, mainly to meet security requirements.

The government also would raze the nearby Quaker Meeting House to make way for the $100 million project.

GSA spokeswoman Gina Gilliam said the Cumberland Court site was preferred because of its affordability, its location near downtown and its amenities and character. Razing the apartments would have far less historic impact than other alternatives and relocating residents to similar housing should not pose a problem, she said.

The five-member selection committee's decision is expected to become final pending study and approval by GSA's regional administrator, perhaps by next month.

Cumberland Court's Denver-based owner, AIMCO Apartment Investment & Management Co., said it plans to hold informational meetings for tenants in the coming weeks, alerting them to their rights and options.

Lance Graber, an executive vice president at AIMCO, said the company had been looking into renovating the apartments under a tax-credit plan with the state.

GSA is promising relocation assistance to residents, including government housing vouchers. Tenants would have about two years to move.

In selecting Cumberland Court, the GSA bypassed two sites that were closely evaluated: The Jackson-Lick public housing towers at Sixth and Basin streets and a close-knit neighborhood of historic homes, businesses and restaurants in the shadow of the state Capitol at Third and Forster streets.

Jackson-Lick was deemed too costly because of U.S. Housing and Urban Development requirements that replacement housing be built. That would have pushed the site preparation costs well above the $20 million GSA allotted.

The Capital Area neighborhood included many buildings on the National Register of Historic Places. In addition, some popular establishments would have been forced to close or move.

The GSA needed at least 21/2 acres for a building of eight to 14 stories, along with enough land to allow 50- to 100-foot security setbacks.

Construction on the 262,970-square-foot courthouse is scheduled to begin in 2009 and end in 2012.

[EastSideHBG]

This is a random question... but what has become of the cow statues from CowParade? Are they still gracing Harrisburg's public spaces... or have they been auctioned off? What is their fate?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f3/Hbg_cow_skyline.jpg
Yeah that is one of my favorites, FF! :yes:

Evergrey, they have all been auctioned off. Some of those purchased by businesses still display them publically, though. For example, Sovereign Bank bought one that is completely covered with pennies and it is displayed outside of their office on 2nd St. downtown. The drunk kids there for the nightlife really abuse that one, though, and I have seen that cow involved in quite a bit LOL


HARRISBURG

Authority delays vote on island museum

Financial feasibility, flooding raise concerns on Sports Hall of Fame

Wednesday, July 19, 2006
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

The proposed National Sports Hall of Fame for City Island didn't exactly strike out before the Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority.

But it didn't hit a home run, either.

To be off and running, the sports project needs the redevelopment authority to orchestrate a $30 million bond deal that would pay for its construction and start-up costs.

But yesterday, authority members expressed concerns about the financial feasibility of the combination sports hall of fame, office space, restaurant and bar project.

"I'm trying to look at the sensibility of this whole thing and whether it's going to work," authority member Harold E. Dunbar said. "I am very troubled by this, and it's not because I don't like sports."

Authority members' concerns included flooding problems and exhibits. The board didn't make a decision, opting to continue the discussion on Aug. 9.

A final vote likely would take place later next month.

John Levenda, director of the city's National Sports Hall of Fame Foundation, did his best to allay concerns.

He said the 120,000-square-foot building would be built on stilts above City Island's 100-year floodplain. The first floor would be for parking.

But authority members questioned whether businesses would put up with frequent flood-related closures if they located on City Island.

Levenda said the building could still be accessed by the Walnut Street Bridge in all but the worst flooding, although parking would be eliminated.

He said many firms might be willing to put up with such inconveniences in exchange for the prestige of being on City Island. Plans depict a six-story, glass office tower with two sets of balconies on each floor that overlook the nearby baseball stadium, the cityscape and the Susquehanna River.

Levenda said he has heard from several firms and agencies that are interested.

"This is going to be economically feasible," he said.

Authority Vice Chairman Charles R. Peguese acknowledged the attractiveness of the City Island location but expressed other concerns.

"The island is one of the most popular places in the region, I'll grant you that," he said. "But we really have to be sure what we are doing. To build a museum just to build a museum is not the way to go."

Members also appeared to like that the hall of fame would feature rotating exhibits of mostly donated items, keeping the experience fresh for repeat visits and the artifact costs low. The museum would also feature interactive sports experiences, Levenda said.

The authority's approval would be the first hurdle in the financing deal.

The project still needs the City Council to pledge the city's guarantee behind the 25-year bond issue, a move that generally lowers the interest rate on the bonds and provides more security for investors.

Otherwise, the hall of fame would have to pay higher interest rates on the bonds to attract investors, making the debt far too great to be feasible, officials said.

By giving that guarantee, Harrisburg would be obligated to pay the $1.5 million-a-year bond debt if the hall of fame failed to make enough money to cover its costs.

The project also is scheduled to get $9.5 million from the state's capital projects fund. Levenda has promised that no city tax money would be used for the project.

If all the approvals for the financing fall into place by October, Levenda said it's possible to break ground on the project before the end of the year and finish in late 2008 -- a schedule favored by Mayor Stephen R. Reed.

The hall of fame is part of Reed's vision of a "critical mass" of museums in Harrisburg. In addition, he has proposed an African American Heritage Center for a two-building site at Third and Verbeke streets, across from the Broad Street Market.

That project is not expected to move into the final design phase until more money is raised.

[Evergrey]

The drunk kids there for the nightlife really abuse that one, though, and I have seen that cow involved in quite a bit LOL


That's a shame. These cow statues are very artistic and represent the soul of the city. They should be treated with reverance.

[EastSideHBG]

That's a shame. These cow statues are very artistic and represent the soul of the city. They should be treated with reverance.
Oh you should've seen what people did to them when they were being displayed, before they were auctioned off. One was stolen (later returned but in awful condition), one had a horn broken off, one had so many people jumping onto its back for a picture it eventually broke...I can go on and on.

There is a different breed of people in Harrisburg, man...many have no repsect for anything. :koko:

[Evergrey]

Oh you should've seen what people did to them when they were being displayed, before they were auctioned off. One was stolen (later returned but in awful condition), one had a horn broken off, one had so many people jumping onto its back for a picture it eventually broke...I can go on and on.

There is a different breed of people in Harrisburg, man...many have no repsect for anything. :koko:

Ugh... I don't wanna keep going on about this... but it just tears me up inside to see a work of art... that somebody poured their heart and soul into... be destroyed like that. That must make the artists feel so sick inside.

[EastSideHBG]

Ugh... I don't wanna keep going on about this... but it just tears me up inside to see a work of art... that somebody poured their heart and soul into... be destroyed like that. That must make the artists feel so sick inside.
Yeah it was pretty bad and REALLY bugged me. One of the artists even had to go on TV begging people to leave the cows alone! :no:

I think one of the lower blows was when some people vandalized one that was a tribute to the Civil War and Gettysburg. You have to be pretty f'd up to do something like that...

