Tag Archives: harrisburg

Community Comment: Front Street Redesign Is “Ill-Conceived”

April 15, 2015 | by Ted Fridirici

Traffic moves along Front Street in Harrisburg. Starting next month, PennDOT will begin work to reduce the three-lane road to two lanes, with a bike lane, through much of Uptown and Midtown Harrisburg.

The mayor is to be applauded for efforts to make the city more livable and pedestrian-friendly. However, the proposed bike lane on Front Street is ill-conceived, if not downright dumb.

While I’m all for bicycle commuting, and used to do so frequently myself, why would anyone ride next to traffic when there is a perfectly good (safer, less exhaust-choked) bike path immediately adjacent to Front Street in Riverfront Park? The existing bike path is never so crowded that it justifies reducing the volume of Front Street.

If the city wants to promote bicycle commuting, it should consider working cooperatively with Camp Hill to remove the curb under the railroad underpass on the Camp Hill bypass and promote that as a convenient, direct path with nice, safe, wide shoulders, into the city from Camp Hill, a major West Shore-to-Harrisburg travel corridor. Or even better, work cooperatively with Linglestown, DEP and the Army COE to widen Riverfront Park to the north to Linglestown Road, thereby creating additional recreational space and opening up a convenient bicycle commuting corridor to the north.

Here’s what will likely happen. The bike lane in Front Street will sit empty while frustrated and stressed commuters and other travelers trying to get to I-83S will aggressively veer left onto Reily or Herr or other eastbound, narrow city streets and try to fight their way south around the now even more congested Front Street, all the while endangering Midtown and downtown pedestrians by doing so.

Why try to deny that people commute to and from Harrisburg? Before reducing the available volume by 33 percent, why not try a few traffic calming devices like raised pedestrian walkways or enforcing the speed limit on Front Street? Leave Front Street alone unless and until there are relatively convenient safe southbound routes out of the city.

Ted Fridirici
Former avid bicycle commuter and proud Midtown resident since 1998

Suds & Sandwiches: “Nano-Brewery” Proposed for Downtown Harrisburg

April 1, 2015 | by Lawrance Binda

A few tables at Crave and Co., where you soon may enjoy homemade soup and home-brewed beer.

A few tables inside Crave and Co., where you may one day enjoy homemade soup and home-brewed beer.

If you walk into Crave and Co. in downtown Harrisburg, you’ll be asked right away for your food and drink order–but you also may be asked for your signature.

Recently, owner Kristin Messner-Baker has been gathering signatures in support of a “nano-brewery,” a craft brewery that will produce no more than 1,000 gallons of beer a year.

If her effort is successful, her customers will be able to enjoy artisanal beer brewed on site in her snug café to go along with her menu of organic and vegetarian soups, sandwiches and salads.

“Harrisburg is undergoing a real Renaissance,” she said. “I think this would add to the excitement downtown.”

Tonight, Messner-Baker and her future brewer, Kristen Richards, are slated to make their case before the city’s Planning Commission, as they need a variance in order to set up a beer-making operation in the building’s basement. They also need the approval of the city’s Zoning Hearing Board.

Richards, who lives in Midtown, just blocks from Crave & Co., said that it’s been her dream to commercially produce beer, ever since she first was “bitten by the brewing bug” about 20 years ago.

She’s been active in local homebrew clubs and has entered many beer competitions, even winning the first-place prize for her pumpkin nut brown ale last fall at the Brewery at Hershey’s annual competition for home brewers.

“When people go to a bar, they ask for a craft beer menu,” said Richards. “This isn’t a fad anymore.”

Richards makes her beer in an all-in-one, automated brewing system, which she said she simply would relocate to the eatery’s basement.

That, however, may not happen for a while, even if the nano-brewery is approved this month by the city planning commission and zoning board. The empty basement must be outfitted for brewing, and the operation has to receive federal and state permissions, likely pushing its debut into early next year, said Richards.

Both Messner-Baker and Richards don’t believe that the tiny brewery will impact the immediate neighborhood, already home to several high-volume restaurants along the 600-block of N. 2nd Street. To start, Richards plans to brew just once a week.

The pair see a great fit between their products.

“We make everything with whole ingredients without sacrificing quality,” said Messner-Baker. “She has the exact same intentions with beer as we have with food.”

