Chris Dawson (middle), his employees, family and local officials cut the ribbon on the Lowengard building in October.
What needs to be done to bring back Harrisburg’s thriving downtown?
Harrisburg is a beautiful, vibrant city that isn’t living up to its full potential, and reinvigorating the downtown would go a long way towards making Pennsylvania’s Capital City what it can and should be.
I have spent the past 16 years building a design-driven architectural firm, Chris Dawson Architect (CDA), based downtown, with a staff of 15. We have worked on many projects in the downtown area, ranging from remodeling portions of the Capitol Complex to reimagining the iconic Chockablock Clock in Strawberry Square as the new ClockBox Stage and Lounge to creating Zeroday’s Taproom on 3rd Street, Elementary Coffee on North Street, and, most recently, the Lowengard building, a formerly elegant architectural gem that had fallen into disrepair. I am fully invested in the success of the city and believe firmly in its potential.
While every redevelopment project is meaningful, the renovation of the Lowengard building was personal—a watershed moment for me and my firm. The Lowengard building was built in 1917 to house The Courier newspaper printing operations and was the first location of the iconic Mary Sachs department store in 1918.
As my firm continued to grow, we would eventually need more space, and I had had my eye on the building for years. When I purchased the building three years ago, I knew it would take a lot of work, but, as with all renovation projects of historic buildings, unforeseen challenges were in store.
Government resources proved to be critical in enabling us to complete this project. We received funding from Dauphin County via a gaming grant and the County Land Bank via a demolition grant. In retrospect, we would not have been able to complete the project without these grants.
There were also governmental hurdles related to building code interpretations, transferring the building permit when the initial general contractor went bankrupt, and a fluid list of inspector whims to satisfy to get to the final elevator, electrical, and occupancy certificates.
It would have been easier to leave the city and build a new office for ourselves in the suburbs, but that was never an option for us. We value Harrisburg city for what it is —a walkable, visually rich urban setting where I bump into clients in coffee shops and restaurants, and home to a vibrant arts scene. CDA is committed to doing our part to make it better, as evidenced by our investment in renovating the Lowengard building. Architects believe that improving the built environment is critical to creating true community. City density enables building community at scale, and that density is lacking in the suburbs.
It was with tremendous pride and gratitude that we were able to cut the ribbon on the Lowengard renovation project earlier this month. The revamped building is a mixed-use development with two apartments, office space for my firm, a retail space on the ground floor, and a rooftop deck amenity for all the building occupants. It was incredibly challenging to get to this point, but it was genuinely worth it, and we are proud to be doing our part to improve Harrisburg.
There is no silver bullet that will save downtown. It won’t be easy, but it absolutely can be done, and this project’s success is concrete proof that a better future for Harrisburg is possible. We need the cooperation of elected officials, architects, real estate developers and contractors, and a shared sense of urgency to start making progress.
The good news is, we are not starting from scratch. Harrisburg has plenty of underdeveloped assets that we can build on. There are plenty of people, like me, who are committed to making it a better place, but we need to continue to grow that community and increase collaboration across sectors in deliberate, strategic ways.
We know that cities are the future—urban offices are 6 to 8 times more energy-efficient than remote work from home, and 21st-century work is rooted in collaboration. Quality of life is higher in cities, and more than half the world’s population currently lives in cities, with that growing to 70% by 2050.
Architects are detail-oriented planners, but we are also creative thinkers who can look at a space, imagine what it could be, and help put that vision into practice. However, we can’t do it alone. I never would have been able to complete this project without help from elected officials, my contractors, my bankers, my family and my incredible staff.
There is a blueprint for revitalizing the city we are proud to call home if we can all pull together as a community to build a better Harrisburg for everyone.
Chris Dawson is the owner of Harrisburg-based Chris Dawson Architects.
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