[EastSideHBG]

Much like Philly, HBG seems to always have the threat of losing its long-time establishments hanging over its head...


McDevitt considers leaving city

Need for space prompts discussion of school in suburbs

Friday, July 21, 2006
BY JACK SHERZER
Of The Patriot-News

Bishop McDevitt High School is facing a dilemma: After 88 years, is it time to move out of Harrisburg?

With a long list of renovation and expansion needs, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg is considering whether it makes more sense to build a suburban high school or remain at 2200 Market St., on the fringes of Bellevue Park.

The decision ultimately rests with Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades. Diocese officials say they are studying both options, and there is no timetable for a decision.

The diocese earlier this year informed the school's parents, students and alumnus that the question was being examined. Since then, an intense but respectful debate has emerged.

Those who want to renovate the school talk of Bishop McDevitt's rich tradition and beautiful building and the importance of keeping a presence in urban Harrisburg.

Advocates for moving talk of the need for more parking, the need to expand the school's athletic fields and the opportunities for growth a new building could bring.

"I favor renovation simply because I think it's a unique architectural structure," said Carmen Finestra, a 1965 graduate and member of the school's Advancement Council, which has discussed the question. "I think it's a great location as far as being accessible to students inside the city and outside the city."

Finestra, a Hollywood producer who worked on "Home Improvement" and "The Cosby Show," acknowledged a suburban location might offer more space for parking and athletics.

"My concern about moving into the suburban area is losing some of the city base," he said. "I think that is a nice element of the school."

His wife, Tonia Stivale-Finestra, a '73 grad, agreed: "To rebuild is to disregard the school's history. Our throwaway society wants a quick fix; shiny and new doesn't mean better. McDevitt is fixable."

Dauphin County Judge Richard A. Lewis, a '65 grad, said he believes it is time for McDevitt to have a new home. Also on the school's Advancement Council, he points to the benefits more space would bring.

"It's a beautiful facility, but age has taken a toll," Lewis said. "It would be a massive undertaking to rehab the building, to bring it up to appropriate standards. The athletic field is hemmed in, to say the least, with no room for expansion.

"I believe renovation would be too costly. I believe in the long run, the new construction idea is the more practical," Lewis said. "I recognize the final decision rests with the bishop, and I will certainly abide by and respect his decision."

Both sides pledged to support the bishop's decision -- which is especially important, since either option will require fundraising, diocese officials readily acknowledged.

The Rev. Edward Quinlan, the diocese's secretary for education and former principal at Bishop McDevitt, said a number of people are putting together information and that no deadline has been set for a final report.

After the details of both options are known, Quinlan said the bishop will seek input. The idea of moving started being discussed in January, he said.

"The other part of the process was to begin to talk about this through the community," he said. "Clearly, you want to get a sense of the greater McDevitt community and what they will support in terms of a plan to move ahead."

Quinlan said safety in the urban area hasn't been a major issue, although the need for students to park a distance from the building has raised some concerns. The discussion has centered more on whether the current location can accommodate the athletics, parking and other needs of the school, he said.

Whatever the decision, Quinlan stressed commitment to the city.

"We would never want people to think that somehow the church is no longer interested in the city," he said. "Even if [the school] moved, that would never be our thinking."

Maryjo Szada, a '72 grad and doctor with a family medical practice in Steelton, said she believes the school's presence benefits the city.

"We believe the school is a viable alternative to the public school system," said Szada, who is also on the Advancement Council. "Being a Catholic school, we need to provide that presence of the church in the city and community."

Outgoing McDevitt parent association president Chris Plasic-Van Wagner agreed: "I feel McDevitt needs to stay in the city and be a presence in the city."

Plasic-Van Wagner's husband and four children are all McDevitt grads. Greg Van Wagner, 19, who graduated in May, said student feelings were mixed -- new facilities are tempting and the unairconditioned classrooms can get hot in the spring and fall.

He said he would favor staying, saying a move could diminish the school's spirit.

"It does have a lot of history behind it and it makes McDevitt something a little different," he said of the building. "If we move to a suburban area, we don't have the same image of the Catholic school; we're just another public school, almost."

***********

And now it looks like some of the older boroughs around the city have to deal with the same threat!

PENBROOK
57-year-old parish plans new church in L. Paxton

Friday, July 21, 2006
BY DIANA FISHLOCK
Of The Patriot-News

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque Roman Catholic Church in Penbrook plans to build a church on a 19-acre site straddling the border of Susquehanna and Lower Paxton townships, church and diocese officials say.

The church might eventually move its school there, but probably not for many years, officials said.

http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriotnews/index.ssf?/base/news/1153447041123850.xml&coll=1

[Evergrey]

I hate it when urban catholic schools decide to move to the suburbs because that's where all the students come from. North Catholic in Pittsburgh's Troy Hill is moving north to exurban Butler County due to this same phenomenon. Makes me sick.

[EastSideHBG]

/\
I do too, but at the same time, I can def. see the logic in being closer to where a majority of your students are. It pains me to say that, but 'tis how I feel...

I just wish the cities could be more accomodating. Some things are out of their hands, yes, but some things are not...

[wrightchr]

i don't think you can blame McDevitt for considering a move outside the city. in this day and age, it's increasingly hard to operate an urban high school without room to expand facilities. often its cheaper and more realistic to build a completely new structure...often outside the urban core. McDevitt is definately a landmark and a historic structure, but maybe it's time for a change. you can't exactly demolish dense neighborhoods to expand a high school parking lot or athletic fields can you???

as for the cows getting vandalized...i know that that sort of thing did happen, but much infrequently then you would think. i toured much of the city taking pictures of the cows with my younger sister and girlfriend (now my wife) on several days, and never noticed anyone disgracing the cows...infact quite the contrary! not to say that it didn't happen and i do remember reading about the disappearance of one cow in the paper, but for the most part CowParade was a huge success and a boost to the cultural fabic of Harrisburg. the city was one of the first in the world to host the event. Evergrey...some of the cows are still on dispaly throughout the city. some along Front Street and Riverfront Park and at many commercial businesses who sponsored the cows....the cheapest of which sold for thousands of dollars.

Dave: what are your thoughts on the sports hall of fame?

