The Week that Was: News and features around Harrisburg

December 20, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

Three partners of The Bridge discuss their development plans with our reporter.

Christmas is knocking and the year is winding down, which often means a last-minute rush of to-do items around Harrisburg.

That made this week especially hectic, as the city passed a 2020 budget, the school district made a big change and new players on the city’s redevelopment scene introduced themselves. As we do each week, we have all our local stories tied up in a nice package in case you missed any of our coverage.

Christmas for Italian-American families traditionally has included a meal called “The Feast of the Seven Fishes.” Our food writer Rosemary offers a twist on that tradition in her monthly column and recipe.

Clear toy candy is a traditional way to celebrate Christmas in central PA. The craft may have gone out of style, but there are still a few Harrisburg-area candy-makers who are keeping the tradition alive. Read our feature story from the December issue.

Forster Street in Harrisburg is a menace to pedestrians, necessitating immediate action by PennDOT. So says TheBurg’s editor in an editorial that urges PennDOT to understand its obligation to both pedestrians and motorists. Read his plea here.

Harrisburg passed a balanced budget that does not raise taxes but will result in higher pay for police and faster debt relief for the city. The budget process lacked the drama of many past years as the administration and City Council agreed on budget priorities. Click here to read the details.

Harrisburg school district is making a change at the top, as the acting superintendent is stepping down, but not without taking a parting shot at the former administration and a key state legislator. Find out why he’s leaving and who’s replacing him in our online news story.

A medical marijuana dispensary can proceed with construction on Allison Hill after a split City Council approved its development plan. Council also OK’d the building plan for an AutoZone store in Uptown Harrisburg. Read the details here.

Open Stage has undergone a complete transformation with a recent renovation of its downtown Harrisburg theater. Read our feature story then go pay them a visit to see a great holiday show.

Sara Bozich has your list of fun events for any free time you may have between last-minute holiday shopping trips this weekend. There are still many holiday options, as well as monthly favorites like 3^rd in the Burg.

State Museum of Pennsylvania has opened an exhibit on muralist Violet Oakley’s preparatory sketches for some of her work inside the state Capitol. Our fine arts blogger wrote about his recent visit.

The Bridge offered TheBurg a tour of the old Bishop McDevitt High School, where the development partners plan to begin building out work, community and living space. Check out our photo gallery to see what the building looks like before its pending transformation.

Whitaker Center recently opened up two newly reconstructed spaces: KidsPlace and the STEM Design Studios. Find out why these improvements were made to the 20-year-old downtown Harrisburg arts center in our feature story.

Do you receive TheBurg Daily, our daily digest of news and events delivered right to your inbox? If not, subscribe here!

Harrisburg school district names Chris Celmer as acting superintendent

December 19, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

Starting Jan. 1, Chris Celmer, right, will become acting superintendent of the Harrisburg school district, replacing John George, center.

The Harrisburg school district is making a change in its top leadership, as the acting superintendent is stepping down.

Dr. John George announced this afternoon that he will leave his post on Jan. 1, replaced as acting superintendent by Chris Celmer, currently the assistant acting superintendent.

“[Celmer] has been here, on site everyday,” George said. “He has, for all practical purposes, already been serving as superintendent and I, more or less, have been serving as an advisor.”

The district receiver, Dr. Janet Samuels, affirmed that she approved Celmer’s promotion.

Celmer and George have worked together for about a decade, first at the Berks County Intermediate Unit and then at the Reading school district. George brought Celmer to Harrisburg as his second-in-command under Samuels, who was appointed school district receiver in June.

George said that he planned to serve full-time in his current post as executive director of the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit until September, when he would retire from that job to lead the Pennsylvania Association of Intermediate Units.

George and Celmer both said that they’ve worked to stabilize the district’s finances, hire competent personnel, instill a solid governing structure and make academic reforms since they arrived in late June. Going forward, the district will focus particularly on academic achievement, they said.

“I’m excited about the opportunity, and I’m very confident that we’ll continue to make great strides in the Harrisburg school district,” Celmer said.

