Yeah, still checking in on things. And you guys are letting me down...it's too quiet here now!
I heard that Tom Sawyer's Diner does plan to eventually extend the hours and that they are just doing these hours to get a feel for business. We'll see I guess...
VERY interesting news and I am mixed on this one. 3rd and Division is kind of out there and a little disconnected. But with all of Midtown's growth as of late, this could spur even more growth! And I would imagine with this news now out, even if the feds don't take it, HBG will be losing a rather famous landmark in the very near future...and now we see the downside to some of this progress I guess...
Zembo shrine on the block
Scottish Rite, temple owners offer site for U.S. courthouse
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News
In an 11th-hour proposal, the owners of the Zembo Auditorium and the Scottish Rite Cathedral in uptown Harrisburg have offered their land as the site for a new federal courthouse.
The two fraternal organizations, facing declining membership, are looking to sell their 12 acres bounded by Division, Wiconisco, Fourth and Susquehanna streets, which includes large parking areas.
Zembo and Scottish Rite officials made their offer in a letter to the federal government this month.
The tract has been quietly marketed for about a year, according to Harrisburg Mayor Stephen R. Reed. While several developers have looked at the site, no price has been disclosed.
Local real estate agents said that because there are no comparable sales of large tracts in the city, establishing a value will be difficult.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. General Services Administration, the agency conducting the search for a courthouse site, said the GSA isn't interested in the land.
Instead, the GSA is concentrating on three sites it prefers, with a decision due this summer, GSA spokeswoman Gina Gilliam said.
"The Zembo shrine site was one of many sites considered during the early phases of the site selection process," Gilliam said. "Our focus will continue to be on the three sites."
The three sites being considered by the GSA are at Verbeke Street, bounded by North Sixth, Herr and Capital streets; at Third Street, bounded by Forster, North and Green streets; and at North Sixth and Basin streets.
Reed said the larger issue is the fact that the two fraternal organizations are looking to sell their property, which he said could lead to the demolition of the buildings there.
The well-adorned, auditorium-style buildings have been home to weddings, boxing matches, high school graduations, concerts, socials and dances. But Reed said there is limited potential for commercial or residential development of such buildings.
"You don't really have a reuse for either of those buildings," Reed said. "The real issue of that area is, what is the future of that site?"
Charles Pass, past potentate at the Zembo Auditorium, said it might be possible to build the courthouse there while retaining the landmark building.
Greg Rothman, president and CEO of RSR Realtors, said land for office development typically sells for $100,000 to $150,000 an acre in central Pennsylvania, meaning the value of the 12-acre tract could approach $1.8 million.
But Rothman added that the price could be held down by the limited use of the auditorium-type buildings, because developers would have to pay to demolish them.
"Those buildings are of no value to the federal government," Rothman said. "The buildings are a negative."
Reed noted that while the buildings are "architecturally beautiful," they are not designated historic nor are they part of any historic district.
"Our fear is that someone is going to buy it and tear it down," Reed said.
He said he pitched the Zembo Auditorium site, along with at least one other uptown tract, only to be rejected by the GSA because it deemed the land as too far outside the central business district.
"They didn't want to hear it," Reed said.
Nevertheless, leaders of the Zembo and Scottish Rite organizations, working with a real estate development firm, sent a letter to the GSA dated Thursday, the final day for written comments on the site search.
The leaders asked that their tract be considered along with the three sites picked by the agency. "The purpose of this letter is to invite serious and open-minded consideration," the organizations wrote.
Samuel R. Andrews, secretary for the Scottish Rite Cathedral and designated spokesman on the issue, declined comment yesterday.
All three sites preferred by the GSA have homes and apartments, and the Third Street site includes several businesses. Those buildings would have to be demolished to make way for a courthouse, causing public objections about all three locations.
Federal officials want to replace the U.S. courthouse at Walnut and Locust streets, which still would be used by government agencies.
Under the agency's search guidelines, the GSA wants at least 21/2 acres for a new building that would hold a minimum of eight courtrooms, along with enough land to allow 50- to 100-foot security setbacks. It also wants a location convenient to downtown and outside the 100-year floodplain.
Gilliam said the agency has been working on the project for two years and considered more than 25 sites.
****************
'Good things don't last forever,' members realize
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
BY FORD TURNER
Of The Patriot-News
Many times, Ray Garbacik has climbed up inside the ornate orange, lavender and yellow tower that extends above the Zembo Auditorium at Third and Division streets.
He is familiar with the tunnels beneath the squat, concrete building, too. Garbacik, a Zembo member and an electrician, has done electrical work throughout the north Harrisburg landmark for decades.
But he would not be sad to see the building go.
"I'm in favor of progress," said Garbacik, 76, of Camp Hill.
Officials of the Zembo Auditorium and the Scottish Rite Cathedral have offered the properties as the site for a new federal courthouse.
Three other city locations have been under consideration for a year or more. The two fraternal organizations, which share many of the same members, formally asked the government for consideration of their proposal in a letter dated Thursday.
The letter outlined the offer of 12 acres, or four square blocks, but did not specifically say whether removal of the buildings was a possibility.
Samuel Andrews, secretary of the consistory and liaison for the proposal to the government, refused to comment.
But Charles Pass, a financial planner who is past potentate of the Zembo Auditorium, said it might be possible to build a courthouse at the location and retain the temple.
"We have excess property there that could be used," he said. "I think the location would be ideal, up there, for the courthouse."
Built in 1929, the Zembo Auditorium has been host to concerts, pancake breakfasts, and professional wrestling. Intricate tile work and a vaulted lobby ceiling greet patrons who enter the building from beneath the green awning that faces Division Street.
The Zembo Auditorium has about 5,000 members in central Pennsylvania. At the heart of its mission is philanthropy toward children.
The Zembo Shriners operate 22 hospitals for children that provide top-notch medical care, free of charge. Pass said a sale of the properties to the government "would not impact the hospital system or the care of the children in the least bit."
Central Pennsylvania children who receive Shriners care get free transportation to the organization's closest hospitals, including those in Philadelphia, Boston, Erie and Cincinnati.
Shriners doctors hold clinics for patients in the temple, but they could be moved to a different location in central Pennsylvania if they were affected by the courthouse siting, Pass said.
The concrete-and-brick Scottish Rite Cathedral was completed in 1954. It contains a ballroom with a wood floor and a 1,200-seat, sloping auditorium with an orchestra pit.
The ballroom is rented for wedding receptions and birthday parties.
Garbacik said he has done electrical work at the two buildings since 1963 and has been a member of both organizations since 1972. Finances are not nearly as strong as they were decades ago, he said.
Membership is down, the buildings generate less revenue than in the past and
"our taxes are so high," he said.
Another member of both organizations, Roger Cackovic, said most members would probably like to keep both buildings. But Cackovic said he would rather see the site put to use by the federal government than by a real estate developer.
"Being realistic, good things don't last forever," he said.
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And if there is a demand for this, I could see it getting VERY interesting for the consumer, as we have municipalities that will be competing...
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