[EastSideHBG]

i don't think you can blame McDevitt for considering a move outside the city. in this day and age, it's increasingly hard to operate an urban high school without room to expand facilities. often its cheaper and more realistic to build a completely new structure...often outside the urban core. McDevitt is definately a landmark and a historic structure, but maybe it's time for a change. you can't exactly demolish dense neighborhoods to expand a high school parking lot or athletic fields can you???
Yeah and not to mention I know that McDevitt has had A LOT of problems over the years with being so close to John Harris, and I'm sure they wouldn't mind getting away from that.

as for the cows getting vandalized...i know that that sort of thing did happen, but much infrequently then you would think. i toured much of the city taking pictures of the cows with my younger sister and girlfriend (now my wife) on several days, and never noticed anyone disgracing the cows...infact quite the contrary! not to say that it didn't happen and i do remember reading about the disappearance of one cow in the paper, but for the most part CowParade was a huge success and a boost to the cultural fabic of Harrisburg. the city was one of the first in the world to host the event. Evergrey...some of the cows are still on dispaly throughout the city. some along Front Street and Riverfront Park and at many commercial businesses who sponsored the cows....the cheapest of which sold for thousands of dollars.
Chris is wright, Evergrey, it was a huge success. And even though 4+ cows being vandalized is still too much IMO and shows you something about the mindset of your citizens, when you factor in the amount of cows that were all over the city/metro, it wasn't that bad at all.

Dave: what are your thoughts on the sports hall of fame?
Another one of the Mayor's boondoggles and it will flop on its face in a few years, just like the Civil War Museum. I wish I could be optimistic with this project but I just can't be. I say just put a restaurant and/or entertainment complex, MAYBE an office tower on the island and let's move on with life. If (and that is a really, really big if there) the city wanted to pull off a PA Sports Hall of Fame Museum, I say put it somewhere near the State Museum and try to create a cultural district of some sort. Why have a museum in Resevoir Park, one on the island, one DT, one on 3rd...come on!!! :koko:

[EastSideHBG]

Bishop: Affordability is key to McDevitt's future

McDevitt must remain affordable, bishop says

Saturday, July 22, 2006
BY JACK SHERZER
Of The Patriot-News

While the decision whether to move Bishop McDevitt High School out of the city is important, the key mission is to make a Roman Catholic school education affordable to as many as possible, the head of the diocese said yesterday.

Bishop Kevin C. Rhoades, as leader of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Harrisburg, will decide whether to renovate the 76-year-old school or rebuild elsewhere. He said he doesn't want the debate to overshadow the true mission of making the school affordable to those in need.

And whatever the decision, Rhoades said the church remains committed to Harrisburg and its people.

"I think the key issue for us to address is to have enough financial aid for those who cannot afford tuition, and that means continuing to strengthen our endowment," Rhoades said. "Location isn't the primary consideration; what's primary is affordability."

Rhoades said he hopes this fall to have initial reports on options and price estimates for renovation and moving. After that, he said he would want to hear input from the McDevitt community, including students, parents, faculty, alumni and parishioners.

Harrisburg Mayor Stephen R. Reed, a 1967 McDevitt grad, said he thinks it's important for the school's Catholic mission that it remain at 2200 Market St.

"I think that many would perceive a relocation decision as an abandonment of the Catholic Church principles by which the church has been guided by two millennia," Reed said. "Which is to have a strong physical presence in the area of greatest physical need."

Reed also said he heard talk of potentially moving to the suburbs was sparked by a benefactor who was offering $6 million in cash or land, or both, to help with a move.

Rhoades, however, said the diocese has no firm offers. Discussions about whether to move Bishop McDevitt began before he became bishop, and the current move to put cost estimates on both options began late last year, he said.

"I have received no formal pledges or promises of gifts for a capital campaign," Rhoades said, adding a capital campaign would begin after a decision on how to proceed is made. "I have had some informal conversations with a few potential benefactors."

Regarding the commitment to caring for the city's needy, Rhoades said its charitable efforts show the diocese remains supportive of Harrisburg.

The diocese provided a partial list of more than a dozen Catholic services helping the city's needy, including a soup kitchen and food bank at St. Francis of Assisi Parish, where Rhodes was formerly pastor.

In recent months, as the diocese has engaged consultants to study the options, a debate has emerged that has included some of the area's more prominent residents.

Advocates for moving talk of the need for more parking, the need to expand athletic fields and the opportunities for growth a new building could bring.

Those who want to renovate the school talk of Bishop McDevitt's tradition and beautiful building and the importance of keeping a presence in urban Harrisburg.

"It's really living history," said Carmen Finestra, a 1965 graduate and member of the school's Advancement Council, which has discussed the issue. Finestra said the school should stay in the city.

Finestra, a Hollywood producer who worked on "Home Improvement" and "The Cosby Show," said that while a suburban location might offer more space for parking and athletics, the existing building has a lot of tradition and memories.

"There are a lot of students that have had their parents and grandparents go to that school," Finestra said.

One relocation advocate is Rocco A. Ortenzio, chairman of Select Medical Corp. of Lower Allen Twp., which operates 99 long-term, acute-care hospitals in 26 states and about 740 outpatient rehabilitation clinics throughout the United States and Canada.

Ortenzio, a 1950 grad, said he has not made any funding commitments to the diocese regarding Bishop McDevitt, but said he believes relocation is important for the school's future.

"It is better to have a place with ample grounds, ample parking, better school classrooms as opposed to continuing to spend money on a confined space," he said. "It really comes down to where it makes the most sense to spend the money."

*************

I cam't really argue with that!

[wrightchr]

^ Ortenzio has the financial power to back a move to the suburbs. he contributed a very large sum to Holy Spirit Hospital's cancer center...which ironically bears his name. after reading this, i definately foresee a move outside the city.

Another one of the Mayor's boondoggles and it will flop on its face in a few years, just like the Civil War Museum. I wish I could be optimistic with this project but I just can't be. I say just put a restaurant and/or entertainment complex, MAYBE an office tower on the island and let's move on with life. If (and that is a really, really big if there) the city wanted to pull off a PA Sports Hall of Fame Museum, I say put it somewhere near the State Museum and try to create a cultural district of some sort. Why have a museum in Resevoir Park, one on the island, one DT, one on 3rd...come on!!!
i agree in a way Dave...i mean, there doesn't seem to be much success with the civil war museum. i really like the concept of the museum and the exhibits, but its placement in Resevoir Park makes it out of the way for the very tourists it seeks to draw from. the sports hall of fame has merit in my opinion, but only if it can somehow be self sufficient. adding ample class A and B office space as well as a restaurant might just make it a success. i guess when it comes down to it, i would really like to see City Island take on a life of its own and become a first rate attraction for the region. it's missing something big...a real draw for out of state tourists. it needs some attraction to compete with attention from Hershey and Carlisle. the sports museum might just work as an all around attraction...where as the civil war museum seems to only attract civil war buffs and the usual round of school students.

i know i've mentioned this before in the past, but i really think HBG needs something more than just another museum. if Chattanooga, TN can build a freshwater aquarium, than why not Harrisburg? there's nothing like it in PA...there's one in NJ and the national aqarium in Baltimore...but i really think something like that would be more of an investment in tourism then another savy museum. don't get me wrong...i think building educational venues like museums are worthy, but so would something like this.