In his final public statement, George again took swipes at two entities that he’s criticized in the recent past: the former leadership of the district, which he described as having a “perverse self-interest,” and PA House Speaker Mike Turzai, who has proposed a bill to give Harrisburg students vouchers to attend private schools.

“Harrisburg school district will be devastated for generations if Speaker Turzai’s ill-conceived voucher bill becomes law,” George said. “On the other hand, with proper governance and leadership, and the support and patience of elected officials, community members, parents and faculty, I foresee much better days ahead for the Harrisburg school district.”

In Pictures: The Bridge begins ambitious transformation of Bishop McDevitt

December 19, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

The old Bishop McDevitt High School is on the verge of a major transformation, and today the development team behind the project opened up the century-old building to TheBurg to speak about their plans.

We first learned last month about The Bridge and its partners—Garry Gilliam, Corey Dupree, Dezwaan Dubois, Rob DeJarnette and Jordan Hill. The old friends all know each other from their years at Milton Hershey School and/or Penn State, and Gilliam and Hill both had professional football careers.

You can read the story here about how they plan to create a multi-use complex that will include co-working, maker, event and community space, and, in the longer term, build out an eco-friendly live/work/play environment. The team also would like to purchase and transform the old William Penn High School in Uptown Harrisburg.

Please look for a magazine feature about the partners and their plans in our February issue. In the meantime, we wanted to share some pictures from Thursday, as the partners gave TheBurg a tour of the interior of the building.

As you can see below, the building needs major work, having been vacant since the Catholic diocese closed the high school in 2013. However, the partners expect to begin renovations soon for a 2020 opening of the first phase.

To learn more about The Bridge, you also can visit their website.

The Bridge partners Jordan Hill, Corey Dupree and Garry Gilliam speak to our reporter.

Garry Gilliam

Partners Dezwaan Dubois and Corey Dupree in the gym area, which will be transformed to community and event space.

The exterior

Main hallway

A classroom blackboard

The Bishop McDevitt mural

Tile surrounds a water fountain

The stage and gym

Fireplace in a classroom

Room 213

A major renovation is ahead for this dilapidated space

Weekend Roundup with Sara Bozich

December 19, 2019 | by Sara Bozich

Happy Weekend!

I’m starting the weekend at the GK Open House (join us!), then frantically trying to finish up all my Christmas shopping and wrapping. Getting my hair ‘did, visiting the Market, and hopefully relaxing for some football (JUST KIDDING, DEFINITELY NEED TO WRAP GIFTS) on Sunday.

What are you doing this weekend?

(more…)

Harrisburg Council approves building plans for dispensary, auto parts store

December 17, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

Rendering of the current vacant lot (left) and the medical marijuana dispensary (right).

Two contentious building projects are closer to breaking ground after their development plans were approved on Tuesday night by Harrisburg City Council.

City Council approved the land use plans for both a medical marijuana dispensary on Allison Hill and an AutoZone store in Uptown Harrisburg.

The dispensary generated the most criticism by council members, who passed the building plan by a slim 4-3 margin, with council members Ausha Green, Danielle Bowers and Shamaine Daniels voting against it.

Members who voted in favor stressed they did so not because they support the dispensary at 137 S. 17th St., but because the building plan itself met all city requirements, which was the issue at stake.

“The project is in compliance with all the city laws and regulations,” said Councilman Dave Madsen.

A company called WH RE LLC plans to build a 3,000-square-foot medical marijuana retail store directly across the street from Hamilton Health Center on what now is an empty lot.

About a year ago, the state Department of Health awarded a dispensary license to Local Dispensaries, a related company. City Council has no authority over licensing but had to approve the land use plan for the building.

Following the meeting, Green said that she voted against the plan to “send a message” that she was unhappy with a process that, she said, didn’t include neighborhood residents or take their concerns into account.

“I would like to see more community input even before the application gets to the state,” she said.

With the approval, WH RE LLC hopes to break ground on the facility in spring and estimates a four-month-long construction process, opening next autumn.

“I’m hoping the company will be good neighbors to the residents in the Allison Hill area,” said Bowers.

On Tuesday, council also approved the land development plan for AutoZone, a Memphis-based auto parts chain, to construct a new retail store at the corner of Maclay and N. 7th streets.

