Tag Archives: Gary Bartlett

HMAC Sale Complete: Venue now under new ownership, renovations to begin

May 23, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

New at HMAC: General Manager Patrick Hite and co-owner Chris Werner

The House of Music, Arts & Culture (HMAC) has sold, as a new ownership group closed this morning on a $6 million deal.

Business partners Chuck London, Chris Werner and Javier Diaz, under an entity called HMAC Venue LLC, now own the sprawling Midtown arts, entertainment, restaurant and bar complex.

“This has always been my favorite venue, so this is the fulfillment of a dream,” said Werner, a Dover, Pa., resident who also owns Lifetime of Autographs, a celebrity and music memorabilia business.

Werner has been an investor in HMAC for almost two years, he said.

Co-owner London, a long-time NBCUniversal executive, was a founding partner of the original HMAC corporate entity, Bartlett, Traynor & London. Last year, that company declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy following a social media firestorm directed at the venue, which the owners said substantially harmed their business.

The third partner, Javier Diaz, owns Wings Air Helicopters, a New York-based helicopter charter company, said John Traynor, part of the former ownership group.

The $6 million price tag covers everything at HMAC: the real estate, the décor, the liquor license, etc., Werner said. Originally, the sale was expected to close in early June, as per the sales agreement filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court, but was moved up by about two weeks.

As a new owner, Werner said that he often will be on site at HMAC and will take the lead in booking bands and scheduling other events. A new general manager, Patrick Hite, formerly with Appalachian Brewing Co. in Harrisburg, will run the venue’s day-to-day operations, Werner said.

“I’ve been coming to HMAC for 10 years, and I’ve always held this place in high regard,” Hite said. “The opportunity here is endless.”

HMAC, on the 1100-block of N. 3^rd Street, occupies a 34,000-square-foot building that housed the original Harrisburg Jewish Community Center and then the Harrisburg Police Athletic League. It had been long empty and increasingly blighted when HMAC’s founders bought it from the Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority for $153,000 in late 2007.

Years of renovation followed. In 2009, the first performance space and bar opened, the 300-person capacity Stage on Herr on the lower level, followed by a restaurant, bar and arts space on the main level, and then the expansive Capitol Room, which can accommodate as many as 1,500 people, on the upper level.

The new owners plan even more renovation work. In late 2017, HMAC received a $1 million state Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) grant, which conveyed with the sale. It now will finance the renovation of the basement level into a third performance space, which will accommodate about 600 patrons, and the construction of a rooftop deck, among other projects, Werner said.

Traynor said, that while he no longer manages HMAC, he would stay on to oversee the construction, which is expected to take four to six months. The project is being led by Bret Peters of the Harrisburg-based Office for Planning and Architecture, and Jonathan Thomas, owner of the Harrisburg-based Smarter Design Group, Traynor said.

For his part, Traynor said that he was “delighted” with the completion of the deal, saying that he and his husband, Gary Bartlett, were proud of what they had accomplished.

“We built wonderful foundations,” he said. “I’m really excited and happy for the possibilities that HMAC has now.”

Werner said that he wants to build upon that foundation, substantially increasing the number of shows and events at HMAC. He also hopes to reestablish the trust and patronage of people who may have become estranged from the venue over the years.

“Now is the time that we have to get the community to come back,” he said.

Hite agreed.

“At its essence, the experience guests will feel will be as welcoming as it’s always been but even more so,” he said.

HMAC is located at 1110 N. 3^rd St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit www.harrisburgarts.com.

HMAC Sale Pending: Harrisburg arts venue to change ownership, exit bankruptcy

May 1, 2019 | by Lawrance Binda

A new ownership group is acquiring HMAC.

A major arts and entertainment venue in Harrisburg is poised to exit bankruptcy, in a move that promises to bring significant change to the House of Music, Arts & Culture (HMAC).

Judge Henry W. Van Eck, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, has approved the sale of the sprawling Midtown venue, its liquor license and other assets for $6 million to a new partnership called HMAC LLC. This will enable the current controlling entity—Bartlett, Traynor & London—to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The sale is expected to close in early June.

Chuck London, a founding HMAC partner, is a minority owner in the new entity. His founding co-partners, Gary Bartlett and John Traynor, will have no ownership in the new company.

