HARRISBURG-LANCASTER-LEBANON-YORK | South Central, PA | Regional Development Thread

[wrightchr]

^ yeah we have quite a few supportive factions involved in CorridorOne; however, there are still some retarded commissioners from Cumberland County that are trying to derail the project. i think their haters! they don't like it because they didn't think of it first.

[wrightchr]

WORK ON NEW CITY ISLAND ENTRANCE AREAS NOW UNDERWAY; NEW MARKET STREET BRIDGE UNDERPASS TO RESULT
from http://www.harrisburgpa.gov/

The entrance areas to Harrisburg City Island from the Market Street Bridge will be undergoing a dramatic transformation that will ease traffic congestion, provide greater safety and convenience to pedestrians and motorists, and be more appealing to visitors, Mayor Stephen R. Reed announced today. Work is now underway for the new Market Street/City Island Underpass Reconstruction Project.

Mayor Reed said the project will involve the complete replacement and widening of the circa-1934 Market Street Bridge Underpass on City Island and the widening and upgrade of both the north and south ramps off of the Bridge onto the Island. The Bridge’s roadway across City Island will be resurfaced, and new pedestrian access areas will be created. New landscaping and the creation of a new picnic area on the south side of City Island are included in the project’s scope of work.

“This will be significant improvement to Harrisburg City Island, which now attracts over one million visitors a year,” said Mayor Reed. “The project benefits both pedestrian and vehicular access and use of the Island. When completed it will be safer, faster and easier to get onto and off the Island, with the added benefit of a much more attractive and appealing entrance.”

Reed said highlights of the work will include:

o Demolition of the existing underpass and replacement with a wider, higher structure that allows for multiple traffic lanes and pedestrian sidewalks.

o Expansion of the north ramp to allow for wider traffic lanes, and the installation of new sidewalks, curbing, steps, guardrails and other amenities.

o Widening and relocation of the south ramp, which will allow for easier bus access and movement, as well as the installation of new sidewalks and curbing, wider traffic lanes and a new public picnic area.

o Resurfacing of the roadway on Market Street Bridge where it crosses over City Island, and the installation of new sidewalks, lighting and other features.

Reed said work will be conducted in stages so as to have the least impact on the Island during the normally busy summer season. Some minor traffic restric- tions will be necessary at various times during the project, but access to the Island and use of the Market Street Bridge will be continuous throughout the project. Pedestrians can also use the nearby Walnut Street Bridge, which will be unaffected by the planned stages.

“When completed,” Reed said, “this will have multiple benefits for those visiting City Island, as well as for users of the Market Street Bridge. Longer turning lanes and wider ramps will speed access onto and off the Island during peak periods, thus easing the congestion that can sometimes form on the ramps and the Bridge. New sidewalks, steps and other pedestrian friendly features will provide greater safety and convenience to Island-goers.”

The Mayor said the $3,632,005 project cost is being entirely covered by federal transportation funds, including the preliminary engineering and design work done through the Harrisburg Parking Authority. Initial design work was provided by Urban Engineers, Inc., and project management is being performed by District 8-0 of the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

[EastSideHBG]

Traffic sucks so bad around here and it's amazing to me how the Commisioners in Cumberland Co. can still be against such a thing. I guess they don't drive on roads like Wertzville Road, Carlisle Pike, etc., in their own county to see this crap, huh?

Here's some great news!!! I am REALLY proud of the Mayor and HBG for pulling this one off. A high school AND a University downtown, w/ the curriculum being the only kind in the state?!? It's going to put HBG on the map for sure.


FRESHMAN YEAR

New school braces for a 'bumpy' ride

Sunday, August 21, 2005
BY JAN MURPHY
Of The Patriot-News

Harrisburg University of Science and Technology founders see a lot of Lewis and Clark in themselves.

Like the famed explorers traveling west across the unknown Louisiana Territory in 1804, the university's leaders know generally what direction they are going in but are uncertain of the obstacles they will encounter.

Harrisburg University will begin its journey Aug. 29, when it will welcome 175 students in what the university calls its pioneer class.

University officials know what courses will be taught in the first year. They have faculty with extensive credentials and experience. They know they will be housed in the Harrisburg School District's SciTech High School for at least two years. And they have enough money in the bank to keep the doors open for a couple of years.

But the years that follow are not as clear-cut. They have to acquire accreditation, construct buildings, raise money, attract students and create an identity.

It's a journey that university officials say is exciting, but other college officials warn that it requires courage, patience and adaptability.

"It's going to be bumpy," said Karen Oates, Harrisburg University's vice president for academic and student affairs. "We're going to be surprised by things we can't even imagine right now."

Building a future:

The new university expects to occupy space in SciTech High through 2006-07.

In the meantime, it is planning a $30 million high-rise that will sit at the corner of Fourth and Market streets in Harrisburg, just down the street from SciTech High. The university has received a $15 million commitment from the state toward its construction.

University officials continue to talk with the U.S. Postal Service about buying the post office property on Market Street to provide space for housing and more buildings.

"That is our long-term site, and I believe this year we will see that come to fruition," said Mel Schiavelli, Harrisburg University's president.

So far, most of the college's money has come from government, said David Schankweiler, the chairman of the university's board of trustees.