Some council members, as well as the city Planning Bureau, had objected to AutoZone’s original proposal for an access point off of N. 7th Street, saying it would create safety issues.

Since a hearing on the project two weeks ago, AutoZone had agreed to eliminate that driveway, leaving two others—one off of Maclay Street and the other from Peffer Street, Madsen said.

“We had multiple discussions regarding this resolution with the applicant,” he said.

Before it can break ground, AutoZone needs to return to council to have several streets vacated on the four-parcel, 1.13-acre site.

AutoZone made its original proposal to locate on the property, now owned by the Vartan Group, about 16 months ago. It is proposing a $935,280 project consisting of a 6,816-square-foot store and 37 off-street parking spaces.

2020 Harrisburg budget passes with no tax increase, more money for police, capital projects

December 17, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

Harrisburg City Council on Tuesday night

Harrisburg has passed a 2020 budget that spends more money on police salaries and debt reduction but does not raise taxes.

City Council on Tuesday night approved Mayor Eric Papenfuse’s proposed spending plan with no changes.

“I think this is a sign that the government is working well together,” Papenfuse said, following the meeting. “We worked very hard to be collaborative in the process.”

Councilman Ben Allatt, chair of the council’s budget and finance committee, concurred that this year’s budget process was a smooth one.

“We had a lively discussion [during the budget hearings],” he said. “I think there’s general agreement about the budget priorities going forward.”

Council voted 6-1 to approve the budget, with a lone “no” vote by council member Shamaine Daniels.

The proposed 2020 budget, which contains no city property tax increase for a seventh straight year, totals $120 million, which includes a $74.3 million general fund, a $17.5 million neighborhood services fund and a $15.3 million debt service fund.

In contrast, the city’s 2019 budget totals nearly $110 million, which includes a $70.8 million general fund, a $20.6 million neighborhood services fund and a $9.8 million debt service fund.

Papenfuse expects the city to run a 2019 surplus of about $1 million. He has attributed the surplus mostly to earned income taxes and business taxes that exceeded expectations, which indicates a healthy jobs climate in the city.

The city will use much of that surplus to increase salaries for police officers, with the hope that a pay boost will help the Police Bureau, which has long struggled with retention, keep its young officers.

In fact, on Tuesday, City Council also approved a new, six-year collective bargaining agreement with the police union to affirm the new pay schedule.

Under the agreement, the entry-level salary for a police officer will remain the same at almost $49,000 a year. However, an officer would be able to move up in pay quickly, so that officers, in year six, would be able to earn as much as $70,000—some $6,000 more than previously.

In all, the city hopes to add 10 to 15 officers to the force, bringing the personnel count to a budgeted 153 officers.

The police union contract didn’t expire for another year. However, the city opened it up early to create the new salary regimen.

“That will hopefully provide an improved retention for our police force,” Allatt said. “The long-term benefit will be good for the city.”

The budget also adds four firefighter positions, mostly paid for by reductions in overtime for existing staff. That would bring the Fire Bureau complement in 2020 to 86 total personnel, plus command staff.

Council also approved a resolution on Tuesday that will amend the city’s agreement with its bond insurer, Ambac Assurance Corp.

Under the agreement, the city will prepay $5 million in debt using its substantial reserve funds. With Harrisburg pre-paying, Ambac has agreed to a “multiplier” that would actually reduce city debt by $6.9 million, Papenfuse has said. He also said he would like to refinance existing general obligation debt that extends through 2022 at a lower interest rate.

The budget contained several other notable provisions.

First, the city and the school district have reached an agreement to split the cost of two school resource officers. The district’s SRO program expired in 2009 when funding dried up and was never renewed.

Papenfuse also is proposing renovating the first floor of the MLK city government center. Money for that work would come from federal Community Development Block Grant funds.

For 2020, the city is focusing on five capital improvement projects. These include:

Beginning the conversion of much of N. 2nd Street to two-way traffic.
A roundabout, improved crosswalks and a partially protected cycle track on N. 7th Street.
Road and curb improvements to the MulDer Square area.
Safety improvements to State Street on Allison Hill, pending cooperation and approval from PennDOT.
“East-West connector” project, which consists of improvements to the area around Walnut and Chestnut streets downtown, funded with a state grant.