“I feel we’re at a turning point with the promise of a new beginning,” London said, in a telephone interview. “We need to take all the lessons we’ve learned from the past and make them our future.”

Bartlett, Traynor & London LLC entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy last August following a loss of business that Traynor blamed on a social media firestorm directed at the venue. He also said that the bankruptcy filing would allow the company to reorganize its finances in preparation for a sale.

According to court documents, a sales agreement was reached in January, with the sale order approved in late March. Right now, the sale is scheduled to close on June 6.

Once the transaction is complete, Traynor said that he will step down as the day-to-day manager of HMAC, which, until a rebranding, was known as the Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center. He expects to stay on for about six months to help with the transition and to help supervise a period of construction.

That construction will include the renovation of the basement level into a third music space, a rooftop deck and a “major facelift” to the front of the building, Traynor said. Much of the construction will be funded with a $1 million state Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) grant that HMAC received in late 2017, he said.

“Now that we have new ownership, it’s going to be a bright new future for this building and for this community,” Traynor said.

In late 2007, Traynor, Bartlett and London purchased the former Harrisburg Jewish Community Center and Police Athletic Club building from the Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority. At the time, the sprawling, 21,000-square-foot building had been long abandoned and was badly blighted.

A lengthy, costly renovation followed that eventually yielded the Stage on Herr bar and performance space on the lower level, a restaurant and bar on the main level and the spacious Capitol Room upstairs.

“This project was key to the redevelopment and transformation of Midtown,” Traynor said. “Everyone said I was crazy. Everyone said that this project shouldn’t happen.”

London, a long-time executive with NBCUniversal Media who lives in Los Angeles, said that he planned to spend much more time in Harrisburg under the new partnership, which includes Christopher Werner, a Dover, Pa., resident who owns a sports memorabilia company.

“We’ll be able to bring to the community something that we haven’t been able to before,” London said. “We have to make this a smooth and functional and polite and wonderful experience not just for us, but for everyone.”

A new general manager, he said, will be hired who can “make [HMAC] even more of a success than in the past.”

“It’s going to be new ownership, and that means that new thinking will be brought to the process,” London said.

For his part, Traynor said that he and Bartlett will continue to live on their farm in Perry County, but also may live part-time in Italy, where they’re eyeing another rehabilitation project.

“We’re going to take the time and find a new project that we enjoy,” he said.

The House of Music, Arts & Culture (HMAC) is located at 1110 N. 3^rd St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit www.harrisburgarts.com.

Burg Review: Boxer Charles Feathers opens knock-out exhibit at HMAC

March 17, 2019 | by Robert MacGinnes

It was only fitting that the old Police Athletic League (PAL) building was the backdrop for bantamweight Charles Feathers’ art show at the House of Music, Arts and Culture (HMAC) for 3rd in the Burg on Friday.

Feathers (pictured left) shook the very foundation with his show, which defied description. Everything from stylized ray guns to an apocalyptic wedding dress–including his signature “Bootleg” creations, presented in a no-holds-barred, knock ’em to the canvas style–made for a singular art exhibit.

Before venturing to the upstairs gallery, a laid back jazz duo put down an extra chill vibe on slide trombone and keyboards. The duo, Jim McFalls and Steve Rudolph, respectively, set the tone for a Mardi Gras ambiance in the downstairs bar and restaurant. As a visual backdrop behind them, hand-painted boxing gloves in a nod to the old PAL were on display.

A decade ago, the PAL building was reincarnated as HMAC and, preceding that, it housed the Jewish Community Center. Just off the elevator upstairs, an oversized, multi-colored yarn llama, replete with a cobalt blue saddle and gold suede harness, set off alarms for the riot of color alone. The police, one felt, could have been called in to save “the jumper,” an outsized plaster zebra (10 feet tall) as it perched precariously atop a questionable ledge while hanging onto a wedding veil in one hoof. Behind it was the aforementioned wedding dress with “burnout” patterns from a futuristic nuptial scene.