"Now we've got to hit the road with the road show," he said. "It is time to start raising serious money."

Money matters most:

Fundraising by far tops the list of the university's challenges, national higher education experts say.

The $14,000 tuition alone won't keep the doors open, let alone expand the university's degree program offerings, they say. And the university has no alumni base to tap, said Rae Goldsmith, a spokeswoman for the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education, a Washington, D.C.-based organization for college fundraisers.

A 2004 CASE report shows alumni provide 27.5 percent of gifts. The Harrisburg University must seek corporations, organizations and foundations to fill this void, she said.

It has. So far, Schiavelli said, the university has attracted about $2 million in private commitments, including donations from the Harrisburg Young Professionals and the Harrisburg-based Reynolds Construction Management.

"The key is clearly defining the institutional niche and then connecting that niche to the people most likely to care about it," Goldsmith said.

Tom Ritchey, Harrisburg University's vice president for university development, said the school is trying to engage groups and corporations in the university's life. "Fundraising will be the end result of developing those mutually beneficial relationships," he said.

Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering didn't have the same financial concerns that Harrisburg University faces when it opened in Needham, Mass., three years ago, said Duncan Murdoch, the school's vice president for external relations and enrollment.

Olin College was a vision of the Franklin W. Olin Foundation, which provided $450 million to open the school and start an endowment, Murdoch said.

Without an endowment, college experts said, the ability to attract top-notch faculty and research money becomes a huge hurdle. That is especially true for a university focused on science and technology, where the faculty command greater salaries and equipment costs are expensive, they said.

"The bar is extremely high for a startup campus because competition for faculty is incredibly fierce right now," said Travis Reindl of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities in Washington, D.C.

This is another reason why identifying a niche and cherry-picking faculty is so critical, he said.

"If you have a bunch of good programs but no great program, it's hard to establish the toehold you need," Reindl said. "Money follows opportunity."

Harrisburg University officials heeded this advice. When they hired Oates, she brought along her involvement in a National Science Foundation-funded project to integrate science into the community.

Accreditation is crucial:

A milestone that Schiavelli awaits is winning candidate status for accreditation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education.

"It is critical to us," he said.

Until the university receives recognition that it is working toward accreditation, its students are ineligible for federal and state student aid. That's a problem because the school's target audience is students who are "relatively needy," he said.

The earliest that Schiavelli anticipates the school could achieve candidate status is June 2006. Full accreditation takes two to five years, said commission spokeswoman Margaret Robbins.

Students attending unaccredited schools can have difficulty having credits transferred, Robbins said. And officials from Olin College, which is working to earn its accreditation, said it also can be an obstacle in placing students in internships.

The lack of accreditation "may affect their ability to go on to graduate school," said Claire Van Ummerson, a vice president at the American Council on Education in Washington, D.C.

Fulfilling a promise:

Once Olin opened, the challenge its administrators faced was making sure they delivered an education to students that they promised.

"If we fall short of that, they go back to tell their parents and friends, and word spreads quickly that Olin College came up short," Murdoch said. "So far, that's not happened."

The next test comes this spring when Olin graduates its first class. Murdoch said their success in finding graduate schools and jobs "will cast the die for the future incoming classes."

Oates agrees that ensuring Harrisburg University students have a great experience is its best marketing tool.

Although academics take priority, she said the first-year students will play a critical role in developing the university's student life and traditions. They'll get to pick a mascot, perhaps pen an alma mater, create a student government and start clubs.

The type of students a new university attracts are those who want to leave a mark, Oates said. "They are not ones to sit back in a class and not participate," she said.

They are unafraid of the unknown, Ritchey said. They are pioneers, like Lewis and Clark, he said, with one exception: Lewis and Clark's journey ended after about 28 months.

"The dream here is that it will never end," Ritchey said.

[EastSideHBG]

'We heard people say it wasn't going to happen'

Sunday, August 21, 2005

BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

For years, it has been one of Mayor Stephen R. Reed's favorite pipe dreams.

It was endorsed by newspaper editorials and a collection of broad-minded local business leaders. Still, many people thought it would never happen.

On Aug. 29, the Harrisburg University of Science and Technology hopes to make believers out of any remaining naysayers.

That's when the school will open, and the city will join a rarefied list of places where a university is being brought into existence from scratch.

There's a reason few universities are born these days. It's hard work, and it takes lots of money.

Most new schools can't hope to get off the ground without the backing of generous endowments, corporate gifts or affiliations with religious institutions.

Harrisburg University had none of these things.

Harrisburg University President Melvyn D. Schiavelli likes to point out that no one has tried to start a science- and technology-focused university in Pennsylvania since Carnegie Mellon opened in Pittsburgh in 1900.

"People were saying, 'Why do you want a new university?'" recalled Schiavelli, a former provost and chemistry/biochemistry professor at the University of Delaware. "We heard a lot of people say it wasn't going to happen, that this can't succeed."

So how did they do it?

It's a story that stretches back decades.

A long time coming:

Reed had been floating the idea of a downtown university since the late 1980s but admitted his words usually fell on deaf ears.

The first public record of a call for a Harrisburg University was in a 1990 Patriot-News editorial. James H. McCormick, then the chancellor of the State System of Higher Education, expressed interest in establishing a Harrisburg unit of the State System. He met with the newspaper's editorial board to promote the idea.

