Tour de Belt to return as a live event in June, adds festival at finish line

February 17, 2022 | by Lawrance Binda

Bicyclists ride along the Susquehanna riverfront during a past Tour de Belt.

After a lengthy hiatus, the Harrisburg area’s largest annual biking event will return live this year, capped by a new festival at the finishing line.

The Capital Area Greenbelt Association (CAGA) announced on Thursday that the Tour de Belt will return as an in-person ride after two years as a virtual, “ride-when-you-can” event.

“Tour de Belt is fun-filled event for bikers, walkers, runners, and their families that promotes healthy activity and environmental stewardship,” said Neelam Zaver, CAGA board member and Tour de Belt committee chair. “It also raises much-needed funds to support one of the capital region’s most beloved outdoor resources, the Greenbelt.”

In the Tour de Belt, participants loop around the 24-mile Capital Area Greenbelt at their own pace, starting on the main HACC campus in Harrisburg. This year’s event, which takes place June 5, will finish on the adjacent campus of Commonwealth Charter Academy, where a “Finish Line Fest” will be held, featuring live music and entertainment, food trucks and other fun activities, according to CAGA.

“We think that the addition of the Finish Line Fest, this will truly become a community event for everyone to enjoy,” Zaver said. “Even if you choose not to bike in the Tour de Belt, you can come out, have a good time, and support an important cause.”

The 22nd annual Tour de Belt joins a number of other annual area events that plan to return to their regular formats following two years of interruption by the COVID-19 pandemic. For instance, Harrisburg’s Ice & Fire Festival returns fully as an in-person event on March 5.

In past years, the Tour de Belt has brought in more than 1,000 registered participants and over 100 volunteers, and organizers said that they expect potentially record-breaking participation this year. A virtual option also will be available this year, according to CAGA.

Proceeds raised by the Tour de Belt and Finish Line Fest will benefit CAGA and will be used to support improvements and maintenance of the Greenbelt. In 2021, the budget for these efforts surpassed $7 million and included increased safety of trail crossings at intersections, newly paved sections of the trail, and completion of the new Fort Hunter connection, according to CAGA.

“We’re incredibly thankful for the support of our corporate sponsors, and encourage any local businesses or organizations interested in getting involved to reach out to us at [email protected] for more information,” Zaver said. “It’s not too late to be a part of this year’s event.”

To date, sponsors of the 2022 Tour de Belt and Finish Line Fest include Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority (platinum sponsor), Boyer & Ritter LLC, Daflure, Dauphin County Parks and Recreation, Faulkner Subaru, Pennsylvania American Water, RKL LLP, Starr Insurance Inc., and Wilson Consulting Group.

The 2022 Tour de Belt takes place June 5, beginning at 9 a.m., on the main campus of HACC in Harrisburg, with the Finish Line Festival beginning at 10 a.m. on the nearby campus of Commonwealth Charter Academy. For more information and to register, visit their website.

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Weekend Roundup with Sara Bozich

February 17, 2022 | by Sara Bozich

Plan your weekend with my weekly list of things to do around Harrisburg and central PA! Scroll down or use the menu links to find ideas for your weekend.

What you’ll find:

For your weekend planning
Top Weekend Recs
- Thursday
- Friday
- Saturday
- Sunday
Like this content?

For something new: Visit SoMa Harrisburg! Thursday or Friday (3rd in the Burg) to check out visiting pop-up vendors — this month featuring Cristiano Winery and Under the Bridge Cider.

(Still) Worth noting: Check out my private Facebook community, Cheers Harrisburg. You can join the convo here.

Things on my agenda this weekend: Starting with a workout at Burn30, then it’s a SoMa destination kind of Thursday and Friday, including 3rd in the Burg. Saturday, we’re taking the kiddo to Baltimore with visits to the National Aquarium and Port Discovery Kids Museum, plus plenty of good eating and drinking! Follow along on IG.

Don’t forget to support your local brewery! Click here to find one near you.

For your weekend planning

Check out what’s happening in SoMa Harrisburg
View our local Restaurant Directory
Local Brewery, Winery, & Cidery Directory
See what else you missed on the blog.

