The Broad Street Market’s brick building mid-reconstruction on Tuesday, Jan. 27.
For the second year in a row, Harrisburg’s historic farmers market tops an annual list of “preservation priorities” for an area historic preservation group.
On Monday, the Historic Harrisburg Association presented its list of endangered historic structures in the Harrisburg area, naming the Broad Street Market as its top preservation priority for 2026.
“Because it’s so important to the community and to the metropolitan area and beyond, obviously, it’s our first preservation priority at this point,” explained Jeb Stuart, president of HHA’s board of directors.
The Broad Street Market’s 1870s-era brick building, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, faced a devastating fire in July 2023. The partially-destroyed structure sat vacant for a little over two years before Harrisburg began the reconstruction process in the fall of 2025, which was complicated by a wall collapse in December.
The Broad Street Market’s brick building suffered a partial wall collapse in December.
“That has kind of set things back a ways,” Stuart noted Monday. “Hopefully the city will be more transparent and forthcoming about where the plans are and how they’re moving forward, but we can see the work is being done.”
He added that the brick building’s pop-up roof is being restored to match the original building’s design and that the city, in January, identified an unstable wall it needs to demolish and rebuild as part of the restoration process. The association sees the latter as a positive.
Reconstruction of the historic roof of Broad Street Market’s brick building as of Tuesday, Jan. 27.
“The fact that this work is being done, and that the architects have at least been able to determine that a part of the wall was bulging before it collapsed is a good sign they will hopefully be able to rebuild it,” Stuart said.
The portion of the brick building’s wall identified for demolition.
The association’s remaining four preservation priorities for 2026 include:
- Former Bishop McDevitt High School, a 95-year-old, neo-Gothic brick building in Allison Hill that served as a school until 2012
- William Penn High School, a shuttered, 100-year-old school building near Italian Lake
- Balsley House, a dilapidated, Federal-style former grocery store, located beside Sawyer’s in downtown Harrisburg
- Riverside Firehouse, a vacant, city-owned former fire station in Uptown that suffered a bell-tower collapse this past year
Stuart expressed concern Monday that the current owner of Bishop McDevitt has “unfortunately” painted a portion of the brick building white.
The painting of the former band room section of the building has caused people in the neighborhood to express concerns about the owner maintaining the building’s historic integrity, Stuart said.
“We have found that the owner is trying to do other things that may be inappropriate to the building,” Stuart added. “The city has shut down, from what we understand, further work. They have a stop-work order until certain code issues and other issues are resolved.”
The association named the preservation of the Harrisburg School District’s former vocational school, William Penn, as another top preservation priority.
The district proposed demolishing the school in 2023, but reversed course. After exiting receivership in June, the school board reviewed its slate of options for the property at a November special board meeting.
At this time, the future of the building remains unclear.
Stuart noted that Historic Harrisburg views the district’s apparent reluctance to sell the property as “an issue” standing in the way of any proposed reuse or restoration projects for the site.
Stuart expressed hope for another structure on the list, the Balsley House, located on N. 2nd Street in downtown Harrisburg. One of the oldest structures in downtown, and formerly a grocery store, he said Historic Harrisburg has hopes of seeing it repurposed into a retail location.
Lastly, he listed the Riverside Firehouse. The 1923 building, located in Uptown, suffered damage to its historic belltower due to heavy winds in November.
“It continues to suffer from deterioration,” Stuart said, urging the city to resolve a real estate title issue and push the property out to potential buyers who could restore the structure.
Historic Harrisburg’s annual “Watch List”
Historic Harrisburg also placed almost two-dozen buildings and structures on its “watch list” Monday.
These include:
- Mira Lloyd Dock House, Front and Reily streets
- Lochiel Hotel, 901 Shanois St.
- Central Publishing House, 100 N. 13th St.
- Former Chisuk Emuna Synagogue, 423 Division St.
- Bartholomew & DeVout Mansion, 208 Hummel St.
- Old State Police HQ/American Dream Diner at 2100 Herr St. (Susquehanna Township)
- Meyers Mansion, 213 Front St.
- Market Street Bridge
- 19th Street Armory, 1313 S. 19th St.
- Cumberland County Railroad Bridge (connects Lemoyne and downtown Harrisburg)
- Historic Peace Church (Hampden Township)
- Donald Cameron Mansion, Front and State streets
- Bishop Bridge, Cumberland and York counties
- First United Methodist Church, Boas Street
- Grace United Methodist Church, State Street
- Former St. Paul’s Methodist Church, Vine Street
- Harrisburg State Hospital
- Paxton Firehouse, 336 S. 2nd St.
- Camp Curtin Church, 2221 N. 6th St.
- Atlas Building, 6th and Maclay streets
- Walnut Street Bridge (connects downtown and City Island)
- Captain John Gilchrist Homestead, Linglestown Road
Preservation Successes
Stuart also identified two preservation successes in the Harrisburg region: the Prospect Hill Cemetery Gatehouse, at 25th and Market streets, which has been restored after being hit and damaged by a car, and the Nauman Mansion, at 315 N. Front St., which is being transformed into apartments.
According to Historic Harrisburg’s executive director David Morrison, the organization has been creating annual “Preservation Priorities” for 20 years now and presenting them for roughly 10 with the goal of making the public aware of historic structures in need of preservation efforts.
Click here for more information on Historic Harrisburg.
If you like what we do, please support our work. Become a Friend of TheBurg!