McCormick even commissioned a Gallup Poll to gauge interest. But the poll backfired, and the idea never gained traction.

It wasn't until the late 1990s that several forces combined to get the idea rolling.

In 1998, Envision Capital Region, a group of movers and shakers from business and government, began imagining the region's future.

One of the goals to come out of the brainstorming session was forming a four-year university for Harrisburg that would reverse the region's "brain drain" and provide a technology-savvy work force.

"The Envision team put that in the document," said David Schankweiler, the chairman of the university's board of trustees and a key participant in Envision.

From there, Schankweiler, Reed and Charles Clevenger, a former Shippensburg dean and an ex-official with the State System of Higher Education, held a series of meetings.

"The idea was born in that office," Schankweiler said of the sessions with Reed.

They decided the new university should be geared toward science and technology.

"We married education with economic development," Schankweiler said. "With this university, we would be creating a work force that will attract business."

Clevenger, who was named the organization's first president in 2001, said, "The employers, from the beginning, were an integral part of the planning of the institution."

By tailoring the university to the needs of businesses, officials were ensuring the employability of its graduates.

"We're not only saying you will get a college degree," said Schiavelli. "We're saying that you're going to be able to find a career in an industry that needs you right now."

Seeking students:

But where would the new school get its students?

Clevenger came up with the idea of affiliating the new college with a high school prep program as sort of a student feeder system. So years before the university would open, the city launched the Harrisburg University of Science and Technology High School, better known as SciTech High.

A joint venture between the university and the city schools, SciTech High produced its first class of graduates in June. Of the 23 grads, several have chosen to go on to Harrisburg University.

The final concept envisioned in the early meetings was a business incubator to grow and attract more technology firms to the region. These new businesses would employ future university grads.

Around this same time, the state Legislature handed Reed control of the troubled Harrisburg School District in 2000. Suddenly, Reed had sway over a school district budget that topped $100 million.

Among his first moves was to earmark $3.35 million for what would become SciTech High. The idea of launching a Harrisburg University finally had seed money.

"I have to give the mayor total credit," Schankweiler said. "He put up the money."

In 2003, the state committed $12 million to convert the former YWCA building on Market Street into SciTech High. The technology-rich digs at 215 Market St. opened last August.

"When the high school became a reality, I knew the university was going to work," Schankweiler said. "We sent a signal to the community that we were definitely going to do the university."

And it became much easier to attract support.

"We weren't whistling in the wind anymore, like we were two or three years ago," said Schiavelli, who replaced Clevenger as the chief executive in late 2002. "Now we were getting the question, 'What can we do to help you?' The skepticism was gone."

The university received $15 million in state aid in May, this time for a $30 million downtown center planned at Fourth and Market streets.

Yet all of the work wouldn't matter if it weren't for students like Kelsey Collins of Dallastown and Whitney Huston of Steelton.

Of the 175 students enrolled this fall, about 100 will be full-time, four-year undergraduates. They hail from Cumberland, Dauphin, York and Lancaster counties. Several come from Berks and Bucks counties and a few from as far away as Baltimore.

Attracted by small class sizes, the business links, the career focus and one-on-one attention, all of them are staking their futures on Harrisburg University.

"When I heard about it, I said that's my school," said Collins, 18. "The labs were amazing, and all the teachers were so friendly and willing to answer any question I had."

Huston added: "It's kind of neat that it's a school that no one went to before. It's like being a pioneer."

University officials know that they now have students' futures in their hands.

"What drives us is the students that have bet their lives on us," Schankweiler said. "We're doing it for them now. We're giving them a real chance, and they are giving us a chance."

[wrightchr]

^ that's a great story. when i was in high school, i was one of a few studetns from the region to participate in a group forum on higher education in the Harrisburg region. it involved the business community, local leaders, teachers, etc. i recieved an award from the Technology Council of Central PA. one of my top recomendations to that group was that they should sponsor the creation of a 4 year institution of higher learning that focused on technology. that was in 1999...i was 17 at the time. it's great to hear that people actually care about making the university a success. it's already paying dividends!

[EastSideHBG]

Fun complex would make major splash

Developers plan water park, hotel, restaurant a mile from
Hersheypark

Tuesday, August 23, 2005
BY JOHN LUCIEW AND MEGAN WALDE
Of The Patriot-News

A $20 million complex that would include an indoor water park as well as a hotel, a restaurant and indoor games and amusement rides is planned for a site in South Hanover Twp., less than a mile from Hersheypark.

Dubbed Jungle Joey's, its first phase would be a $4 million restaurant and indoor entertainment center featuring bumper cars, laser tag, rock-climbing walls, games and rides.

A five-story hotel is planned for the second phase, and a 25,000-square-foot indoor water park would be built last. There is no timetable for the plans.

The complex is proposed for a 6.7-acre tract along Route 39 on a portion of Pumpkin World, at 154 Hershey Road.

The developers are two local families -- Don and Kim Walker of Harrisburg and Nick and Jodi Pendolino of South Hanover Twp. -- who hatched the idea at Thanksgiving dinner two years ago out of a frustration over the lack of places to take children to eat and unwind.