[EastSideHBG]

I agree, Chris, and I too have always longed to see a fresh water aquarium in HBG. To me that is an ever so obvious attraction, with the Susquehanna and how tied into HBG/SCPA it is! :???:

HBG will NEVER be a mecca for museums IMO. Why not go for another "gimmick"? Build the state's talles building...create an amazing entertainment complex...[i]something[/], anything. Just no more silly museums!

[EastSideHBG]

I will never, ever understand the reasoning behind this and HBG is definitely saturated now! The last few times I went to the movies in HBG it was at the Regal. One time was opening night for a very big movie and the theatre was only 3/4 full. The second time was for a movie that was only out for a few days, and we were one of SEVEN people in the theatre...on a Sat. night!


SWATARA TWP.

Harrisburg Mall plans 14-screen theater

Monday, July 24, 2006
BY MARY KLAUS
Of The Patriot-News

Mark Nobile smiled when asked if the Harrisburg area needs 14 new theaters in an era when many watch rental movies on big-screen home televisions or recently released flicks on cable TV.

Nobile, manager of Harrisburg Mall, has a stake in the answer. He and other mall officials will break ground Aug. 1 for The Great Escape Theaters, a 14-screen complex.

Less than two miles away, High Pointe Commons shopping center also plans to open a theater and entertainment complex next year.

"Theaters are full all the time," Nobile said. "When new movies come out, they play in the theaters two or three weeks. People go to the movies."

The noon groundbreaking at Harrisburg Mall will launch the building of a 60,000-square-foot addition behind the Swatara Twp. mall.

The complex is scheduled to open in late 2007, in time for the holiday movie season, Nobile said. It will be built between Boscov's and Hecht's, soon to become Macy's.

"The theaters are part of the mall's phase two renovations," Nobile said, adding that the phase includes adding a "lifestyle component" of shops and restaurants in front of the mall.

"We want people to come here for entertainment, as well as shopping. These will be first-class theaters with amenities."

The complex will include theaters of various sizes with full stadium seating and 18-inch risers, rocking high-back chairs and love seats, wall-to-wall screens, digital surround sound, concession stands and a cafe.

An official from Feldman Mall Properties Inc., the mall's owner, said Aliance Management Inc. will operate the theater complex.

Earlier this month, The Great Escape chain opened a 10-screen theater at Lebanon Valley Mall.

"This theater will bring a level of luxury that Harrisburg's theater patrons have been craving," said Larry Feldman, Feldman Mall Properties CEO and chairman.

Nobile said that the theaters, which will have a "grand entrance" near the food court, will be built "on pillars" so the mall can keep its 4,900 parking spaces.

The Swatara Twp. police substation near the current Hecht's entrance will be relocated.

Calling the Harrisburg Mall "a city with a roof on it," Nobile said he wants the two-level mall to "offer a little bit of everything to everyone."

The mall has more than 900,000 square feet of retail space, a food court and about 110 stores, including anchors Bass Pro Shops, Boscov's and Hecht's, which will become Macy's in September.

The mall was renovated in 1993 "to lose the '70s look," Nobile said.

In 2003, Feldman Mall Properties bought Harrisburg East Mall, dropped the word "East" and began a renovation that brought in Boscov's and Bass Pro Shops.

[danwxman]

I think the Regal does just okay. Sometimes it's busy, but many times it is not. It's actually a pretty good place to go. The new Cinema Center on the west shore is the same way. It can get really busy on the weekends, but most of the time on weekdays it's deadsville. But isn't that how theaters always are?

The improvements taking place at the Harrisburg Mall are much needed. But what the mall really needs are better stores. It's ashame that you have to go to Park City in Lancaster (smaller market!) just to get a decent mall.

The lifestyle component sounds very interesting. It would be nice to make the Harrisburg Mall more of a destination mall, for something other then just the Bass Pro Shops.

[wrightchr]

^ i completely agree.

[EastSideHBG]

I agree too, and Harrisburg needs much more diverse retail. There is a lot of shopping in the HBG area but it is all the same crap...

The next time I am in HBG I just have to drvie on this, as that section has been one-way my entire life...it is going to be weird I am sure LOL

SWATARA TWP.

Businesses welcome 2-way Paxton Street

Tuesday, July 25, 2006
BY MARY KLAUS
Of The Patriot-News

The long-awaited $4.1 million conversion of the one-way eastern end of Paxton Street, transforming it to a two-way thoroughfare, is expected to take effect this morning.

The change today will affect nearly a mile of the Swatara Twp. thoroughfare from the Harrisburg Mall to Eisenhower Boulevard. It will begin at 9 a.m. "if everything goes right," and the whole stretch should be open by the end of day, said Greg Penny, a state Department of Transportation spokesman.

"We will start with two-way traffic from the light at Bass Pro Shops to Friendship Road," Penny said. "If that goes well, we'll go from the light at Friendship Road to the one at 40th Street. Then we'll continue from 40th Street to Eisenhower Boulevard. This will be our soft opening, or rehearsal. We hope to have the grand opening Monday."

The road opening is "very good news" for the TecPort Business Center and the adjacent restaurants and businesses, said David Balinski, vice president of development for Crossgates Inc., the developer that opened TecPort on the former AMP Inc. campus.

"We've waited a long time for this," Balinski said. "Now people will have full accessibility to our businesses from both sides of Paxton Street, instead of saying, 'You can't get there from here.' Everyone expects to get extra volumes of business because it will be easier for people to get here."

The conversion is "a plus for the whole area," said Mark Nobile, the general manager of the Harrisburg Mall. "It's been difficult having Paxton Street one-way all this time. This makes getting around this area so much easier. I couldn't be happier."

The project, which began 16 months ago and originally was to be completed last November, involved widening nearly a mile of eastern Paxton Street and installing traffic signals near the entrance to 40th street and at both ends of Friendship Road.

The eastern part of Paxton Street now can accommodate two-way traffic and has a right eastbound turning lane and a center westbound turning lane.

PennDOT will spend the next month "assessing the new road and watching for any glitches," Penny said. "If there are, we'll have technicians to adjust timing and circuits. After all these years of one-way, it will take getting used to. We'll have signs directing motorists, especially from Eisenhower Boulevard to Paxton Street."

The grand opening, featuring a ribbon-cutting ceremony and speeches, is tentatively scheduled for 10 a.m. Monday at Paxton Street and Friendship Road.

[EastSideHBG]

Here is my point exactly! HBG never gets anything new and it is always the same crap recycled over and over...with such a large space, it would've been a golden opportunity to attract something new to the area!