These debt reduction and capital improvement measures will tap into the city’s substantial budget reserve balance, which now sits at about $24 million, saved up over the last several years. At the end of 2020, the city expects to draw down the reserve to about $15.6 million, Allatt said.

Burg View: Make Forster Safer

December 17, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

Forster Street in Harrisburg, 4 p.m. on Tuesday

The stories came to me on Facebook, through Twitter, via email and in person.

Last week, I told a harrowing story of nearly getting flattened while walking across Forster Street, Harrisburg’s dangerous mini-highway posing as a neighborhood street.

Apparently, this experience is not unique to me, as story after story poured in from people relating their own perilous journeys across Forster’s eight travel and parking lanes.

“This is the story of my life,” said one Facebook poster. “I’ve escaped getting hit by centimeters along Forster.”

Another wrote, “My husband’s office is on the corner of Forster and 2nd. Can’t tell you how many accidents he’s witnessed over the past 20 years. It’s a drag strip.”

Another reader, a bicyclist, decried the hazard at the foot of the Harvey Taylor Bridge, while several others mentioned nearly getting run over by cars speeding and running lights. Some told of actual accidents, both as pedestrians and motorists.

“I cross Forster every day,” one reader wrote. “It’s a crapshoot. State workers in a hurry just to get to the next red light will run you over and not think twice.”

I could go on and on and on, but you get the point.

Readers also had no end of suggestions over how to improve safety on Forster: better signage, reduced speeds, enforcement, an elevated pedestrian crossing. And, in past editorials, I’ve mentioned differentiated paving, bump-outs and a road diet, among other ideas.

But there seems to be one entity with no ideas—or at least no inclination to do anything about this menace. That’s the owner of the road, the only one that can improve safety on Forster Street and, for that matter, State Street—the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

Speaking with fellow city residents over the weekend, I mentioned that road infrastructure is a curious thing.

At a fixed point in time, let’s say the 1950s, perhaps it made sense to plow through a city neighborhood, lay down acres of asphalt and give our lives over to the automobile. After all, weren’t we all going to rocket to work in our jet-engine cars?

But, since then, things have changed. People want to live in cities again, including in Harrisburg, but they’re stuck in a weird time warp, with decisions made by people of another time and another way of thinking. Over 70 years, society has changed and advanced, but our road infrastructure hasn’t.

Certainly, city residents are willing to make reasonable accommodations for vehicles. Most own cars themselves. But they don’t want to be dominated or victimized by them either. They also want to be able to walk and bike and skateboard and scooter in a city with a more integrated transportation structure–and to do so safely. People shouldn’t have to fear for their lives just because they want to cross between Midtown and downtown Harrisburg.

Bizarrely, PennDOT, headquartered on Forster Street, can witness what’s happening right outside their offices. They literally can look out their building’s windows and see cars speeding and running lights, and sometimes crashing, on the vast, overbuilt asphalt expanse, as well as watch people running for their lives trying to cross it.

It is time for PennDOT to abandon its ‘50s-era obsession with moving traffic as fast as possible and adapt to the new urban reality. In cities, in Harrisburg, there must be a better, more equal and safer balance between auto and human.

Lawrance Binda is co-publisher/editor-in-chief of TheBurg.

Harrisburg gets set to ring in 2020 with fireworks, music, fun

December 17, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

New Year’s Eve in downtown Harrisburg includes a strawberry drop and fireworks. Photo: Explore HBG

Fireworks and the annual strawberry drop will ring in the New Year in downtown Harrisburg, as the calendar turns to 2020.

As in recent years, Market Square will be the center of activities for the city celebration.

Downtown, the fun begins at 9 p.m. with “Countdown to Kid-Night” activities inside the MLK City Government Center at 10 N. 2nd St. The free events include crafts, a balloon drop and a milk-and-cookies toast.

At 10 p.m., a DJ will set up outside for music and dancing, in preparation for the midnight drop of the giant strawberry from the top of the Hilton Harrisburg, followed by fireworks.