Jungle Joey's would give children plenty of room to roam, with various play areas and lots of games and rides, the developers said.

"They don't like waiting for the food," said Kim Walker, mother of two children under age 3. "They want to run around. And by the end of dinner, they're having a meltdown."

The Pendolinos, who are related to the Walkers, have three children.

"We decided that we can't be the only families in this situation," said Nick Pendolino, who operates the Early Explorers Child Development Centers with his wife.

The developer-couples -- operating as Pendo & Walker, LLC, are targeting children under 14 for the project. They hope to break ground on the restaurant and entertainment center next year, with an opening in fall 2006.

While the indoor complex would be about a mile from Hersheypark, Don Walker, who is former director of Harrisburg's Downtown Improvement District, said the two would not be in competition.

"We feel we would be adding to the Hershey market," he said. "We want to enhance, not compete."

Garrett Gallia, a spokesman for Hershey Entertainment & Resorts Co., said yesterday the company was unfamiliar with the project and could not comment.

The developers outlined the project at last night's South Hanover Twp. Zoning Hearing Board meeting. They seek height variances for the five-story hotel and a larger percentage of impervious ground coverage for more parking.

Hearing board members voiced concerns over stormwater runoff and safety of hotel guests in a 55-foot-high building with limited access for fire equipment. The township's fire department does not own a ladder truck.

The board granted the developers a continuance to amend their plans.

In neighboring Derry Twp., officials have expressed concerns about the increasing traffic on Route 39.

Many Hershey visitors from points north take Route 39 into the township. The road is becoming a magnet for commercial and residential development, Derry officials said.

Supervisor Tom Brogan testified Friday before the state Transportation Committee regarding five Derry Twp. traffic projects on the state's priority list. One of those is a feasibility study for solving traffic problems on routes 39 and 743.

"We understand our success as a township rests at least partly on our ability to get people into and out to [Route] 22 and [Interstate] 81," Brogan said. "It's a quickly growing problem."

The complex developers have submitted a request for a traffic study.

The developers have a contract for the land with Pumpkin World owner Earl Rutherford. Engineering plans should be submitted for township approval in the fall, they said.

"We're not big developers. We're two families trying to build something for other families," Don Walker said.

[wrightchr]

^ i read about this in the Patriot online. it sounds really cool.

[EastSideHBG]

Doctors seek limits to Miracle Mile trucking growth

Wednesday, August 24, 2005
BY DAN MILLER
Of Our Carlisle Bureau

CARLISLE - Citing dangerous air quality along the so-called Miracle Mile in Middlesex Twp., more than a hundred Carlisle-area doctors are urging a halt to the growth of the trucking industry in Cumberland County.

The Miracle Mile, the nickname for a stretch of the Harrisburg Pike, is home to a concentration of truck stops.

In a paid advertisement published yesterday in The Patriot-News, a letter was written by Dr. Philip Carey, a respiratory specialist.

The letter, endorsed by 102 other physicians from the Carlisle Regional Medical Center, cited American Lung Association findings that the air in the midstate -- especially Cumberland County -- has more pollution generated from diesel exhaust than the New York/Newark area.

The pollution can cause cancer and other diseases, the doctors say.

Carey also referred to a state and federal study that projects 36,000 tractor-trailers traveling through Carlisle daily on Interstate 81 by 2030. That figure in 2002 was 17,000.

Carey said that he has seen an increase in the severity of asthma cases among his patients over the last 10 years.

He said that according to the most recent figures from the Environmental Protection Agency, particulate matter in the air in Cumberland County over a 24-hour period is double the acceptable level.

Dr. David Masland, an internist and one of those who signed the letter, said that truckers exacerbate the level of diesel emissions when they allow their trucks to idle overnight.

Middlesex Twp. recently passed a measure to address overnight truck idling.

It will allow Knoxville, Tenn-based IdleAire Technologies Corp., to install a system that provides drivers with electricity to heat or cool their trucks without running the engine.

The company will install 73 units at the Petro Stopping Center.

Pennsylvania has given the company $900,000 in grants to help it install the units.

"We waived practically all land development requirements so that they could get this installed as soon as possible," Middlesex Supervisor Victor Stabile said.

Jim Cahoon, a truck driver who yesterday took a break at Petro, said he has used IdleAire, but says that for every unit installed, truck stops lose substantial parking space.

That means drivers must find other and less safe places to park, he said.

Given the cost of diesel fuel, truckers are idling less these days. Cahoon said he spends about $1,500 a week on diesel.

Dr. Rebecca Bascom, an occupational and environmental medicine specialist at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, said that scientists have only recently begun to understand the health consequences of diesel emissions.

Bascom said diesel emissions, when combined with common allergens such as pollen, can create an allergic reaction.

The resulting allergy creates increased susceptibility to asthma, she said.

Bascom said central Pennsylvania, in spite of all its farmland and undeveloped areas, is affected by pollution generated from traffic extending from West Virginia to Maine, and from coal-fired power plants in the Ohio River Valley.

Jim Runk, president of the Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association, said truck emissions have been cut by about 90 percent from 1990 levels, when EPA began regulating amounts.