Below are options for your weekend.

Things to Do in Harrisburg + Central PA | Weekend Roundup | Sara Bozich

Top Weekend Recs

Discover SoMa Harrisburg
It’s not too late to make this yummy cocktail
High Road Brewing will open in Camp Hill this summer
An immersive dining experience at Amorette in Lancaster | A Review
Submit your events for the Weekend Roundup

COVID-19 Disclaimer: Masking and social distancing policies may vary per business, venue, and event. All events are subject to change. Please be considerate, follow the rules, and be nice. And tip extra!

What are you doing this weekend around Harrisburg? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram.

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Harrisburg, Dauphin County to partner to study contracting opportunities for diverse city businesses

February 16, 2022 | by Maddie Gittens

Harrisburg Mayor Wanda Williams, along with city and county officials, announced a disparity study on Wednesday.

According to Harrisburg officials, there are city businesses whose services have long been undervalued.

Harrisburg, along with Dauphin County and nonprofit Impact Harrisburg, will conduct a disparity study to determine how and where the city can provide more opportunities to diverse businesses and contractors.

“The disparity study will clearly highlight not only which businesses have been negatively impacted in terms of lack of access, but it will talk about ways to make it equitable,” explained Karl Singleton, the city’s equity and compliance officer, at a press conference on Wednesday.

In May 2021, Harrisburg City Council passed a resolution to enter into an agreement with Impact Harrisburg to conduct the study. However, it had been on hold until now.

According to Singleton, the study will evaluate how well the city has historically utilized disadvantaged businesses in its contracting and procurement. Within the study, they hope to get a grasp on the number of available minority, women, disabled and LGBTQ-owned businesses in Harrisburg and the opportunities, or lack thereof, that they’ve had. From there, the study will make recommendations for next steps for the city to take to better utilize and assist diverse businesses.

According to Singleton, a large part of the gap in opportunities for disadvantaged business owners comes from a lack of access to financial resources. He believes the disparity study will help.

“This hopefully gives us an access point to which banks and other financial institutions can now look upon these business and say they’re not only capable, but they’re ready, willing and able,” he said.

Econsult Solutions, LLC will perform the study at a total cost of $250,000, funded in equal parts by the three partners.

Singleton expects the study to be completed within a year.

Mayor Wanda Williams explained how important it is that the city and county are working together on this initiative, a partnership between governing bodies that hasn’t always been smooth, she said.

“It is the first of many important steps towards creating that better tomorrow for Harrisburg,” Williams said.

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Harrisburg City Council passes amended 2022 budget; spending plan is lower than last year’s

February 15, 2022 | by Maddie Gittens

Harrisburg City Council held a legislative session on Tuesday

Just weeks after officially reopening the city’s budget, Harrisburg has approved an amended spending plan for 2022.

On Tuesday, City Council approved a $70.7 million general fund budget that includes no tax increase. The bill passed with a vote of 6-1, with council member Shamaine Daniels voting against it.

“It’s a really good budget,” said Mayor Wanda Williams. “It puts us on good financial footing.”

The 2022 budget, although originally passed at the end of 2021, was reopened and amended as a new mayor and her administration took office in January. The budget process, which usually takes months, this year was compressed into a number of weeks.

The amended 2022 general fund budget is around $8 million less than the initial budget of $79 million passed in December, which was a replica of the 2021 budget and a placeholder while the administration changed. It also reflects the new administration’s priorities.

When Business Administrator Dan Hartman initially introduced the proposed budget, he explained that the city had made significant cost reductions to be able to “live within its means” and to balance the budget.

“We had to make a numerous amount of cuts, not that we wanted to, but it was in the best interest of the city to have a balanced budget,” Williams said.

Some cuts came from removing funding for unfilled positions. Hartman said that the budget did not include any layoffs.

Spending also dropped by crossing off projects that were already completed and limiting the use of outside consultants. In some departments, expenses such as contracted services or equipment purchases fell.

However, the approved budget also features a number of additional expenditures.