Otherworldly creations from Feathers included a metal-winged motorcycle jacket fit for a biker angel emblazoned with the “Bootleg” stamp. In a different vein, suspended from the ceiling, was a twisted metal sculpture hoop festooned with peacock feathers. In promoting the “feather fantasy,” Feathers made metal viewing glasses (sans lenses) adorned with peacock plumes outrageously placed across the frames or spinning out of control, extending the temples well beyond the wearer’s head. All the better to view “Planet Charlie” up close.

Artist and HMAC co-owner Gary Bartlett added three installations on the upstairs stage that complemented the avant garde work of Mr. Feathers. One installation spanned across either end of the stage, comprised of air duct vent tubes lit inside with multi-colored bulbs, giving the effect of an underground happening entitled, “American Dream/American Nightmare,” depending on the viewer’s point of view. Bartlett added two separate mannequin forms—one featured pieces from a shredded red Japanese lantern and gauzy material, and the companion piece was a torso adorned with scrabble letters.

What Feathers references in his “Bootleg Creations” is the imprimatur shark, which, in large part, is a tribute to the long-time collaboration with his dearly departed friend and co-creator, Dan Kalbach. Feathers carries on his legacy through the many iterations of “Bootleg,” an artistic genre in its own right.

What makes the body of work represented in Feathers’ oeuvre is the skill presented in diverse media—a potter, a sculptor, a photographer and, most of all, a visionary from another realm. His art is best seen and appreciated up close with clear eyes and an open mind. Whimsy is a large part of Feathers’ lexicon but so is romance and fantasy. All of this together makes Feathers a knockout artist. The evening was a TKO.

Be sure to view Feathers and Bartlett’s works at HMAC through April 17, before it leaves its orbit headed to another solar system.

The House of Music, Arts and Culture is located at 1110 N. 3^rd St., Harrisburg. For more information, visit www.harrisburgarts.com.

Following online outrage and revenue hit, HMAC files chapter 11 bankruptcy as a prelude to sale

September 6, 2018 | by Lizzy Hardison

The House of Music, Arts & Culture in Midtown Harrisburg

One month after a sexual assault allegation engulfed the House of Music, Arts & Culture (HMAC) in a social media maelstrom, its owners have filed for bankruptcy and plan to sell their business.

HMAC (formerly the Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center) will continue its normal operations as its owners restructure debt obligations to more than three dozen creditors, said John Traynor, who owns HMAC with his husband, Gary Bartlett, and two other partners.

Their company, Bartlett, Traynor & London LLC, last week filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. They believe that they have a buyer for the business, according to the filing documents. HMAC listed more than $5 million in total assets, chief among them the sprawling, historic building at 1110 N. 3^rd Street.

Traynor hopes to transition to new management and ownership by 2019.

“This allows us to reorganize, take a breath, and work with creditors,” Traynor said. “I think HMAC could use a fresh start, and Chapter 11 will help facilitate that.”

Traynor and his partners have developed HMAC for a decade and, in 2009, opened the first phase, Stage on Herr, a bar and concert venue. In all, they’ve since spent millions of dollars renovating the 34,000-square-foot property, which served as the city’s Jewish Community Center starting in 1924 and later housed Harrisburg’s Police Athletic League.

Today, HMAC comprises three separate performance venues, as well as a full-service bar and kitchen. It hosts shows by local and national performance artists, corporate events, weddings and community gatherings.

According to Traynor, it’s one of the largest privately funded development projects in Midtown Harrisburg.

Crimes and Consequences

Traynor said that that HMAC’s finances were healthy until July, when an HMAC customer claimed that she was drugged inside the bar and later beaten and raped. On social media, she said that HMAC’s staff failed to recognize her as a victim of date rape drugs and left her vulnerable to her attacker when they asked her to leave the bar.

She posted those allegations on HMAC’s public Facebook page on July 28 and deleted them within an hour, Traynor said.

But a screenshot of her post, along with a sensational article from the Philadelphia-based site YC.news, circulated in other online community groups. A conversation in the Midtown Harrisburg Facebook group generated hundreds of comments from people both excoriating and defending HMAC.

The Harrisburg Police Bureau investigated the woman’s assault and quickly debunked her allegations against HMAC. Chief information officer Gabe Olivera told the press that the woman left the bar premises with her attacker, voluntarily, after it closed. The assault occurred later that night in a home in Uptown Harrisburg.