The federal government has mandated a 90 percent reduction in sulfur emissions by 2006. This is expected to increase the cost of diesel fuel by another five cents per gallon, Runk said.

By 2007, about 90 percent of current emissions are to be eliminated through the use of new engines in the big rigs, Runk said.

"The public needs to know that we are as concerned as they are" about air quality, Runk said.

However, reduced emissions come at "a pretty high cost which will be passed on to the consumer."

At least once a day, Cody Wert, manager of Back to Basics Western Wear, one of several small businesses along the Miracle Mile, removes black film that settles on his door and porch.

He has to dust off the hats that hang on his wall for sale.

Wert said some of the material is rubber dust that comes off the truck and car tires. He's not sure what else the dust contains, but whatever it is, "you definitely breathe it in."

[wrightchr]

Originally Posted by EastSideHBG

The letter, endorsed by 102 other physicians from the Carlisle Regional Medical Center, cited American Lung Association findings that the air in the midstate -- especially Cumberland County -- has more pollution generated from diesel exhaust than the New York/Newark area.

Bascom said central Pennsylvania, in spite of all its farmland and undeveloped areas, is affected by pollution generated from traffic extending from West Virginia to Maine, and from coal-fired power plants in the Ohio River Valley.

this is a strong statement. pollution should be definately one of, if not the biggest concern for Pennsylvanians. not only do we retain what we make ourselves, but we recieve everyone elses polluted air, water, and refuse.

[EastSideHBG]

/\
EXACTLY!!!

SHOP & SAVOR

Thursday, August 25, 2005

BY REGGIE SHEFFIELD
Of The Patriot-News

For the first time, shoppers at Fox's Market in Derry Twp. could buy something different to go with their groceries: a bottle of wine.

The supermarket is the home of central Pennsylvania's first One Stop Shop, a wine and spirits shop that opened yesterday in the grocery store.

The shop could be a sign of things to come.

The Derry Twp. store is the eleventh One Stop Shop opened by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, and seven more leases have been approved, agency spokeswoman Molly McGowan said in a press release.

The board launched its One Stop Shop initiative last year as part of Gov. Ed Rendell's effort to make the state-run liquor franchise more customer-friendly and to boost sales.

Two years ago, the agency allowed some wine and liquor stores to open on Sundays. In July, Rendell signed a bill allowing beer distributors to open on Sundays beginning Sept. 4.

Featuring specialty wines and liquors, the shop -- which is formally known as the Cherry Drive Wine & Spirits Shoppe at Fox's Market -- was an instant hit with Rita Connor of Middletown, who has shopped at the grocery store for 38 years.

"I like wine coolers, so when I do my other shopping, I can come and shop here," Connor said.

"And now, with the price of gas up around $2.55, I don't have to make another stop," she said.

Connor's companion, Coy Autrey, grew up in California's Napa Valley and applauded the board's decision to choose Fox's Market for the midstate's first One Stop Shop.

"This is more convenient," said Autrey, a former welder at Three Mile Island.

Bill Fox, president of Fox's Markets, which is based in Middletown, welcomed the liquor shop, which arrived during a general renovation of the Cherry Drive store, including the addition of an entire store aisle of gluten-free products.

"We're thrilled to be the first supermarket in central Pennsylvania with a wine and spirit shop in it. We've had very positive comments from people who are able to shop for their wine and foods in the same place," Fox said.

The liquor shop is not affiliated with Fox's Markets and is staffed with liquor control board employees, just like other state liquor stores, Fox said.

"I wish we owned it, but unfortunately we don't. We wish we'd get a cut of their sales," Fox said, laughing.

Located inside the store with no direct access from the market's parking lot, the 4,000-square-foot liquor shop is identical to any other state liquor store, said manager Leanna Paulus.

"People are thrilled," Paulus said.

Paulus joked that curious customers couldn't help but peek through the glass plate before the store was open.

"I had to clean a lot of nose prints off the window," she said.

Paulus said the biggest question about the shop so far is whether it is open on Sundays. About 25 percent of the state's wine and spirits shops can operate on Sundays, including the shop at Fox's Market.

[EastSideHBG]

LOWER SWATARA TWP.

2nd dorm project begins at Penn State Harrisburg

Thursday, August 25, 2005
BY JAN MURPHY
Of The Patriot-News

More student housing and an outdoor commons are the latest changes to the evolving face of Penn State Harrisburg's campus.

Work has begun on a $1.9 million housing project on the Ziegler Commons, which was dedicated yesterday. The commons is outside the Olmsted Building's food court.

The two-story student residence will house 32 freshmen in four units with double-occupancy bedrooms, a full-size kitchen and dining area, a living room and bathrooms.

The exterior will look similar to the $16 million apartment-style residences built in 2002 that house nearly 300 students.

Work on the new units is expected to be finished in the spring so they would be ready for occupancy next summer, said Steve Hevner, a campus spokesman.

The outdoor commons will be finished within two weeks, said Richard Ziegler of Ziegler Remodeling and Construction Co. of Lebanon, who donated the time, labor and materials for the 8,500-square-foot plaza.

Although he is not a Penn State graduate, Ziegler said he is indebted to the university for the care given to his late wife, Yvonne Hoffman Ziegler, while she was a patient at Penn State Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. He has endowed a scholarship in her name at the medical school. He also has endowed a field hockey scholarship in her name at Penn State's main campus.