Aside from the city celebration, many restaurants and other venues are holding special New Year’s activities and menus.

“There are a number of New Year’s Eve events happening in the city,” said Mayor Eric Papenfuse. “From Gamut Theatre’s ‘Countdown to Noon’ family event to the Great Gatsby party at Rubicon featuring dining specials and performances, there is plenty of fun for all ages.”

For those driving in, the Market Square parking garage will offer a discounted parking rate of $10 from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m. Also, attendees can use the ParkMobile app to get up to four hours of free street parking using the “LUVHBG” code. Street parking also will be free after 5 p.m.

Motorists should be aware that, beginning at 6 p.m., 2nd Street from Chestnut Street to Walnut Street will be closed. Traffic will be permitted to enter the Market Square garage or detour west onto Blackberry Street if exiting the garage. Market Street from Front to 2nd streets also will be closed, in addition to 2nd Street from Market to Walnut streets.

“I would like to give special thanks to our title sponsor, Visit Hershey & Harrisburg,” Papenfuse said. “Without their support, we would not be able to put together this wonderful New Year’s Eve celebration.”

To learn more about New Year’s Eve activities in Harrisburg, visit ExploreHbg.com/NYE.

Bob’s Art Blog: A Gift for the Season

December 16, 2019 | by Bob MacGinnes

The entrance to the current State Museum exhibit.

Some of the best holiday gifts arrive early.

This one arrived right before Thanksgiving, and now the people of Harrisburg have the holiday season to open the big red bow. It is a wondrous package to be enjoyed by all. In honor of the 100th anniversary in 2020 of the 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote, the State Museum proudly unveiled “Picturing a More Perfect Union: Violet Oakley’s Mural Studies for the Pennsylvania Senate Chamber 1911-1919.”

Anyone who has toured the Capitol building is well familiar with the stunning murals Violet Oakley completed over a span of almost a quarter of a century. The sheer magnitude of her life’s crowning achievement has been seen by thousands of visitors in thrall to the beauty in word and picture from her brush. They are a testament to an artist and a woman of high ideals and lofty hopes for a world where peace would reign. The story of how the Capitol’s murals came to be under Oakley’s vision is a story of destiny and fate. Lightning does strike the same place twice.

It was the “Golden Age” of illustration. Her contemporaries, artists of inordinate skill, like her instructor at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, Howard Pyle, and world-renowned muralist, Edwin Austin Abbey, both were slated to decorate the walls and ceilings of the Pennsylvania State Capitol. Abbey had just completed four lunette murals under the dome of the Capitol Rotunda and one painting for the Senate Chamber when diagnosed with cancer. Pyle, pegged to take his place, died in Europe before even starting.

Oakley, the first female to receive a government mural commission, had already completed the panels for the Governor’s Reception Room five years earlier. Thus, undertaking the Senate Chamber murals fell to her. She called the new commission, “The need to pick up the threads and weave again,” finding it both a burden and a blessing. Her painstaking planning and detailed execution, as seen in her sketches, come alive in the dense and richly textured exhibit.

The main panel that opens the exhibit makes for a dramatic beginning with an overlaid photograph of Oakley and a full color rendering of the “Unity” mural. It creates the sensation of a book cover as one enters a portal going back in time to the artist’s studio and viewing her sketches firsthand.

The span of history the exhibit encompasses predates the passage of the 19th Amendment, which does not get ratified until months after Oakley’s completion of the Senate Chamber murals. This tumultuous era entails the war that shook the world, The Great War (World War I 1914-18). The United States entered it in its final year, dashing all hope for Oakley’s vision of world peace. Her feminism and vocal advocacy for peace formed the cornerstone for her murals, which embraced Quaker ideals that come across both through William Penn’s vision and those of Oakley’s. She was an artist of great conviction and was highly attuned to human suffering throughout history by all peoples.