Michael Ray Wright was charged with the woman’s rape on July 30. But Olivera said that HMAC could not have prevented the assault.

“We were totally vindicated by the police,” Traynor said.

He said the claims that the bar mishandled the incident were the work of “disgruntled ex-employees who work for a competing venue.”

The accusation sparked a firestorm nonetheless. Traynor says that the woman’s refuted allegations were “conflated” with other grievances against him and his business.

On Facebook, some community members said that reports of racism, predation and poor working conditions at HMAC long ago led them to boycott the establishment. Traynor denies their claims wholesale.

“I’ve heard them all,” he said. “I’ve heard that I’m a sexual predator, that I drug people, that I cultivate a [bad] culture, but it’s so ridiculous. Some of the people that are maligning me worked for me for seven, eight years. I think they don’t understand the ramifications of what they’re doing. The whole advent of social media and how easy it is to pile on and make false statements is a new phenomenon.”

John Traynor, inside HMAC, from December 2017

Traynor admits that Stage on Herr had a freewheeling reputation in its early days but said that HMAC’s management became more professional as the business grew. He claims he didn’t take the social media “bashing” personally.

But he said he won’t forgive the critics who allegedly contacted national booking agents and convinced bands to back out of HMAC gigs.

In all, the firestorm cost HMAC a dozen shows and some $200,000 in revenue, Traynor said.

“We were operating on cash flow, and our cash flow was severely impacted,” Traynor said.

Under Chapter 11, HMAC will be able to rebuild its events calendar and renegotiate debt payment schedules, Traynor said. He said that the company did not have any problems fulfilling its debt obligations until recently.

In the coming weeks, Traynor said, HMAC’s owners will also prepare a case against a dozen people who he claims defamed the business and interfered with its performance contracts.

He said that he and his partners have collected evidence to press charges for tortious interference of contract – the act of intentionally damaging a business agreement and causing financial harm.

Traynor said that the Dauphin County District Attorney’s Office is investigating the claims of interference. That office could not be reached for comment on Wednesday.

He expects that a dozen people could be named in a civil complaint.

“They’ll all pay,” Traynor said. “They can’t do what they did without consequences.”

Not Going Away

It’s unlikely that HMAC’s patrons will notice that the business has filed for bankruptcy.

Filing under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy law grants debtors temporary relief from liabilities while they reorganize their assets. Unlike a Chapter 7 filing, it does not mean that the business will liquidate and close.

“A company doesn’t have to be insolvent to file for bankruptcy,” said Juliet Moringiello, an associate dean and bankruptcy law expert at Widener University Law School. “Chapter 11 was designed as a process for a company with a good business model to pare down its debts and renegotiate contracts.”

According to bankruptcy filings, HMAC has less than $10 million in liabilities. The documents indicate that the company will be able to pay its debts in full once it emerges from restructuring.

Twenty of HMAC’s creditors – including business vendors and utility providers — are unsecured, meaning they wouldn’t be guaranteed money in a liquidation. Peggy Grove Enterprises is the largest unsecured creditor, with $170,000 invested in the project.

The City of Harrisburg is a secured creditor due to its status as a taxing entity, according to city Solicitor Neil Grover. Property records show that HMAC owes $19,000 in local property taxes, including $4,700 to the city of Harrisburg and more than $11,000 to the Harrisburg School District.

Even though a Chapter 11 filing may indicate that a business is in distress, it usually doesn’t hamper its services, Moringiello said. She pointed to America’s airline industry as an example.

“Every legacy airline in America has filed Chapter 11, but as far as passengers are concerned, the planes keep flying,” Moringiello said. “Filing for bankruptcy doesn’t mean a company is going away.”

That’s good news to Jeb Stuart, a lifelong Harrisburg-area resident and preservation advisor to the Historic Harrisburg Association. He said that HMAC’s multi-use spaces have enriched Midtown Harrisburg and preserved an important historic structure.

“It’s very contemporary and animated and innovative,” Stuart said. “To have a space for public assembly with a huge auditorium and stage capabilities, that’s a major contribution to North 3rd Street.”

Traynor said that HMAC will continue its normal program of musical shows, weddings, corporate events and fundraisers through the end of the year. But its owners are also planning new projects.