The women also share a love for Harrisburg and hope that the addition of a high-quality, small-batch brewery will bring more people into the city.

“We want to attract people into Harrisburg,” said Richards. “We really want to help make Harrisburg a destination point.”

Crave & Co. is located at 614 N. 2^nd St., Harrisburg. www.craveandco.com

A Beer & a Dream: Brandalynn and Theo Armstrong had a vision for a brewery in Midtown Harrisburg. With the help of the community, it’s come true.

March 31, 2015 | by Lawrance Binda

Brandalynn Armstrong sits on a high-backed bar chair and surveys the room with her eyes.

She motions to the orange-painted walls, to the space where local artists will display their works, to the windows into the brewhouse.

This was her dream.

This was the dream that she and her husband Theo spoke of nearly two years earlier when they first went public with their hope to open a microbrewery in Harrisburg.

“It will happen,” Brandalynn wrote in a Facebook post after a story entitled “Beer Ambition” appeared in TheBurg.

And, now, incredibly, it has.

This month, Zeroday Brewing Co. will open its doors, and the first thirsty, curious customers will stream in, ready to sample Theo’s artisanal quaffs, from blondes to stouts.

They will gather at the bar made of salvaged corrugated metal from a 100-year-old Perry County barn. They will sit at a counter ledge carved from locally sourced, reclaimed wood. They’ll huddle with friends at the dozen or so tables and high tops, maybe while enjoying a bite of charcuterie or listening to someone from the neighborhood play guitar.

Brandalynn pauses a moment, looks up at the roof timbers they uncovered after removing the drop ceiling; looks down at the freshly poured concrete floor.

“This building was just made for us,” she said.

Where We Left Them

From the beginning, the Armstrongs centered on Midtown Harrisburg as the home of their future brewery.

They liked the neighborhood feel of what they wanted to be a neighborhood place and the complement of nearby destinations like Midtown Scholar Bookstore, Midtown Cinema and the new Susquehanna Art Museum.

They first had their eyes on Midtown’s landmark “Carpets and Draperies” building on N. 3^rd Street, but abandoned that plan after calculating the cost of transforming the large, dilapidated structure into usable space.

That disappointment, though, led directly to where they eventually landed. Surveying the outside of the building, waiting for their realtor to arrive, they were approached by Adam Porter, co-owner of St@rtup, the co-working outfit next door. Porter recognized them from TheBurg story, and they got to talking.

“I said, ‘Oh, you’re the brewery folks,’” Porter recollected. “I got their email and later found out that the building they were looking at wasn’t going to be a good fit for them.”

He then thought about the large, unused block of space down the street at the back of Midtown Cinema, where he serves as director of operations.

“I thought it would be a great complementary use for the Cinema,” Porter said.

Built as a grocery store, the squat, circa-1940 brick building long had been cut in two, the back half last serving as a plasma donation center. It had been empty for about 20 years.

“It wasn’t much to look at,” joked Brandalynn.

Indeed, floor and ceilings tiles were damaged and missing. Medical equipment had been left behind. The dust was thick, and debris was scattered everywhere.

But the Armstrongs liked the size and loved the location. They also got the strong backing of John Tierney and Matt Tunnell, principals of Lift Development LLC, which owns the building and the Cinema.

“After Adam introduced the Armstrongs, we saw what they were doing and that they already had a great following,” said Tunnell. “We thought they’d be a terrific addition to the Cinema and to Midtown.”

Cool Area

Brandalynn and Theo had found a place they wanted, but they now needed to find out if the community wanted them.

So, they set out to meet their potential neighbors and get their support before appearing before the city’s Zoning Hearing Board. Some people did object to the proposal, worried about potential traffic, noise and odors. Many others, though, supported the brewery, which strengthened their application for a zoning variance and, just as importantly, gave them assurance that they were welcomed.

“We never could have done this without the community’s support,” said Brandalynn.

The build-out began in August and was completed just a few months later. Licenses, permitting and equipment delivery, however, pushed the open date up several months. The Armstrongs were especially frustrated by the delay of a critical piece of equipment called a mash tun, which got hung up at a port in Seattle during the recent dockworkers strike.

The couple’s greatest disappointment, though, came last year, when they learned that they would have to abandon their original, beloved moniker, Alter Ego Brewing Co.