In the mayor’s office, the city will hire a new director of Equity and Compliance and a special assistant for Community Affairs. Williams has appointed Karl Singleton and Gina Johnson Roberson to fill those roles, respectively.

Additionally, council voted to remove funding for the city engineer position, which is currently vacant, and, instead, move towards contracting with an outside firm for those services. Williams said that she plans to test this arrangement for a year.

Another change outlined in the document is that the director of Building and Housing Development, Dennise Hill, will also take on the role of director of Community and Economic Development. Hill said that she would spend four days a week heading up Building and Housing and one day a week working on Community and Economic Development.

In addition to the general fund, the budget includes an $18.1 million neighborhood services fund (mostly sanitation), $10.7 million debt service fund and $8.9 million capital projects fund. In addition, Hartman explained that this will be the last year that the city will need to make payments on one of its general obligation bonds, which is due to be paid off, allowing that recurring expense to be reallocated in future years.

On the revenue side, the city expects general fund revenue of $72.5 million, including the use of $8.86 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds as reimbursement for COVID-related expenses and revenue losses.

The city plans eventually to pass a supplementary budget to outline further ARPA allotments, but will first hold a series of meetings, starting this week, to allow for the public to provide input on the matter.

“This is the best budget that I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” said City Controller Charlie DeBrunner, who is tasked with ensuring that the budget is followed throughout the year. “This is an honest budget.”

When the new administration first introduced its proposed general fund budget, the overall amount was slightly less than the final approved budget. However, at a subsequent budget hearing, officials bumped up the spending figure to account for several added police and fire bureau positions.

Before passing the budget, council made a number of amendments, including adding several positions, such as a special assistant to the finance bureau, a human resources specialist and an assistant city solicitor. Council also voted to remove five community service aide positions, which were unfunded in the police bureau’s budget. The administration initially proposed using ARPA funds for those positions. The police bureau’s proposed advertising budget was also slashed, from $76,000 to $20,000, and $800,000 in proposed funding for a police van was completely eliminated.

“This budget process has been a marathon to say the least,” said council President Danielle Bowers. “At the end of the day, we did not settle for what was presented […] instead, we brought forth practical amendments that we feel are in the best interest of the residents of the city.”

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The Hidden Gems of HBG: A Bonus Valentine’s Day Podcast

February 14, 2022 | by Karen Hendricks

What are the hidden gems of Harrisburg? And where are these sparkling treasures?

That’s what we asked nearly all of our podcast guests over the past year. But—surprise, surprise—we saved these audio treasures for this bonus Valentine’s Day episode.

This special Valentine’s Day edition of TheBurg Podcast is sponsored by Explore HBG.

Nearly 25 guests reveal their favorite, go-to places they consider unique to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. And some of the answers may surprise you: They range from sparkling gems of nature to the capital city’s cultural gems, outstanding restaurants and businesses, iconic architectural gems, plus even a few quirky local gems. Some are truly hidden, off-the-beaten-path gems.

Discover the hidden gems of the Burg, on TheBurg Podcast: Hosted by Lawrance Binda, editor of TheBurg; and Karen Hendricks, TheBurg Podcast’s host and producer.

Guests, sharing their hidden gems, include:

Melissa Brown, UPMC Central PA
Fred Burton, Harrisburg-based writer
George Conrad, president, Standing Stone Trail Club
Karen Cullings, executive director of the Daphin County Library System
Seth Dellinger, Animal Advocates of Central PA
Jenifer Donnelly of Recycle Bicycle Harrisburg
Clare Flannery, Harrisburg runner
Monica Gould, DEI expert, of Strategic Consulting Partners,
Rich Hauck, TheBurg illustrator
Brad Jones, Harristown president and CEO
Kasey Jordan, Harrisburg native and ice skater with Revolution Ice Unity
Kevin Kulp, president, Harrisburg Senators
Maestro Stuart Malina of the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra
Maureen Marks of Maureen Marks Arts
Diane McCormick, freelance writer for TheBurg
Sammi Leigh Melville, TheBurg’s resident film writer
Rod Mortel, High Hopes for Haiti
Melissa Nicholson of Gamut Theatre
Steph Perez, Harrisburg artist
Ian Potter, muralist and Harrisburg native
Peter Sirotin of the Harrisburg Symphony and Market Square Concerts
Crystal Skotedis, Harrisburg resident, principal with Boyer & Ritter LLC
Todd Vander Woude, executive director of the Harrisburg Downtown Improvement District
Andrew Williams, music teacher, Reach Cyber Charter School