If any one mural speaks volumes regarding her views it is “Unity,” the pinnacle of her work. The frieze is majestic in size and scope, running 46 feet long and nine feet high. In the exhibit, it is represented as a mural composite image. Three separate sketches take the viewer from its inception to its natural end incorporating gouache, watercolor, graphite and ink on paper and pastel and chalk on paper. Perhaps the apex of the exhibit is a tape recording made in 1955 accompanied by visual text to Oakley’s voice when she returned to the State Capitol to discuss her murals. Hearing her words today resonates even more deeply, given the state of our world. Oakley was and still is revered as a unique voice in championing women’s rights, a pioneer for other women no matter their field, as professional status was difficult to attain in a world dominated by a male hierarchy.

The State Museum of Pennsylvania, under a triumvirate of historians and curators, mounted this magnificent, multi-faceted exhibit. Preeminent Oakley scholar, Dr. Patricia Likos Ricci, provided expert advice for the exhibit. She has studied Oakley for more than 40 years and also is an art historian and professor at Elizabethtown College. Dr. Curtis Miner, the State Museum’s senior curator of history and Amy Hammond, fine arts curator, collaborated on the collections shown. Ricci interviewed Oakley’s life partner, Edith Emerson, who provided instrumental background to the thought process and attention to detail that Oakley brought to life in her sketches. Ricci was responsible in large part for bringing the Oakley sketches to the museum for inclusion. Beyond the art academics is the exhibit’s designer, Meghann Dekan, who transferred the Senate Chamber murals to wood panels framing the exhibit. They provide exact duplication to those Oakley executed in the Senate Chamber. Dekan orchestrated the constructs of the walls as well as the interpretive materials that accompany the exhibit.

The museum’s treasure of this exhibit is yours for the asking, a gift for all to be savored and enjoyed to its fullest. I cannot think of a better season to carry out Violet Oakley’s underlying wish for world peace. May you have the warmest of holidays.

“Picturing a More Perfect Union: Violet Oakley’s Mural Studies for the Pennsylvania Senate Chamber, 1911-1919,” runs through April 26 at the State Museum of Pennsylvania, 300 North St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit their website.

The Week that Was: News and features around Harrisburg

December 13, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda and Maddie Conley

Do you see what I see? Naturally, I’m referring to all of the stories that we published in the past week. In case holiday shopping caused you to miss some of our coverage, we have our weekly recap below.

Christian Life Assembly is a local church with a lot of talent. For 32 years, the Camp Hill congregation has mounted a grand holiday production, including this year’s “Christmas Wonderland” musical. Click here to find out what—and who—is on stage.

Cornerstone Coffeehouse is celebrating its silver anniversary as a gathering place and destination for the West Shore community. In our magazine feature, discover the story behind the popular café, as well as how the owners plan to celebrate.

East Uptown Front Porch Project aims to improve the look of N. 6^th Street in Harrisburg. In the meantime, the group is raising money for the springtime porch renovation project. Find out more about this impressive community effort from our online story.

Elementary Coffee Co. has a brand-new retail space in the city’s Capitol district. Have you been there yet? Our magazine feature tells the story of a dedicated entrepreneur, talented roaster and a great cup of coffee.

Flying J Truckstop is something of an institution around Carlisle. But did you know that there’s a hidden homeless problem centered around the truck stop? Read our feature story to find out about the issue and the people who are trying to help.

Home sales slipped but prices generally rose in the Harrisburg area last month. The Greater Harrisburg Association of Realtors came out with its monthly sales report, which showed something of a mixed bag for November. Our online story has the numbers.

Joe and Holly O’Connor were back in town last week for a reading from Joe’s newly published book of poetry. Appropriately, the reading was held at One Good Woman, which Holly founded and ran for many years. Our arts blogger was there to delight in the verse and the company.

Midtown Cinema will undergo a major upgrade starting in February, the cinema has announced. Harrisburg’s arthouse theater is getting a new façade, new outdoor space, interior renovations and a general refresh. Click here to learn more and see a rendering of the new exterior.

Sara Bozich sent out the official message: we’re entering peak Christmas season around Harrisburg. Find out what she’s doing—and you can do—this weekend with her long list of events and activities.

TheBurg’s editor nearly got mowed down crossing dangerous Forster Street in Harrisburg this past week. Fortunately, he lived to tell the tale in a blog post, which includes some choice words for PennDOT.

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