The CAT bus station at Market Square.
A local civic group wants to make over congested Market Square, which could lead to substantial changes to one of Harrisburg’s most historic and visible intersections.
Harrisburg Young Professionals is conducting a master plan study for the intersection of Market and 2nd streets. The organization, which has been eyeing a redevelopment project at that location for more than a year, recently tapped Boston-based design firm Sasaki to lead the planning effort.
Sasaki, HYP and Harrisburg-based K&W Engineers last week held a series of stakeholder meetings at the Harrisburg Hilton, which is located on Market Square. Meron Yemane, former president of HYP, estimated that more than 100 people participated in the eight meetings, which were each 45 minutes long.
At the meetings, stakeholders discussed urban spaces in the United States and abroad that Harrisburg could emulate and debated the merits of adding different amenities – such as green spaces or retail outlets—to Market Square.
Yemane said that urban planners from Sasaki will use the input from those meetings to begin drafting a master plan, which HYP hopes will be finished in spring 2018.
From there, HYP will continue to facilitate discussions with stakeholders, Yemane said, and potentially help identify funding for a large-scale project.
Market Square was part of the original, circa-1785 plan for Harrisburg and was the site of the city’s first market area, dismantled in 1889. It currently is dominated by several large structures, including the Hilton, the Penn National Insurance Building and Dauphin County Administration Building. One corner also serves as a hub for CAT buses.
Yemane said that the area’s proximity to the highway, riverfront and retail and dining establishments make it a potential cornerstone of Harrisburg.
“It has the potential to be a postcard image for the city,” said Yemane.
Beyond that, he was hesitant to offer a vision for what the new Market Square could look like. He said the master plan might recommend beautification measures, such as adding more trees and lighting. The plan will also help stakeholders determine whether Market Square is best suited to retail, residential or leisure amenities, or a combination of the three.
According to Sasaki, relocating the bus station is one option. Last year, PennDOT released concepts for the area around the Harrisburg Transportation Center that included a new home for the bus station.
Yemane said that much of the planning effort thus far has been funded privately and that the business community “really stepped up” when HYP decided to bring in Sasaki.
HYP also hired the economic planning company, Landwise, to evaluate the financial feasibility of different projects that could be outlined in the master plan. Yemane said that the firm has helped HYP evaluate federal grant options, though they expect that any major changes to Market Square will require private dollars.
“We recognize the limited resources of the city, but we want to be good stewards of Harrisburg and work with them to identify what’s possible,” Yemane said.