TheBurg Podcast introduces you to some of the Harrisburg area’s most fascinating people, through their own authentic stories, expanded from every month’s magazine–because there’s always “more to the story.” TheBurg Podcast is released monthly on the second Friday of every month. It is hosted and produced by Karen Hendricks, an award-winning journalist and PR professional. Visit her website here.

TheBurg Podcast received two prestigious awards in 2021: First place, Excellence in Journalism, Society of Professional Journalists, Keystone Chapter; and Honorable mention, Keystone Media Award, Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association Foundation.

To sponsor a future episode of TheBurg Podcast, contact Lauren ([email protected]). TheBurg is a monthly community magazine based in Harrisburg, Pa.; Lawrance Binda, co-publisher/editor.

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Burg Review: Time and memory, in song, at Open Stage’s emotional “The Mad Ones”

February 13, 2022 | by Gina Napoli

We all have that one friend. Maybe she comes with a warning label, and you have to offer disclaimers before actually introducing her to people.

Your mother probably thinks that same friend is a bad influence on you. Perhaps that same friend reminds your boyfriend that he isn’t good enough for you. But that one friend is wired like no one else you’ve ever known or ever will meet. She says and does odd, shocking things, and she has your heart. She’s one of the mad ones.

Open Stage brings Harrisburg audiences the off-Broadway musical, “The Mad Ones,” by Kait Kerrigan and Bree Lowdermilk. The story, told in mostly flashback sequences through the rearview mirror, is a coming-of-age buddy dramedy about that oh-so sweet spot that is senior year of high school. It’s an exciting time, full of promise. We may reminisce about it as carefree, but it’s a cringe-y era of our existence, if we’re honest. It’s when we ask a freshly hatched adult to make fork-in-the-road decisions that permanently affect the directions of their lives.

That’s the uncertainty that faces our heroine, Sam (Carly Lafferty), who finds her mad one in her best friend, Kelly (Maggie Haynes). Kelly is a supernova, everything Sam wishes she could be herself, and Sam is spinning in Kelly’s infectious orbit. Together, they share a passion for Jack Kerouac’s book, “On the Road,” holding lofty ambitions to rip up their atlases after high school and drive wherever freedom is.

Sam’s ambitious mother Beverly (Rachel Landon) pressures Sam toward an Ivy League school, but Kelly plans for the girls to attend a state school and party in a co-ed dorm. Sam’s boyfriend Adam (Nik Olson) has no higher ambition than to work at his father’s tire store and eat tacos. Sam hasn’t decided exactly what she wants to do after high school, and she struggles with finding the courage to say it out loud. She feels scared, but she must take a risk and move on to her next step.

Then BOOM—a phone call changes everything. It’s like driving through deep mud, yet Sam still must trudge on from here.

“The Mad Ones” soundtrack serves as a poignant vehicle for telling Sam’s story. Songs that gave me the hardest belly laughs: “Sam Failed Her Driver’s Test,” “My Mom is a Statistician,” “Top Ten,” (which outlines a list of Kelly’s most interesting ways to die, unlikely enough to defy a statistician), and “The Proposal,” which contains the chorus “Have sex with me.” (Did I mention the content advisory for children under 14?)

The characters’ sorrows shine through in the actors’ individual singing styles. Like Sam, Lafferty sounds sweet, if not slightly hesitant, unsure, delivering the memorably wistful, “The Girl Who Drove Away.” Haynes belts it out harder, bad-girl Kelly style, with flinty vocals that sound worldlier. She especially showcases her vocal abilities in her solo, “I Didn’t Say Goodbye.” Olson deposits raw emotion into his performance of “Run Away with Me,” even warbling a few times while playing the awkward Adam.