They had conducted a trademark search before settling on Alter Ego, but a subsequent, more thorough investigation revealed a potential conflict with another company. The Armstrongs didn’t want to run the risk of losing a trademark challenge down the road. So, for the long-term good of their business, they reluctantly changed the name of their brewery.

After brainstorming, they agreed to Zeroday Brewing, after the hiking term, “zero day,” which means a day when no miles are logged. It was a nod to the time that Theo hiked the Appalachian Trail and a statement of how they felt about their new home.

“You only take a zero day to explore a cool area,” said Brandalynn. “We feel that Harrisburg is a zero-day destination.”

Grain to Glass

When I met up with the couple in early March, the tasting room was complete. The tables were set up, the stools positioned, and the USB ports below the Corian bar counter had just been installed.

The 1,500-square-foot space comfortably holds 60 people, and the high ceilings and well-spaced tables give the room a relaxed, uncrowded feel. Brandalynn describes the décor as “man cave chic,” by which she means “manly with warm accents.” Though the intentional absence of that most essential part of the man cave—the TV—might belie that description.

On the other side of the wall, the brewhouse was nearly complete. The seven-barrel system was installed with the exception of the 25-foot exhaust stack, which was erected in the midst of a snowstorm several days later and now towers above the building.

They had even received their first shipments of barley, which sat in piles of large, heavy bags, just waiting for Theo to start the process of milling, mashing, fermenting, kegging, tapping and pouring.

“It is literally 20 feet from grain to glass here,” he said.

On a nearby pallet, two-pint cans called crowlers (can-plus-growler) were stacked, ready for take-out, a perfect portable vessel for movie patrons who want to enjoy a beverage while in the theater.

A few weeks before opening, Zeroday somewhat resembled an empty movie set itself—built out, but just waiting for the action to begin. Behind the scenes, though, the Armstrongs had been attending to a hundred last-minute details, and the mad dash to the final approvals clearly had taken a toll.

“I’m exhausted; Theo’s exhausted,” said Brandalynn. “But, when we push that first pint of beer across the counter, it will be worth it.”

Two years ago, when we first met the Armstrongs, they had a goal to build a business and share their beer with the world. Since then, their mission had grown.

They still wanted to make excellent beer, but they also hoped their brewery would be a credit to the people of Harrisburg, that it would serve the needs of the community and bring in outsiders—“beer tourists”—who might not venture into Midtown otherwise. The newcomers then would be able to experience the charming, historic neighborhood and the destination that it’s rapidly becoming.

“We always say that Midtown made this happen,” said Brandalynn. “It’s taken a community to make this work, and we don’t want to let them down.”

Zeroday Brewing Co. is located at the rear of 250 Reily St., Harrisburg. The grand opening is slated for April 8. For all the information, go to www.zerodaybrewing.com or visit their Facebook page.

March News Digest: April Fool’s Edition

March 31, 2015 | by Lawrance Binda and Paul Barker

Dumping Ground Found

A capital improvement project turned ugly last month after the discovery that the Harrisburg incinerator site long has served as a dumping ground for central Pennsylvania’s infinitives.

“It’s a grisly scene,” said Jim Warner, executive director of incinerator owner Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority. “The ‘to be’s’ are just piled up on top of each other.”

State Police spokesman Lt. Gil Sanders said his office long had been searching for the missing infinitives in such phrases as, “That chicken needs cooked,” and, “The dog needs washed,” but couldn’t locate them until now.

“It’s a total massacre,” he said. “All that’s left are parts of speech.”

He added that police suspected pre-meditation, as some of the infinitives clearly had been split before they were dumped. The case is being investigated as a possible word crime.

Jill Stevens, a forensics expert from Penn State Harrisburg’s English department, was brought in to examine and diagram the scene.

Her analysis, she said, revealed that the infinitives clearly were designed to show future action, but had been crudely dismembered from verbs like “drank,” “cleaned” and “driven.”

“I don’t know what to do now,” she said. “I guess they just need buried.”

Zumba Mounts Coup

Zumba, the global dance fitness phenomenon with a rapidly growing base of practitioners, seized control of Harrisburg municipal government last month in a bloodless coup.