The project received a $1 million state Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) grant in December, which will finance infrastructure improvements. Traynor hoped to use the money to expand the Capitol Ballroom and refurbish the basement to accommodate a music school.

He insists that the grant is the only public money HMAC has received.

Traynor said he wants to see HMAC endure for years to come, which is one reason he wants to find it a new owner, he said. He hopes that the restructuring under Chapter 11 will facilitate a sale.

“What I would hate to see is for this project to close,” Traynor said. “We put a lot of money and sweat equity into it, and now it’s time for a transition.”

The owners’ desire to sell pre-dates the social media firestorm, Traynor said. They’ve been negotiating with national entertainment agencies for the past three months, he said.

HMAC’s assets include more than $5 million in property, $44,000 of inventory and approximately $22,000 in accounts receivable, according to its bankruptcy filings.

Among those assets are HMAC’s liquor license, which it will defend in a Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board hearing later this month.

The PLCB put HMAC under a conditional licensing agreement (CLA) in 2014. It placed additional requirements on HMAC’s license, namely that the owners install soundproofing systems and perform additional security checks every night.

Traynor said that the CLA arose from noise complaints. He is confident that the business will retain its license after the hearing.

He also denied that the PLCB hearing had any influence on the decision to file for bankruptcy.

If the PLCB yanks the license, however, the value of HMAC’s assets would depreciate significantly, Moringeillo said. She thinks it unlikely that the Chapter 11 filing will influence the PLCB’s decision.

Wednesday, Sept. 6: This article was edited to correct the name of a Philadelphia-based news site. It is YC.news, not YC.com.

H*MAC, Rising: Once near extinction, a restored Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center surges back with a casual restaurant, a new performance space and a re-energized mission.

June 1, 2015 | by M. Diane McCormick

The developers of the Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center see an unfilled niche in the city’s entertainment scene.

H*MAC partner Michael Giblin sees it when, in his life as a bass player, he tours nationwide with musicians from such revered bands as R.E.M. and Wilco. Lisa White, the Washington, D.C.-based booker brought on to fill the Lazarus-like space, also saw it when she drove down 2^nd Street late one night and stopped for young drunks lurching in front of her car.

That niche is the responsible, grown-up crowd, hungry for a night out that doesn’t end in a drunken blur. White knew that mature types would want “to hang out in Midtown where there are more adult things to do, and more art-related things to do, whether it be visual art or musical art or film.”

“Every city has their area where the younger people go to just be drunk, and they have other places where people can go who don’t want to be part of that, and that’s what Midtown Harrisburg is going to be,” she says.

H*MAC, rescued five times from the sheriff’s sale list, has been restored to life. A financing deal in October 2014 finally provided the infusion to capitalize on the whole, historic building and not just the funky, existing Stage on Herr.

Giblin says he became “organically involved” with the project, moving from frequent customer to hands-on partner with John Traynor, Gary Bartlett and Chuck London. Traynor is the British import who wandered off I-81 to check out Harrisburg and fell in love with the possibilities at the former Police Athletic League building at 1110 N. 3^rd Street.

But the dream collided with the recession, and H*MAC’s tribulations were front-page news. Today, the partners are about $4 million into the total $5 million project, and the end is in sight, says Giblin. Here’s what to expect in the new, ADA-compliant H*MAC:

Stage on Herr, rebranded as Herr Street Stage, continues hosting fun and up-and-coming acts. Even in the darkest days, the success of this space helped pay the bills.

The spectacular upstairs ballroom becomes the Capital Room. With capacity up to 1,100, it’s a configurable venue worthy of hosting name music acts, weddings, galas, fundraisers and dances.

The Kitchen at H*MAC opened May 15, serving fast-casual, but not like Chipotle. These are “gourmet-ish,” PA Preferred, Southern-inspired, chef-prepared dishes, Giblin says. The H*MAC partners signed on the Delaware restaurant consultant behind Troegs Brewing Co.’s breakout tasting room and snack bar to create the concept.

What else? Maybe a dance club in the basement. Maybe a bar on the rooftop. That’s in the next phase, so we’ll have to wait and see. The idea isn’t just about expanding the space but “bringing a whole new concept to the landscape,” says Giblin.