Approaching her character with equal parts intensity and comedy, Rachel Landon brings Sam’s mother Beverly to life as a breakout character, beautifully delivering the moving feminist anthem, “Miles to Go,” and the lamenting ballad, “I Know My Girl.”

Director Stuart Landon said, “The Mad Ones explores time and memory in such thoughtful ways… offering reassurance that each of us should take the wheel of our own life and drive on.”

“The Mad Ones” runs Feb. 12 to March 12 at Open Stage, 25 N. Court St., Harrisburg. For more information and tickets, visit www.openstagehbg.com/show/the-mad-ones. Prior to each show, check the website for specific show dates and times, as well as any late-breaking COVID-19 guidelines and protocols.

Burg Review: Light and magic radiate musically from Theatre Harrisburg’s “The Secret Garden”

February 12, 2022 | by Gina Napoli

Telling a classic story by author Frances Hodgson Burnett that’s over a century old, Theatre Harrisburg’s “The Secret Garden” brings the musical version alive, even though the majority of the characters are, shall we say, not alive.

Whether you have already seen the award-winning show on Broadway or any of the nine movie or television series adaptations, it’s worth re-visiting the story to see Theatre Harrisburg’s emotive interpretation. With lyrics by Marsha Norman and music by Lucy Simon, the evocative operatic score drives sets the somber mood perfectly for all that is eerie about post-Victorian England.

Set in 1906, we meet Mary Lennox (Charlotte Caples) on the worst day of her young life. Upon awakening from her overindulged life in India, she learns that everyone in her house died from cholera. She is then whisked 6,000 miles away to live with her widowed, reclusive Uncle Archibald Craven (Andrew Vinton) in gothic Misselthwaite Manor.

Because the amount of grief in the home weighs as heavy as the fog on the nearby moors, the house and its inhabitants are haunted by spirits, or “The Dreamers” (Tony Barber, Rebecca Cole, Andrea Crawford, Francis Dy, TJ Fausnight, Wendy J. Faust, Jason Genise-Gdula, Aubrey Krepps, Darren Riddle). With only servants for company, Mary does not have her uncle’s affections, and she is forbidden from entering the garden. This makes it the number-one place for her to break into. The number-two place is a hidden room where she discovers a secret resident.

The grim setting of Misselthwaite Manor becomes a character in its own right, establishing its gravity and mystery with its flickering amber lighting and shadowy, monochromatic colors. The occasional lightning bolts and howling winds further guard the house against young Mary bonding with it or feeling nurtured by it. The spring garden, also tinged with sadness, stands locked and overgrown. The setting juxtaposes well against the slightly brighter melancholic memories that occasionally surface, like a waltz in the garden with a lost love.

Music Director Mitchell Sensenig brings out the best in the talented cast, who seem to effortlessly find their own voices in each other’s harmonic ranges. The singers perform with brilliant passion, all adding to the haunting melodies they create. With rich songs resonating from the depths of sorrow, each vocalist hits echoing notes of loneliness that prickle on the skin.

My favorite duet duos: powerhouse tenors Andrew Vinton and Sean Meara and penetrating mezzo-sopranos Beth Darowish and Aubrey Krepps. And when both duos join forces for “Quartet,” their voices seamlessly reverberate together for an aria so beautiful that musical notes are left hanging in the air along with the fog.

“The Secret Garden” is Director Winnona Piazza’s first production with Theatre Harrisburg. With this musical, she promises audiences a tale that “eventually breaks through to the light and true magic.” It feels symbolic of the world’s long-awaited re-awakening after a different sort of plague. It’s a message addressing “pain and loss, and displays how one can find grace and hope in the future.”

“The Secret Garden” musical runs Feb. 11 to 27 at Whitaker Center, 222 Market St., Harrisburg. For more information on show times and tickets, plus up-to-date COVID-19 protocols, visit www.theatreharrisburg.com/2021-2022-shows/the-secret-garden.

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The Week that Was: News and features around Harrisburg

February 11, 2022 | by Lawrance Binda and Maddie Gittens

Harrisburg City Council held three budget hearings this week.

Here’s to a sunny weekend in Harrisburg! As the city begins to defrost, get out and enjoy a taste of spring. Don’t miss out on all of our local news coverage from this week, listed below.