RETAILING

Furniture store planned
Wednesday, July 26, 2006

Value City Furniture plans to open a store on Sept. 1 in the former Media Play space in Lower Paxton Twp.

The store will feature the American Signature Gallery brand of furniture in a 34,078-square-foot showroom.

It will be the Columbus, Ohio-based company's 96th store. Value City Furniture has another Harrisburg-area store in Silver Spring Twp.

The new Value City Furniture store will be in a strip shopping center along Route 22 that also features Gander Mountain, SuperPetz and Old Country Buffet. Media Play, which offered music, video games, movies and books, closed earlier this year.

From staff and wire reports

[wrightchr]

Dave, i was just in the area of the Harrisburg mall the other day. my wife and i went to Bass Pro for the first time. i noticed all the upgrades to Paxton Street going through TecPort...it's about time and it looks great!

i agree with your comments about the big box stores being recycled crap that regergitate themselves across the area. i'm definately sick of strip malls and try to avoid them unless i absolutely have to. i guess the only positives from this that i can come up with is that it provides consumers in different subsections of the Harrisburg area with more choices...instead of making consumers drive across the river, many retailers are building multiple locations to serve the region...which means shorter commute times to stores.

this brings me to the other positive...larger retailers adding more stores ultimately means that the area is considered a prime location to target consumers...which i hope in the end means bringing different and more diverse commercial establishments to the region. and if bringing another boring multi-theater cinema to the Harrisburg mall helps to lure more investment and diverse retailers to target the area, then by all means IMHO.

[harrisburger]

lots of happened since i've been gone...for the harrisburg mall, i just went there and they had a few pictures of what phase II was going to look like. i must say, if the end product looks like them, it'll be really good to a mall that still seems to be failing. i went there at night, and it was pretty dead, and i noticed that many of the stores (hallmark, gap) have left, along with many other vacant storefronts. hopefully the theatres will breathe some life in the mall....i also went downtown and the state street project is going along well. the new design definitely opens up the view of the capitol. there's some nice brickwork at the 2nd st./state st. intersection and some nice lights, but i still miss those trees. there seems to be a few spots where trees might be added later, but they used to really soften all the concrete.

[EastSideHBG]

I see what you are saying, Chris, and I can agree to a point. But IMO HBG is WELL past that cycle and more new things should be popping up by now.

The HBG Mall is failing, I hate to say it. And no stupid movie theatre is going to do the trick, ESPECIALLY when another new, bigger one is going to be a few blocks down...the mall needs a total overhaul!

I am curious to see the State St. project's progress the next time I am in town. I was all for the project but I have heard A LOT of complaints so far, especially in regards to all of the parking that was/will be lost...


Here is some interesting news:

REAL ESTATE

Hershey Trust buys building

Thursday, July 27, 2006

Hershey Trust Co. has purchased the PNC Bank building in downtown Hershey for $1.6 million.

PNC owned the two-story building at Cocoa and Chocolate avenues. The trust will spend another $2.5 million to renovate the building, which was built in 1910.

The first floor will be converted into office space for multiple tenants, said Robert Vowler, president and CEO of Hershey Trust.

PNC will lease 3,252 square feet. Other first-floor tenants will include Printpack Inc. and the M.S. Hershey Foundation.

Vowler said the second floor will be converted into premium office space intended for one tenant. A boardroom on the second floor originally was used by Milton S. Hershey, he noted.

The building totals 18,000 square feet, not counting the basement. The main entrance will be moved to the rear as part of the renovations, which started this month and are to be completed by late 2007.

[EastSideHBG]

No money to clean up neighborhoods and one big snow storm this year almost broke the bank but there is somehow money for this?!? I do think it is a good buy of course and not a total waste, but I think the priorities are a little off, as there are much more important things to tend to IMO...


HARRISBURG SCHOOLS

District to buy SciTech campus

Friday, July 28, 2006
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

The Harrisburg School District will no longer be a tenant at the downtown campus its SciTech High program shares with Harrisburg University of Science and Technology.

The city school district isn't moving the science and technology high school. It's buying the lab-laden building from the university for $12.5 million.

Harrisburg Superintendent Gerald Kohn called the purchase of 215 Market St., which the Harrisburg School District Board of Control approved last night, a great deal for both the city schools and Harrisburg University.

He said the school district is getting a state-of-the art science building at a bargain-basement price.

"This gives us the opportunity to own SciTech High by ourselves at a fraction of the cost to build it," said Kohn, who estimated the district will save between $5 million and $10 million.

Meanwhile, the university, which is going into its second year, will gain seed money and build collateral to bolster financing for a $70 million headquarters tower to be built at Fourth and Market streets.

Work on the 16-floor precast concrete, brick and glass university tower is expected to start in October and take two years.

The university, which opened in August with a class of 110, is expected to combine state money and bond financing to pay for the project.

Kohn said the Harrisburg School District is buying SciTech High by using funds from bond deals done in 2003 and 2006 to raise money for districtwide renovations.

Kohn said the district has borrowed about $149 million over the years to pay for the building upgrades, and he said the eventual purchase of the SciTech building was part of the long-range facilities plan.

The purchase of the building will take place over 18 months with a series of payments totaling about $2.5 million each, Kohn said. The first payment is due Oct. 1.

By the time the final payment is made, the university's tower should be ready, freeing more space at SciTech.

SciTech began downtown in August 2003 as a partnership between city schools and the university. The application-only program has about 370 students, but it could grow once it no longer shares space with the university.

Kohn said buying the building would strain the district's already-tight 2006-07 budget, which had to be reduced by $5.4 million, but payments will be made from bond funds, requiring no money from the operating budget.

In fact, with the school district owning the building, Harrisburg will be able to apply for state reimbursement for up to 40 percent of the purchase price, Kohn said.

The board of control decided last night to temporarily delay another real estate deal, putting off a vote on a proposal to market the Thomas Morris Chester building at 3219 Green St.

The district wants to sell the eight-room school, formerly known as the Riverside building, for $750,000. But Kohn said last-minute legal questions delayed listing the building for sale.

Kohn said he expects the building will be put on the market soon.