Ziegler decided to donate time and materials to build the commons after touring the campus in Lower Swatara Twp.

"Seeing everything else going on and all the changes they are making there, I wanted to be a part of it," Ziegler said. "It looks pretty neat. I'm proud of it."

Campus officials announced in June an undisclosed donation to build a tennis complex. The campus also has seen the addition of an aquatic center in 2004, a food court in 2003, a three-story library in 2000, and an addition to the science and technology building in 1998.

**********

SILVER SPRING TWP.

Questions delay developers' plans

Thursday, August 25, 2005
BY CHRIS A. COUROGEN
Of The Patriot-News

Plans for a 500,000-square- foot shopping center in Silver Spring Twp. that would include a Target department store and the area's first Wegmans grocery have been put on hold temporarily.

A partnership headed by Jacksonville, Fla.-based development firm Regency Centers had hoped to gain final approval from the supervisors last night for its plans for the 64-acre site now occupied by the Silver Spring Speedway, a flea market and a mobile home park.

With many questions regarding traffic and roads surrounding the proposed center still not finalized by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, Ron Lucas, the attorney representing the developers, agreed for the board to delay its decision until an Oct. 26 meeting.

Most of the questions did not concern the plan for the shopping center, but rather a federally funded project to improve nearby intersections on the Carlisle Pike.

Supervisor Jan LeBlanc said that under the state's Municipal Planning Code, a plan cannot be rejected because of traffic congestion. Nonetheless, Lucas agreed to the delay after supervisors and members of the public repeatedly asked how the plan could be approved with so many unanswered questions.

In a related matter, two appeals of the project's conditional use approvals, granted last month by the supervisors, were filed yesterday in Cumberland County Court.

Nathan Wolf, an attorney representing a group called Smart Growth for Silver Spring, filed one appeal, based on an objection to the supervisors' refusal to allow further testimony after a public hearing on the plan was closed.

Wolf said a request for an immediate injunction against the project was denied by Judge Edgar B. Bayley.

Attorneys for Sofa Selections, which is across the Carlisle Pike from the project site, also filed an appeal yesterday. The basis of its appeal was not known. Don Spitler, Sofa Selections' owner, has been talking with the shopping center developers about concerns that turning lanes for the shopping center could impair access to his store.

[Spudmrg]

Some (very quick) thoughts after being DT for about 2 weeks.....

1. The food DT is great......but you run out of places after being down there for a week on a budget. Perhaps a market exists for a decent inexpensive location that's not a sports bar/club.

2. Unless you're into clubbing, it's a bit hard to find anything to do in the city after dinner.

3. Shipoke is a lot larger then it looks from front street.

4. The views of the city are priceless.

5. I miss 'da burg already .

Comments anyone? Please forgive me if I sound negative, those are just the points I have right now.

[EastSideHBG]

1. Yes, DT is definitely "Yuppiefied" now and rather expensive in most places. There are a few places, though, it's just that they are off the beaten path and you need to know about them (and most are outside of DT and in Midtown, etc.).

2. I agree. If you aren't into bars/clubs, DT after dark is not the place to be. I'm mixed on this to be honest and I will say that I would like to see more retail. Still, it's hard for me to complain b/c I remember HBG BEFORE all of this...to me it is like paradise now compared to what it was!!!

*And I do think once HBG U opens up, it will bring a lot...

3. Yes, my 'hood is much bigger than it appears from the street and there is a lot packed in here. So many neat things to see and even though I have been here for 4 months, I am always finding new things.

4. Especially from City Island and Negley Park in Lemoyne!!

5.

Maybe next time you are in town we can meet up, Mike. My schedule was just too hectic this time around...

And did anyone see that they are clearing the site for the new judicial cneter already? HELL YEAH!!!


Repaving to restrict Route 22 traffic at night

Lane closures also expected for I-83 bridge work

Saturday, August 27, 2005
From staff reports

Motorists who use Route 22 on the East Shore can expect nightly delays starting tomorrow after work begins on a $973,000 resurfacing project in the Colonial Park area.

In an unrelated West Shore project, nighttime traffic on the South Bridge will be restricted tomorrow through Thursday near the Lemoyne exit of Interstate 83.

The East Shore work zone stretches from 36th Street in Susquehanna Twp. to Colonial Road in Lower Paxton Twp. and includes the portion of Colonial Road between Route 22 and Devonshire Road.

Work will begin in the westbound lanes, said Mike Crochunis, a spokesman for the District 8 office of the state Department of Transportation.

Crochunis said most of the work will be done between 7:30 p.m. and 5:30 a.m. Sundays through Thursdays. No restrictions are anticipated during weekdays between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m.

That portion of Route 22 carries nearly 31,000 vehicles per day, while Colonial Road handles an average of 15,200.

Crochunis said the project, which is being done by Blooming Glen Contractors Inc. of Hummelstown, is to be wrapped up by the end of November.

Once the project is done, motorists no longer will be able to turn left from Franklin Street onto Route 22. The project will add left-turn lanes on Route 22 at the traffic light at 39th Street and at the intersection with Franklin Street.