American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) money will be the topic of discussion at a series of meetings that Harrisburg plans to hold, our online story reported. The city will host five meetings to gather input from residents on how they want to see the millions in federal assistance utilized.

In Bob’s Art Blog the theme is love, fitting for the upcoming holiday. He highlights the “Love, Love Market” featuring hand-made ceramics, jewelry and flower arrangements in Carlisle this weekend.

TheBurg Podcast came out today and features interviews with three fascinating local women. Hear from Dr. Kimeka Campbell, founder of the Harrisburg Black Newsbeat, Sue Kunisky of Visit Hershey & Harrisburg, and Wendy Allen of Lincoln into Art.

Dave Madsen, a Harrisburg City Council member announced that he will toss his hat into the ring for one of the city’s newly drawn seats in the state House of Representatives, our reporting found. Madsen will seek the Democratic nomination for the new 104^th legislative district.

“Echoes of Voices of the Eighth,” produced by Sankofa African American Theatre Company, opens on Friday night at Gamut Theatre. According to our reviewer, it offers a night of history, depth and enlightenment. Read more about the show, in our magazine story.

Eric Epstein, a long-time activist, and Susquehanna Township Commissioner Justin Fleming both said that they would seek the Democratic nomination for the PA House in the newly redrawn 105^th legislative district, our online story reported.

A GoFundMe raised thousands of dollars to support two young girls whose parents, Meredith Greene and Tyler Thames, were killed in a shooting this week in Harrisburg. Within a day, the fundraiser had garnered over $20,000, our reporting found.

Harrisburg City Council held the first of three budget workshops, where they discussed the public safety budget, our reporting found. The administration proposed allocating funding to new positions within the police and fire bureaus.

Harrisburg’s Federal Building has a new plan as an upscale apartment building and nightlife complex, our online story reported. Justin Etzin, principal of Global Ocean Investments Ltd., said that he plans to transform the building into “The Federal,” a 288-unit “luxury” apartment building, plus restaurants and bars.

Home sales in Harrisburg were mostly flat in January, but prices were up, our online story reported. For the three-county region, sales totaled 499 housing units compared to 508 in January 2021, but the median sales price rose to $211,900 versus $194,700 in the year-ago period.

Riodine, a Russian/American band, recently released their debut album, “Practical Men,” our magazine story reported. The musical stylings of the members of Riodine have been influenced by the harder rock music of the 1970s.

Sara Bozich is right on time with her Weekend Roundup. Enjoy the warmer weather and find a fun way to spend the next few days.

Taste of Asia recently opened in Mechanicsburg, offering ramen, Chinese and Thai cuisine, our magazine story reported. The restaurant operates out of the building where Tri Asian Taste was previously housed.

Visit Hershey & Harrisburg has created a resource for people who want to learn about and visit Black restaurants, shops, cafés and venues, as well as cultural and other events. Read more about The Black Travel Experience in our magazine story.

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Good Read: Cozy bookstore with a focus on representation opens in Linglestown

February 11, 2022 | by Maddie Gittens

Owner Ashley Bailey at her new store, Heart & Soul Books

Tucked on the second floor of a Linglestown storefront is a cozy bookstore with a vintage flair and shelves of good reads.

Heart & Soul Books began as an online vendor in 2020, but will open a brick-and-mortar location this weekend on Linglestown Road.

“I’m excited,” said owner Ashley Bailey. “I want it to be a safe place. I want people to feel like they can get a book and see themselves in it.”

Representation is at the forefront of Bailey’s mind when she’s collecting new and used books to sell at the shop. She wants to make sure that people of color and those who aren’t always depicted in popular literature can find a reflection of themselves in the books she carries.

Bailey pointed out the wide range of genres that she stocks on the shelves, including books for adults, teens and children.

Books for sale

She began selling new and used books online after rediscovering her love for reading as an adult. She recalled how, as a kid, reading helped her get through her time spent in a juvenile detention center. Maya Angelou’s “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” impacted her, she said.

“Reading was therapeutic to me,” she said.