[klingy04]

Thought I'd throw in my two cents on the whole 'retail in Harrisburg' issue. If you think about it, Harrisburg seems to be playing catch-up, and actually getting to the point where it should be on the retail development side of things. For just one example, think back 2 years...there was only one Target in the Harrisburg metro area - now there will be 4 (counting Carlisle). This is just an example of the base retail getting to the level it should be. Now we are starting to see more specialty retail moving in - can anyone honestly say that 5 years ago, they would have expected Wegmans or Banana Repuplic to have stores in the H'burg area? The Wegmans plaza will have some new retail to the area, and there are other projects on the horizon - Clock Tower Grove, H'burg Mall Lifestyle Center (Which I wont get into here), Capital City mall redevelopment. I think you'll start to see more and more specialty stores pop up. I've heard lots of chatter about a Whole Foods coming sometime soon, and some other projects on the horizon. Like anything around here, it takes some time, but honestly, I drive all over the state for my job (including Philly and Pittsburgh area) and no matter where you go, a strip mall is a strip mall is a strip mall. Their Big Box areas are just like ours. The specialty retail that is in those bigger areas is slowly trickling in to Harrisburg, and that too will catch up to where it should be. I think a bigger issue than what is in the suburbs is what can be done about retail downtown, which will hopefully come around and improve in the Cap city. Just some thoughts.:tup:

[EastSideHBG]

LOL what?!? Little did I know I would have my proof just a few articles later! They have money to buy Sci-Tech HS yet no money to fill much needed positions?!? I hate saying it, but Harrisburg is really a mess! :brickwall:


HARRISBURG

School district eliminates 68 jobs

Friday, July 28, 2006
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

The Harrisburg School District last night eliminated 68 teaching and administrative positions, but no one is losing his or her job.

As part of trimming $5.4 million from the 2006-07 budget, the Harrisburg School District Board of Control slashed vacant positions and engineered a series of employee transfers to fill other posts.

The job cuts include about 30 teaching positions, a move that will increase average class sizes to about 24 students, from 22 students.

Also gone are spots for an assistant superintendent, one principal, three assistant principals and a dean.

Before the cuts, the district had 760 teachers and 113 administrative staff members.

To pare down to its new $129.6 million spending limit for this school year, the 10,000-student district also slashed about $1.8 million in nonpersonnel costs, involving contracted services, equipment, training and transportation.

The cuts were necessary because Harrisburg's original $134.7 million spending plan was based on getting an additional $20 million in state money beyond its basic subsidy. But the district only got an extra $14.6 million.

The school system already locked in its tax rates, which haven't gone up in six years.

"The district is now expected to do more with less, which is a challenge," said Mayor Stephen R. Reed, who oversees the city schools. "But nothing has changed in the absolute commitment of the district to provide full educational opportunity and preparation to ensure that every child has a bright and promising future."

[wrightchr]

Klingy04...i couldn't agree with you more. great points!

Dave...i also agree with you...the city school district is ridiculous. the board of control should be prioritizing the needs of it's entire student body...vs. spending millions to purchase another building it doesn't have to.

[EastSideHBG]

Well I went back to HBG over the weekend to visit family. My thoughts:
Driving the other way on Paxton St. is exactly what I thought it would be: weird! LOL But they did a fantastic job with it and I think it is going to help out that area a lot. It is also VERY nice to see there will be new lights at 283/Eisenhower Blvd. where there were just stop signs before...that was a death trap!
The new lanes on 283 to get onto the Turnpike are AWESOME and traffic flows much smoother there now!
The new shopping center is utter crap. They had a great chance to build something halfway decent and instead they built yet another boring cookie-cutter strip mall (with a parking lot 10X the size than what is needed too). I'm not asking for much, just a lifestyle center or whatever you wish to call them like you find in Maryland. At the end of the day a strip mall is a strip mall, but at least TRY to make it better! SCPA is taking sprawl to a whole new, disgusting level for sure. :rolleyes:
I agree with harrisburger and State St. is coming along nicely, and I really like what they did to the street in the area.
I simply cannot believe all of the businesses in the HBG area (the 'burbs) that are now out of business! I don't think I have ever seen so many empty stores in prime locations. What is going on?!?
It was definitely good to be back and see what has been going on! But like here in Philly, all of the recent crime was the topic of the town which was very sad to hear. And then in today's paper we have:


Midtown residents try to avoid crime surge

Monday, July 31, 2006
BY CARRIE CASSIDY
Of The Patriot-News

Bret Green remembers hosing down the Broad Street Market floor last winter to clean off blood that had seeped in from outside.

A man had been shot to death near the market's doors in January. The fire department washed away the blood outside, but it found its way into the market, said Green, a maintenance worker.

In the months since, Green's normally peaceful midtown neighborhood has experienced a surge in crime. The frequency of muggings, drug dealing and burglaries in the past six months has spiked so much that some residents in the area, a few blocks from Front Street, said they are scared to leave their homes at night.

"When I'm done working, I go home and don't come out," said Green, 48, a lifelong city resident. "Me and my wife, Gwen, we want to get away from this."

Police have bolstered their presence in midtown, an area bordered by Forster, Maclay, Front and Seventh streets. Patrols with dogs have been added. Mayor Stephen R. Reed has moved seven officers from desk duty to patrol and sent 12 more officers to train at Harrisburg Area Community College and begin patrolling city streets later this summer.

Some residents said they are not leaving it to chance or to the police to protect them from criminals. Many interviewed yesterday said they aren't leaving their homes at night. Neighborhood crime-watch groups are stepping up, too.

Green said he's changed some of his habits to make him less attractive to would-be robbers.

"I don't carry cash on me. This is what I carry," he said, pulling out a debit card. "They won't get any money from me."

The management company that runs Madelle Pierce's apartment building recently hired a security guard, the first one since she moved to Linden Terrace about four years ago.

Pierce, 45, said she's heard stories from friends and residents who have been robbed.

"A couple people got robbed in broad daylight near here. It doesn't make me feel safe. It makes me feel scared," she said, adding that she is happy to have a guard stationed at the entrance of the building.

A few blocks away, Jay Steinas, 36, stood in front of his home in the 1300 block of Green Street. He noted several security improvements, such as motion-detecting spotlights, that he made to his house -- but a bit too late.

Although he has a home-security system, someone recently broke into his home in midafternoon, taking not much more than his laptop computer. Steinas said he has become more diligent about using his deadbolt lock since the burglary.

"I know burglaries can happen anywhere at any time. It just sucks it happened here," he said. "There's been so many in such a short amount of time."

Rick Mitchal, 27, blames the crime surge on drug addicts looking for money to feed their habits. He said a friend's sister, who lives between Second and Third streets, was victimized recently by a man who entered her home, performed a sex act in front of her and demanded money.

"He didn't hurt her or anything. He wanted money," Mitchal said as he rode his bicycle up Verbeke Street from City Island. "People are getting hooked on crack or heroin, and they're trying to get whatever they can from people."

Sitting on his friend's porch on Second Street, John Jackson, 40, of the Allison Hill neighborhood, said a greater police presence isn't the only thing that can be done to halt the recent crime wave. He wants a large recreation center with sports courts and arcade games built in the city.

Jackson said kids need a place to be kids. They are forced to grow up too fast, learning hard lessons on the streets, he said.

"They shouldn't be learning about runnin' and duckin' from bullets," he said. "Every kid has a dream. They should have the chance to live out that dream as a child."