The West Shore restrictions will be in place from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. while PennDOT maintenance crews rehabilitate sections of the bridge expansion joints.

From tomorrow evening to Monday morning, traffic will be restricted to the left and center lanes during work on the southbound lanes of I-83 about 500 feet south of the Lemoyne exit, Exit 42.

During evening operations Monday through Thursday, traffic will be restricted to the right lane and right shoulder while crews work on the bridge expansion joints that cross the center and left lanes.

[EastSideHBG]

STATE FINANCING

TecPort gets expansion aid

Friday, August 26, 2005

The TecPort Business Center got a $2.04 million boost from the Rendell administration yesterday as it kicked off its third phase of development.

Half the money from the Commonwealth Financing Authority is in the form of a loan, and the other half is a grant. It will be used for construction of a new municipally owned road, site-preparation activities and extension of public utilities, including the telecommunications network.

Expansion of the business center in Swatara Twp., being developed by Crossgates Inc. and Computer Aid Inc., is projected to bring an additional 2,500 jobs to the area. The third and final phase of development will include Class A office space on the 35-acre tract.

TecPort is in an enterprise zone on the former AMP Inc. campus. More than 5,000 jobs will have been created there once development is completed next year, eclipsing the number of jobs AMP had provided, according to Crossgates.

******

HARRISBURG

Knackstedt gets City Council's ear

Friday, August 26, 2005
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

Interior designer-turned developer Mary Knackstedt has been getting an earful from residents angry over her plans to demolish three houses on North Front Street to build a five-story luxury condominium building.

Last night, Knackstedt found a much more sympathetic ear in the Harrisburg City Council, which will have final say over whether the $32-million project moves forward.

Council Vice President Linda Thompson lit into the city's handling of the project, saying the record is filled with mistake after mistake that has cost Knackstedt time and money.

Thompson said Mayor Stephen R. Reed's initial embrace of a smaller-scale version of Knackstedt's condo plans for the 2900 block of North Front Street encouraged the project.

And Thompson criticized apparent mixed signals from the city planning department over whether the project would qualify as a planned residential development.

Knackstedt's engineers said city officials initially instructed them to submit the project as a planned residential development, which allows for multiple unit structures. They said the city then reversed itself and ruled the project didn't fit even the basic requirements of the specialized planning category.

"We followed instructions," Knackstedt said, adding she wouldn't have sunk $1 million into real estate and another $400,000 into developing the project if city officials hadn't been receptive.

Thompson, along with several other council members, appeared to sympathize with Knackstedt and questioned whether she had been treated fairly.

"This is the worst deal I ever presided over," said Thompson, who chaired last night's public hearing as head of the council's economic development committee. "I've never seen any developer go through this. She has not been given due process."

Thompson said the city has a long record of accommodating developers to spur development, but didn't extend the same courtesy to Knackstedt.

"I have seen us bend over backwards to make exceptions for developers," Thompson said. "I don't think we did everything to assist this developer."

Council member Gloria Martin-Roberts said it's a matter of fairness. And Councilwoman Susan Brown Wilson questioned whether Knackstedt's gender had something to do with the apparent roadblocks.

"I want to make sure we are consistent in the way we treat people in this city," Martin-Roberts said.

The hearing attracted about 60 people, many of them nearby residents who oppose the project.

About a dozen people spoke against the plans, saying Harrisburg would lose three 1920s-era buildings and residents would lose their river views while having to contend with more traffic.

The 32-unit condo building would be 57 feet high on a 23,445-square-foot footprint, with underground parking for 146 cars.

David A. Zwifka, executive director of Historic Harrisburg Association, called the plan for $1 million condos an attempt to "exploit views of the Susquehanna River for those who can afford to live there." If built, the project would inspire copycats and threaten more old buildings along the river, he said.

Despite the controversy, Thompson signaled her wish that the city work with Knackstedt to find some way to develop her site.

"I want to see what the city can do to make it a possibility," Thompson said of the project.

Wilson added, "Why would we not want to make this workable?"

Thompson said she favors giving Knackstedt a 30-day extension that would force a final decision by council no later than Oct. 6. Thompson promised to hold at least one more public hearing on the matter.

THE STORY SO FAR Mary Knackstedt bought the house at 2901 N. Front St. in 1978 and bought 2909 and 2917 N. Front in Harrisburg in November. In February, she said she would raze them to build 32 condominiums. The Historic Harrisburg Association and others protested. In April, the Harrisburg Planning Commission, an advisory body, voted against the plan. The city withdrew a demolition permit it had issued. Four residents filed suit, claiming a deed restriction bars Knackstedt's plan. She is seeking a new demolition permit.

[EastSideHBG]

Oh and this was pretty weird, a driverless SUV came barreling down Beryhill St. yesterday and ran into someone on Cameron. Very :nuts:

http://www.pennlive.com/news/patriot...030.xml&coll=1

[harrisburger]

glad to hear the burg is still booming, it's all of these little projects that will make it better...but on the sad side, i'm heading off to college monday morning, so i won't see the progress. hopefully, after a few months, i'll come back and be amazed from all of the changes

[EastSideHBG]

Good luck, have fun and don't party too hard, harrisburger.

[wrightchr]

Originally Posted by EastSideHBG

Good luck, have fun and don't party too hard, harrisburger.