“We’re going to be a one-stop shopping event for your evening out,” he says. “You can come and eat, either before or between the show, you can go to the show upstairs, and then you can hang out in the night club afterwards.”

There’s that grown-up thing. H*MAC belongs to the Destination Midtown coalition striving for the eclectic go-to neighborhood that Harrisburg pines for. He remembers the days of the “I saw your mama on 3^rd Street” taunts. Now, he sees a turnaround because a few smart folks bought low during the recession and are dreaming high.

“All of those wonderfully hidden architectural gems were sitting there, waiting to blossom,” he says.

Giblin envisions a “middle class of acts” coming to H*MAC from the “rich catalog that appeals to the over-30 crowd or the cottage industry of artists that makes a living playing live.”

That’s where Lisa White comes in. She has been booking spaces and consulting since the 1980s. She signed on with H*MAC because she saw the “little renaissance” of artistic variety in Midtown and recognized the need for touring acts and events in a wide-open space.

White says she won’t sign any artists to the Capital Room until renovations are wrapping and an opening date is clearly in sight.

“The last thing we want to do is move a confirmed show that someone has routed a tour around,” she says.

But she’s been planting the seed among managers. At this year’s South by Southwest music festival, her descriptions of this new venue in a city just off a major highway got their attention. She and other buyers are conversing about an I-81 music corridor, where acts can find eager audiences city by city.

“They can’t go up and down the I-95 corridor all the time,” she says. “You can only play those markets a certain amount of times before you start having diminishing returns. Bands are on the road more because they’re not getting any revenue from the recorded product, so they need to find places where they can perform and do well.”

Enter Harrisburg. There will be an experimentation period in booking the Capital Room, finding what delights Harrisburg, whether it’s Scandinavian black metal or swing dance lessons on the ballroom’s wooden floor.

“That’s part of the adventure of it,” White says. “You don’t know these things, and you can’t know these things, and you just gotta try it and see what works.”

The Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center (H*MAC) is located at 1110 N. 3^rd St., Harrisburg. For the latest updates and scheduled acts, visit www.harrisburgarts.com or the Facebook page: Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center.

The Kitchen at H*MAC is open Monday to Thursday, 4 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Friday, 4 p.m. to midnight; Saturday, 11 a.m. to midnight; and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

October News Digest

October 29, 2014 | by Lawrance Binda

Treasurer Turmoil Continues

Harrisburg’s newly appointed treasurer stepped aside last month after the city learned that he had filed for personal bankruptcy.

City Council selected accountant Timothy East in late September to fill the post left vacant following the resignation of former city Treasurer John Campbell. East was one of six applicants deemed qualified for the office and one of four ultimately nominated by members of council.

East did not reveal the 2011 bankruptcy during his interview before council. The issue arose later when he needed to be bonded for the job. He was never sworn in.

The city now must re-start the process of selecting a city treasurer.

Campbell resigned in early September following his arrest on charges of theft from two nonprofit organizations unaffiliated with the city. The new treasurer will fill out the remainder of Campbell’s term, which runs through next year.

Note: An October news digest article about the city treasury incorrectly attributed a comment to the controller’s office, saying the office had reviewed the treasurer’s books and “found no anomalies.” To date, the controller’s review of treasury, involving questionnaires about treasury’s internal controls, has not yet been completed.

Arborist Position Created

Harrisburg soon will have someone looking after its trees, as City Council approved the new position of arborist.

The post, which will pay no more than $50,000 a year, including benefits, will be funded by the city’s Host Municipality Benefit Fee Fund, money that Harrisburg receives for being the host site of a regional waste facility, namely the incinerator now owned and operated by the Lancaster Solid Waste Management Authority.

The arborist will help ensure the health of the city’s extensive tree canopy. Among the arborist’s first jobs: the removal of about 200 dead trees identified in the city’s recently completed tree inventory.

In addition to hiring an arborist, City Council approved other administration priorities for the Host Fee Fund: $55,000 for a portable road salt shelter; $32,000 for liners for several leaking trash trucks; and $25,000 for charges relating to the city’s comprehensive plan.