[EastSideHBG]

I am guessing the Capitol View Commerce Center mentioned at the end of the article is one of the first new office complexes in the Northern Gateway Project? :tup:



THE RACE FOR SPACE

Area office vacancy rates signal strength in market

Tuesday, August 01, 2006
BY DAN MILLER
Of The Patriot-News

Post & Schell, a Phila delphia-based law firm, is among the companies grabbing a bigger share of the tight market for office space in downtown Harrisburg.

The firm will keep its offices on the 12th floor of the Market Square Plaza building. But, as it announced in the spring, it needs more room. So in August, it will expand into 4,600 square feet on the 14th floor, said Ken Sable, a partner with Post & Schell. The firm has 18 attorneys in the downtown office and plans to hire more.

At 2 percent, the vacancy rate for premium Class A downtown office space is lower than anywhere else in the area, according to a quarterly analysis of market trends by Thomas T. Posavec, a vice president at Landmark Commercial Realty Inc. in Wormleysburg.

The vacancy rate for office space in the area, including the city and both East and West shores, generally remains below the national average.

Office vacancy rates nationwide in the second quarter -- April through June -- averaged 12.2 percent for downtown areas and 14.6 percent for suburban areas, according to a report by CB Richard Ellis.

Sable would not say how much Post & Schell is paying for the new space. He confirmed that the price is within the current asking rent of between $16.75 and $22 per square foot for premium downtown office space, as cited in the Posavec report.

West Shore improves:

Elsewhere, the picture isn't as strong.

The vacancy rate for premium office space on the West Shore is 15 percent, according to Posavec. That marks steady improvement going back to the second quarter of 2005, when the vacancy rate was 22 percent.

In an analysis accompanying his report, Posavec predicts that demand for premium West Shore office space will increase and the vacancy rate will continue to decline.

Whether such optimism holds remains to be seen.

In a report for the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors, Jacob De Rooy, an economist at Penn State Harrisburg, predicted growth will slow the rest of this year and into 2007. The slowdown could be more pronounced depending on what happens with energy prices.

He also anticipates a slight increase in unemployment, which has hovered at about 4 percent in central Pennsylvania.

Such factors are bound to influence business decisions that affect the commercial real estate market, such as whether to expand, delay an expansion or downsize, De Rooy noted.

Bill Gladstone, a commercial real estate agent with NAI/CIR, sees signs of a slowdown in the commercial market.

"There's fewer tenants vying for more available space," Gladstone said. "Instead of four to five properties to show, I have eight or nine to show."

Posavec also said he is concerned about a lack of new businesses in the area. Growth would help if oversupply of space becomes a problem.

"I think we could use some more demand than what we have right now. The buying and acquisition has tempered a bit, although prices are still going up," Posavec said about the commercial market.

Gladstone is seeing more use of incentives to nail down leases. With one involving 20,000 square feet, he said, the building owner is offering the first three months free to lock in a seven-year deal.

But the market still has plenty of opportunities, said Greg Rothman, president and CEO of RSR Realtors.

"If you're driving 100 miles an hour and you slow to 75, it looks like a 25-percent slowdown, but the reality is you are still going over the speed limit," he said.

Rothman's firm is developing 100,000 square feet of Class A space at Capitol View Commerce Center at 1000 N. Cameron St. The space is being offered at a below-market rate of $13.75 per square foot during construction.

"We're competing with the downtown locations," Rothman said. The center is close to the Capitol and offers more on-site parking than most competitors, he noted.

[EastSideHBG]

So there could be 30 screens basically right across the street from each other?!? Yeah, okay. :koko:


Work on theater complex begins

Wednesday, August 02, 2006
BY TOM DOCHAT
Of The Patriot-News

Ground was broken yesterday for a 14-screen movie theater at Harrisburg Mall. It is the first of what could be two major theater projects within a few miles of each other in Swatara Twp.

The theater complex is the focal point of a second round of renovations at the 900,000-square-foot mall. The Great Escape Theatres will be visible along the Route 441 side of the mall, between the Hecht's and Boscov's anchor stores.

Larry Feldman, chairman and CEO of mall owner Feldman Mall Properties Inc., said the theaters are the "epitome of what we shoot for at all of our mall redevelopments."

Feldman Mall Properties specializes in buying underperforming shopping malls and turning them around.

The company bought Harrisburg Mall in late 2003 and has spent about $50 million to renovate the property and bring in Bass Pro Shops and Boscov's as anchor stores.

Feldman said the movie theaters will expand the reach of the mall beyond the immediate area.

"We expect that many people will drive from considerable distances to frequent the mall," he said.

The theaters, operated by Aliance Management, are scheduled to open before Christmas next year, Feldman said.

Another theater complex in Swatara Twp. is planned by the partners who own the High Pointe Commons shopping center. They have submitted plans for a 16-screen theater on five acres next to the shopping center that is scheduled to open in October along Lindle Road off Route 283. Target and J.C. Penney will anchor that center.

Steve Evans of High Real Estate Group, one of the joint partners, said the theater complex should open in late spring or early summer next year. He said development plans for the project might be considered by Swatara Twp. commissioners next Wednesday.

"If they want to build, fine," Feldman said. "We're not deterred one iota."

Feldman said the Great Escape multiplex is part of a $30 million-plus addition to Harrisburg Mall. He said other tenants are expected to be announced within 90 days.

Feldman said he is looking for "very high-demand, powerful-drawing anchor tenants that will really upscale the mall and really bring in a customer from a great distance." He said he's looking to add "big boxes" in front of the mall that would be accessible from both outside and inside the mall.

Alexander Building Construction LLC of Harrisburg is the construction manager for the theater complex. SPG3 of Philadelphia is the architect.

The theater will feature stadium seating, digital projector systems, marble floors and state-of-the art technology, Feldman said.

Great Escape opened a 10-screen theater last month at Lebanon Valley Mall.

*****************

Area jobless rate declines in June

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

The unemployment rate in the Harrisburg area dropped to 3.7 percent in June, from 3.9 percent in May.

The area -- Cumberland, Dauphin and Perry counties -- continued to have one of the lowest unemployment rates in the state.

The Lebanon and State College areas were tied in June for the lowest jobless rate in the state at 3.4 percent.

The rate in the Lancaster area was 3.5 percent, and in the York-Hanover area it was 3.9 percent.

The statewide unemployment rate in June was 4.7 percent, and the national rate was 4.6 percent.

The number of jobs in the Harrisburg area totaled 333,900 in June, an increase of 1,100 from May and up 5,700, or 1.7 percent, from a year earlier.

Manufacturing jobs totaled 24,900 in June, an increase of 100 from May but down 400 from a year ago.