BE COOL...STAY IN SCHOOL

[EastSideHBG]

GREAT news!!! :carrot:

A home for Harrisburg U.

University has deal to acquire Market Street post office site

Tuesday, August 30, 2005
BY JAN MURPHY
Of The Patriot-News

Harrisburg University of Science and Technology held its first classes yesterday, and moved closer to landing the site it has long coveted.

The university has a signed letter of intent to acquire the 15-acre post office property on Market Street from the U.S. Postal Service, Mayor Stephen R. Reed said yesterday.

Reed didn't disclose the purchase price, but he said it entails building a mail-sorting facility for the postal service at the rear of the property. Additionally, a post office retail center will be on the campus, he said.

Efforts to reach the postal service for comment were unsuccessful.

The university's 175 students are attending classes in Harrisburg School District's SciTech High School, which will be the university's home through 2006-07. By then, work is expected to be finished on a $30 million high-rise being built at Fourth and Market streets.

Still, university officials said the post office property is needed to expand the university's offerings and provide student housing.

Reed preferred the post office site because it is a tax-exempt property, is downtown, and is a short walk to the Harrisburg Transportation Center for bus and train service. He said preliminary designs for developing the site are complete.

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

HARRISBURG

A GRAND OPENING

Astronaut helps university set sail

Tuesday, August 30, 2005
BY JAN MURPHY
Of The Patriot-News

Jarrett Drayton had no problem waking up for his first class at Harrisburg University of Science and Technology. "I jumped right out of bed," he said.

Another student, Vian Raoof, said she was so excited she could barely sleep the night before. And an astronaut came to urge the pioneer class of Harrisburg University to strive for its dreams.

Yesterday marked the opening day for the university. Its roots go back more than a decade to a newspaper editorial's clarion call for a university and to Mayor Stephen R. Reed, who was intent on making that dream happen.

Walking into the classroom in SciTech High, the university's home until it gets a building of its own, the excitement was palpable.

"Everybody tried to add to the conversation at the same time," said Drayton, an 18-year-old Harrisburg High graduate. "Everybody had something to say. They were all excited about being part of history."

Realizing dreams was the common thread woven into speeches made at the inaugural opening convocation at the Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts' Sunoco Performance Theater.

Dr. Bernard Harris Jr., the first black astronaut to walk in space, told the crowd of his boyhood dream of becoming an astronaut. He recalled, as a 9-year-old reared in a broken home by his mother on a Navajo Indian Reservation, looking at the stars over Arizona and New Mexico, wondering what it would be like to travel to those lights.

"If the story stopped there, there wouldn't be any reason for you to believe me that a little boy just dreaming of being an astronaut could ever be an astronaut," he said. "If I can come from that background and accomplish the things that I have done thus far, so can you."

Harris said he likes the university's focus on women and minorities and its emphasis on science and technology. He likes that it is brand new.

"What you guys are doing here in Harrisburg ... is a model for the rest of the country," he said.

David Schankweiler, chairman of the university's board of trustees, said it was "a day many of us have waited for, planned for and worked hard to achieve. It is truly a day of celebration.

"We celebrate a new and much-needed opportunity for our region that marries education and economic development for the benefit of the young people we are proudly welcoming as our students," he said.

Reed was named by university President Mel Schiavelli as its first honorary alumnus. Schiavelli teased he wouldn't make Reed sing the alma mater, but warned him to be prepared to do so when the university moves into the first building of its own when it is completed in two years at Fourth and Market streets.

"What is beginning this day in Harrisburg is no less than a long-term strategy that positions Harrisburg and Pennsylvania to have the best and the brightest of students and leaders and innovators," Reed said. "These are exciting times in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania."

So exciting that Vian Raoof, 21, a Kurd from Iraq who emigrated to Harrisburg eight years ago, could hardly sleep the night before her first class at 9 a.m. -- cell biology.

"I couldn't get to sleep until 3," said the biotechnology major. "I'm ready for the journey, wondering what it will be like and looking forward to it."

Faculty member Christina Dryden, wearing a gold stole with the words "Harrisburg University" down one side and "Charter faculty" down the other, compared her experience to that of Harris when he first went into space.

"It's somewhere between excitement and nerves," she said.

[EastSideHBG]

What do you guys think, would $1 million condos have a market here? If the sizes of the new developments in Hamden Twp., Hershey, etc., are any indication, I'd sure say so.


HARRISBURG

Council extends deadline for decision on condos

Wednesday, August 31, 2005
BY JOHN LUCIEW
Of The Patriot-News

The Harrisburg City Council has given itself more time to consider whether luxury condos are right for North Front Street.

Voting unanimously, council last night approved a 30-day extension for a land development plan submitted by interior designer-turned-developer Mary Knackstedt.

Knackstedt wants to demolish three 1920s-era buildings on the 2900 block of North Front Street in order to build a 32-unit condo building that would feature $1 million residences.

The council now has until Oct. 6 to make a final decision on the plan. It has promised to hold at least one more public hearing on the matter.

Some local residents and groups such as Historic Harrisburg Association oppose the project, saying the city would lose Front Street mansions, and that residents' views of the Susquehanna River would be blocked by the five-story condo building.