Before the allocation, the city’s Host Fee account totaled about $400,000, according to Bill Cluck, chairman of city’s Environmental Advisory Council. The city should receive another $100,000-plus into the fund soon, said Cluck.

The city receives $1 for every ton of trash processed at the facility. The money then is set aside for environmental projects.

Mayor Eric Papenfuse admitted that the spending from the Host Fee Fund had been ad hoc this year. However, he said he would propose a 2015 budget that will set priorities for use of the monies going forward.

School Resource Officers Urged

Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse last month urged the city school district to reinstate the school resource officer program, saying it would help make the student environment safer.

The administration has drafted a proposal for rebooting the program, which was suspended several years ago by the school district for budgetary reasons. The administration’s proposal would cost about $500,000 a year, the cost borne by the district.

He made the proposal following the sexual assault last month of a student just a block away from Harrisburg High School. He reiterated it after four teenagers, including three high school students, were arrested for allegedly trying to hold up two state assemblymen on a Midtown street, an altercation that resulted in gunfire between the suspects and the lawmakers.

Collection Agency Hired

Harrisburg last month agreed to hire a collection agency to recover some of the back business taxes and fees owed to the city.

City Council voted unanimously to engage Pittsburgh-based eCollect Plus to collect delinquent taxes such as the business privilege tax, business license fee, mercantile tax, zoning review fee, health license fee, amusement tax and parking tax.

The company’s fee will range from 20 to 25 percent of the amount recovered. However, it must recover at least $376,000, which is 10 percent of the city’s average business and mercantile tax collections over the past three years, to receive any compensation.

eCollect specializes in tax collections for Pennsylvania municipalities. Its client list includes Chester, McKeesport and Hanover Township.

HMAC Gets Funding

After years of trying to secure financing, the owners of the Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center have received the funding that they believe will allow them to complete the renovation of the expansive arts space.

Michael Giblin, an HMAC principal, confirmed that he and his partners—John Traynor, Gary Bartlett and Chuck London—closed on financing that will allow them to add a restaurant, a 700-person entertainment space and a rooftop bar to the building at N. 3^rd and Herr streets. The restaurant will be designed and managed by Rehoboth Beach, Del.-based Highwater Management.

HMAC opened in 2009 with a single entertainment space and bar called Stage on Herr. However, the project remained uncompleted after hitting funding snags as banks scaled back lending in the wake of the financial crisis. The facility has been on the sheriff’s sale list numerous times over the past five years, though was never publicly auctioned.

The century-old building was originally Harrisburg’s Jewish Community Center. It later housed the city’s Police Athletic League. It had sat empty for many years before Traynor, Bartlett and London bought it from the Harrisburg Redevelopment Authority in late 2007.

SAM Opening Set

The Susquehanna Art Museum has set Jan. 16 for the opening of its new building in Midtown Harrisburg.

SAM will debut the 20,000-square-foot facility with an exhibit titled, “Open: Icons of Pop Art from Niagara University.” The show will feature art on loan from the university’s Castellani Art Museum, including works from such seminal mid-20^th century figures as Andy Warhol, Robert Indiana, Marisol and Roy Lichtenstein.

The new museum includes the original, fully renovated Keystone/Fulton bank building at N. 3^rd and Calder streets, plus an addition built in the former bank parking lot. It also will feature the Doshi Gallery for Contemporary Art, a sculpture garden and a new mural by Messiah College professor Daniel Finch.

For the past several years, SAM has been without a permanent home, mounting exhibits in a gallery in the State Museum. It long exhibited in the Kunkel building downtown before that building was redeveloped.

Enterline Appointed Chief

Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse last month named department veteran Brian Enterline as the new chief of the city’s Fire Bureau.

Enterline had been acting chief since his appointment a year ago by former Mayor Linda Thompson. He has served for 14 years with the department.

Heavy Equipment Bought

Harrisburg last month purchased two pieces of heavy equipment: one for road maintenance and the other for firefighting.

City Council approved the lease/purchase of a new Case 580 SN Loader Backhoe from Mechanicsburg-based Groff Tractor and Equipment. After a trade-in of an existing backhoe, the net sales price will be $47,425, amortized over 60 months.

Council also OK’d an intergovernmental agreement to buy a 1984 Sutphen Pumper Fire Engine from Swatara Township. The used pumper will cost $3,500.