Eventually, Bailey hopes to incorporate a nonprofit aspect of her business to help people in similar shoes to those that she was in.

In addition to offering a calming place to read a book, Bailey plans to eventually provide classes, book clubs, spoken word performances and children’s story times. Her mom will teach a sign language course, as well.

Around the shop are touches of Bailey’s personality and family. Maya Angelou quotes hang on the walls alongside vibrant tapestries, her mom’s vintage furniture fills the rooms, and trinkets handmade by her daughter are for sale.

Bailey will happily share book recommendations and order you specific titles if she doesn’t have them in stock.

It’s a shop that’s easy to feel at home in, partly because it is an old house turned storefront, the bookstore occupying what must’ve been three bedrooms before. But it’s also Bailey’s warm personality that may make you feel like you’re at a friend’s house, browsing her book collection as she tells you about her favorites.

That’s something you can’t get at a big box store.

And while Bailey hopes it’s the books and the homey vibe that keep you coming back, there’s also a pot of coffee, which doesn’t hurt.

Heart & Soul Books opens this weekend on Feb 12 and 13, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. They are located at 5970 Linglestown Rd., Harrisburg, on the second floor. For more information or to order books online, visit their website or Facebook page.

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Harrisburg’s Federal Building to become upscale apartments, restaurants, bars, says purchaser

February 11, 2022 | by Lawrance Binda

The Federal Building in downtown Harrisburg

An international investor who recently bought a landmark downtown Harrisburg building says he has plans to turn it into an apartment and nightlife complex.

In an email to TheBurg, Justin Etzin, principal of Global Ocean Investments Ltd., said that he plans to transform the Ronald Reagan Federal Building into “The Federal,” a 288-unit “luxury” apartment building.

“The ex-Federal building sits at the corner point of the Pennsylvania Capitol Complex in Harrisburg and offers spectacular views across the city,” said Etzin, founder and CEO of Global Ocean Investments, which is based in the Seychelles, an island nation in the Indian Ocean. “We aim to create the most desirable residential address in Harrisburg with cutting edge separate facilities you would normally see in an international five-star hotel.”

The company’s website lists several other projects, including one in the Bahamas.

In the email, Etzin said that he is a Seychelles diplomat currently serving as a special envoy, having previously carried out three terms as his country’s consul general/tourism ambassador in New York.

Under the name RRF Building LLC, Etzin bought the 56-year-old, 251,000-square-foot modernist structure for $10 million from the U.S. government in a sale that closed last week.

On Thursday, TheBurg reported that the building was immediately back on the sales market, at a price of $22 million.

Etzin confirmed that the building is listed for sale. However, he characterized the listing as “standard practice” while he brings investors on board and gets the project underway.

“It is a standard practice to list all buildings for sale whilst the project is in planning and development stage,” he stated. “Quite often, our projects attract other investors who partner with us or buy out the project. However, the project will continue in its current concept and continue to develop whilst planning and zoning permissions are achieved.”

Etzin said that he expects to begin the project once the federal government vacates the building.

Currently, the U.S. General Services Administration is putting the finishing touches on the new federal courthouse, which is expected to open later this year at N. 6^th and Reily streets in Midtown Harrisburg. Other federal government agencies with workers based in Harrisburg also will need to move to new offices.

Etzin said that he plans a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom units for the building at 228 Walnut St. In addition, the building will feature two restaurants and two bars, he said.

“This development will be a first for Harrisburg with a concept for a rooftop with two restaurants and ‘The Sky Bar’ which can be accessed up via a panoramic elevator directly to the roof terrace or straight down to the former court rooms which will house an incredible restaurant and below a speakeasy bar ‘the boiler room,’ which is located deep in the caverns of this former Federal building,” he said.

The plan also includes a health club, co-working space and a rooftop pool, he said.

“The roof level will feature an outdoor negative edge rooftop heated pool with two very special restaurants—one with an internationally acclaimed Michelin Star chef to create a fine dining experience and one being an upmarket casual restaurant with one of Harrisburg’s top existing restaurants moving into the space,” he said.

The project, he said, should be completed in 2024 or 2025.

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