Manufacturing wages in the area averaged $16.25 an hour, compared with $15.36 statewide. The average manufacturing work week in the Harrisburg area was 39 hours, compared with 41 hours statewide.

[wrightchr]

i really hope that all this new "movie theater" construction will eventually bring prices down. 9 bucks for a movie is ridiculous!

[harrisburger]

if you can get a chance, the latest issue of harrisburg magazine has a good article on mayor reed. it has a lot of info on the southern gateway project with some decent sized pictures. can't wait for this one to get started

[EastSideHBG]

Sadly, Chris, I doubt it! And then the movie industry wonders why its box offices are suffering LOL

if you can get a chance, the latest issue of harrisburg magazine has a good article on mayor reed. it has a lot of info on the southern gateway project with some decent sized pictures. can't wait for this one to get started
Is there any way someone could scan and post these pics? You can't get Harrisburg magazine around here unfortunately and by the time I am back in town, that issue will be long gone...

[harrisburger]

unfortunately, i'm out of the country until the 19th....when i get back i have a few days before i leave for school, so i'll try to scan them then.

[EastSideHBG]

Thanks, harrisburger, and I hope you are having fun wherever you are!

Okay it's official: the city has totally lost its mind! Who puts 1100 fish in a pool for a fishing derby?!?!? The river is so close, why not build an enclosure so the fish can't get out and do it there. All the ones that aren't caught, you can release where they belong...you know, NOT in the Jackson-Lick pool! ;)


NEWS INFORMATION FROM THE OFFICE OF MAYOR STEPHEN R. REED
City of Harrisburg
King City Government Center
Harrisburg, PA 17101-1678
Telephone: 717.255.3040


FOR IMMEDIATE USE
2 Aug 2006
CITY FISHING DERBY SET FOR SEPT. 16, 17 & 18 AT JACKSON LICK POOL

Mayor Stephen R. Reed today announced that the City of Harrisburg’s Eighth Annual “Get Hooked on Fishing Derby” will be held at the Jackson-Lick Pool at 1201 N. 6th Street during the weekend of September 16-18, 2006. The popular free fishing derby is open to youth only on Saturday, September 16, with families, seniors and special needs groups permitted on Sunday and Monday, September 17 and 18.

The Mayor said youth attending Saturday’s special youth Fishing Derby are given the opportunity to learn how to fish, and catch up to two of the more than 1100 twelve-inch Striped Bass that will be stocked in the pool. The first 500 participants will receive gifts and be eligible for fishing tackle combos and recreational prizes. The free daylong event begins with an 8:30 a.m. registration, followed by the 9 a.m. Derby.

Reed said the Saturday program is structured so that either a family member or volunteer mentor will accompany each young person casting a line, with experienced volunteers on-hand to bait hooks and give beginner lessons. The PA Fish and Boat Commission and the PA Dept. of Agriculture will provide free equipment for youth not having their own. The Youth Derby includes a visit from Park C. Squirrel, the city’s popular parks mascot, as well as arts, crafts and food.

The pool is also stocked with 30 tagged fish representing various city celebrities and other community leaders, with anglers hooking them receiving special prizes.

In addition to Saturday’s Youth Derby, the Mayor said the free fishing will continue on Sunday and Monday for adults and seniors. Sunday’s activities include Family Fishing from 9 a.m. to Noon, and Seniors Only Fishing from Noon to 4 p.m. Seniors are invited back again on Monday from 9 a.m. to Noon, with Special Groups Fishing set for Noon to 4 p.m. Organized groups must contact the city Parks and Recreation Department for advance reservations for Monday’s free fishing.

In all cases, there is a two-fish per person limit, noted the Mayor.

“Our goal is twofold,” said the Mayor. “Not only do the we want to encourage and educate our youth about the sport of fishing, we also want them to have an opportunity to spend quality time with a family member or other adult.”

Reed said the event is sponsored by the City of Harrisburg and is coordinated by the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation. The city is joined by cosponsors the state Dept. of Agriculture, Capital City Bass Masters, Blue Moon Fishing Club and Susquehanna Aquacultures.

Additional information on the Derby and advance registration forms may be obtained by contacting the Department of Parks and Recreation at (717) 233.7403.

[HHH]

This is my first time trying to post a picture, so hopefully it will work.

Looking at another thread got me thinking about this building, and I was able to find this picture online. It's so sad that the whole Forum Place couldn't have been built. I was young then, and I remember being really excited when they started, but then they just stopped after the first phase. The thing is, the structural base is there to complete the whole building. I haven't followed all the drama regarding the building and who owns it over the years, but anyone think there's ever a chance this will be built, assuming the owner has the money and there's the demand for office space?

Think of how nice it would be to have a building like that as the tallest in the city....what could have been. :(

http://www.drc-associates.com/albums/psp/forumplace/Forumplace1_800.jpg

[EastSideHBG]

Looking at another thread got me thinking about this building, and I was able to find this picture online. It's so sad that the whole Forum Place couldn't have been built. I was young then, and I remember being really excited when they started, but then they just stopped after the first phase. The thing is, the structural base is there to complete the whole building. I haven't followed all the drama regarding the building and who owns it over the years, but anyone think there's ever a chance this will be built, assuming the owner has the money and there's the demand for office space?

Think of how nice it would be to have a building like that as the tallest in the city....what could have been. :(
Ah yes, Forum Place, another fine example of the typical waste of an opportunity due to silly politics and lack of vision in Harrisburg! HHH, Forum Place is (was?) owned by Dauphin County after Vartan got out of it. They mismanaged it so bad and made some bad, bad business decisions and the building became upside down on what its worth vs. what is owed. Last I heard, the state, their largest tenant at the time, allowed them to sell and/or float some bonds or something to be able to put the building up for sale. A private developer was looking into buying it and then...I have no idea what happened because I lost track trying to sift through all of the mud! It is a VERY complex issue and I have no idea where it all stands now.

I hope someone decides to finish the building one day because it could be a wonderful masterpiece and has the opportunity to be the tallest building between Pittsburgh and Philly! ;) The demand for office space is certainly there so that isn't even an issue. Heck, HBG Univ. could even use some of it in years to come. But like many things in Harrisburg, the real question is will something like this ever be allowed to happen? In my lifetime, very doubtful...

:no:

[wrightchr]

^that's a great picture HHH...i too wish it could have been built to it's grandest height of 42 floors...in the 250m ballpark. it would be by far the cities largest building and would have been seen for miles outside of downtown. what an impact it would have made. maybe someday i guess.

[Wheelingman04]

It is ashame that building wasn't constructed.

[Spudmrg]

Let's try this again, I believe that the building is currently under the control of the bankruptcy court, who appointed a trustee (Vartan, before he passed away) to manage the building on behalf of the creditors. The building is most likely still owned by the authority, because the creditors hav'nt forced a sale.