Changing Hands

Adrian St., 2252: Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co. to E. Waters, $58,000

Adrian St., 2445: C. & T. Phillips to G. Goneste & G. Niguse, $70,000

Adrian St., 2459: M. Sopp to B. Rotta, $70,000

Barkley Lane, 2524: J. Paul to Codi Tucker, $53,200

Bellevue Rd., 2042: L. & S. Freeman to D. Miller & M. Heagy, $91,000

Brookwood St., 2610: Scottsdale Commercial Partners LP & Brickbox Enterprises Ltd. to University Park Plaza Corp., $230,000

Capital St., 1200: J. & D. Fuhrman to 8219 Ventures LLC, $70,000

Elder St., 821 & 808 S. 26^th St.: GR Sponaugle & Sons Inc. to AIS Property Management LLC, $939,500

Green St., 1900: WCI Partners LP to J. Bovender & J. Van Horn, $192,500

Green St., 1938: WCI Partners LP to I. Brea to O. Sanchez, $201,000

Green St., 2133: D. Ware to M. Brown, $40,000

Hale Ave., 420: V. Ly to Luckylan Properties LLC, $30,000

Harris St., 205: Arthur A. Kusic Real Estate Investments to J. Heinly, $100,000

Herr St., 256: C. Wilson to N. Hench & R. Wetzel Jr., $125,000

Hillside Rd., 109: L. & K. York to W. Morgan Jr. & A. Winans, $254,900

Hoffman St., 3133: S. Harvey to M. Sobkowski, $62,000

Hoffman St., 3235: Harrisburg Television Inc. c/o Allbritten Communications to WHTM Acquisitions LLC & Revac Inc., $598,400

Holly St., 1823: J. Johnson to S. & D. Fenton & Exit Realty Capital Area, $56,000

Hudson St., 1152: PA Deals LLC to Amboy MAA Properties LLC, $104,000

Kensington St., 2241: F. Marsico to L. Murphy, $40,500

Kensington St., 2400: M. Eck to R. Murphy, $49,000

Lewis St., 101: R. Alexander to T. Arora, $75,000

Market St., 2048: S. St. Clair Jr. to R. Monzon & L. Trinh, $35,000

North St., 216: E. & R. Maff to R. Lamberson, $75,000

N. 2^nd St., 1307: B. Winpenny to V. McCallum, $68,900

N. 2^nd St., 2101: JAD Development to SMKP Properties LLC, $229,000

N. 3^rd St., 1126: Cornerstone Realty Management LLC to BCG Holdings LLC & Lehman Property Management, $310,000

N. 3^rd St., 1200: Cornerstone Realty Management LLC to Keuka LLC & Lehman Property Management, $575,350

N. 3^rd St., 1626: C. Hoffman to C. Grilli, $119,000

N. 4^th St., 1630: PA Deals LLC to M. & J. Leahy, $48,000

N. 4^th St., 2032: M. Stransbaugh to A. & A. Gault, $81,000

N. 12^th St., 54: D. Schubert to J. Achenbach, $44,000

N. 19^th St., 43: Kirsch & Burns LLC to LMK Properties LLC, $52,669

N. Front St., 1525, Unit 202: C. Shoemaker to R. & A. Chappelka, $185,000

Reel St., 2719: J. Eby to E. Tilahun, $51,000

Reily St., 255: C. Ruegsegger & S. Kauffman to E. Harman, $139,000

S. 19^th St., 901: L. Zaydon Jr. to CSP Group LLP, $285,000

S. 19^th St., 1101: PA Deals LLC to Amboy MAA Properties LLC, $98,000

S. 27^th St., 701: Fannie Mae to A. Brinkley, $87,900

S. Cameron St., 535: J. Strohecker to Capitol City Holdings LLC, $175,000

Susquehanna St., 1622: D. Remm & E. Goshorn to R. & G. Harris, $116,000

Wilson Parkway, 2600: A. Sias Jr. & S. Gibbs to M. Cabrera, $50,000

Harrisburg property sales for September 2014, greater than $30,000. Source: Dauphin County. Data is assumed to be accurate.

Tag Archives: Gary Bartlett

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