The program, which combines samba, salsa, reggae-ton and other dances in a signature workout regime appropriate for all ages, reportedly swept into city hall early on March 30, where it encountered an unsuspecting Mayor Eric Papenfuse preparing for a meeting.

“I’m a victim of the beat,” a flushed and sweaty Papenfuse told reporters in the plaza outside city hall later that day, his voice barely audible over the mambo-like music emanating from inside the locked front door. “Next thing I know, my abs are on fire, my legs feel like jelly, and I’m out on the street.”

Zumba’s plans for the city are not yet known. At press time, the only communication from the new regime was a series of commands to step, bend and “add some hip,” issued over and over by way of the city’s emergency broadcast system.

“We are not, at this time, going to risk angering Zumba with a counteroffensive,” said a breathless Police Chief Thomas Carter, as he engaged in an energetic merengue march back and forth across Market Square. “My advice to Harrisburg residents for now is this: Dance, dance, dance!”

Computer Takes Over

PennLive last month fired all its editors, replacing them with a computer algorithm.

Coverage now will be dictated by the most popular terms in the online paper’s reader comments section.

As a result, content will be approximately one-third partisan harangue, one-third potentially libelous slander and one-third stories about parking tickets.

“Penn State meter SEX hellhole morons Obama Obama Obama,” commented PennLive’s new executive editor, the disembodied presence of its search engine optimization (SEO) application.

Critics Indicted

In a stunning reversal of expectations, a Pennsylvania grand jury last month handed down a string of indictments on what it called “armchair critics” of Harrisburg’s former Mayor Stephen Reed and his 28-year reign over the city.

“We started off thinking the evidence would show that the former mayor’s predilection for risky debts and strained interpretations of state law would be the culprits,” Attorney General Kathleen Kane said of her department’s probe into the causes of Harrisburg’s near-bankruptcy. “To the contrary, as a preponderance of evidence shows, the problem was the people who doubted him.”

In fact, Kane went on, there would likely never have been a financial collapse at all if Reed had been given “just a little more time” to “complete his masterful tapestry.”

“The people at the helms of power had nothing to do with it,” Kane said. “All along, it was the critics in their armchairs, who, despite having no control over events and few, if any, connections to local power brokers, managed to ruin everything with negative thinking and bad vibes.”

In keeping with the results of the probe, convictions will be pursued against all Harrisburg residents who never thought the Wild West Museum and Sports Hall of Fame were particularly good ideas.

Market To Be Sealed

Caught between financial pressures and customer demands, the Broad Street Market board of directors last month announced plans to shroud its ailing stone building in a giant bubble for the foreseeable future.

Under the proposal, vendors who currently operate out of the building, as well as any customers currently shopping or eating inside, will be hermetically sealed inside an enormous, transparent polymer enclosure until further notice.

“This move should help further the market’s goals of fending off critics while simultaneously shielding vendors from the negative effects of competition and the steady advancement of time,” said board President Jonathan Bowser.

“We look forward to one day piercing the bubble, peeling back the layers and taking a peek at what a period of sustained inactivity has done for the interior.”

Neighborhoods Renamed

The Papenfuse administration plans to rename most of Harrisburg’s historic neighborhoods, now that it has dubbed a portion of Allison Hill as “Mulder Square.”

Mayor Eric Papenfuse said he has deployed the same creative team responsible for the name “Mulder Square,” which combines Mulberry and Derry streets.

From now on, Midtown will be known as Vercumbergreen Triangle, Uptown as Curtsixthcampisco and Shipoke as TuscaconnaPennDOT. Downtown will continue to be called Drunkie Lawmaker Quadrangle.

Parking Program Debuts

Amid criticism over city parking rates and fines, Harrisburg officials last month debuted a weekly alternative-parking program, “Tonight We Park In Hell.”

Under the program, drivers will be given a choice of either paying regular parking rates or parking in a special “hell-themed” garage, complete with pitchfork-wielding attendants, eternal fires and pits of brimstone. In exchange for enduring the underworld-type torture, drivers will get free parking all evening.

“Unrelenting torment or $3 an hour—your choice,” said Harrisburg Mayor Eric Papenfuse.

Initial reports of the program were mixed, as some drivers, though clearly unhappy about the intense heat and mocking by horned demons, found the unpleasant experience preferable to meter fees and enforcement fines.

“Sure, I came away with some blisters, and a guy in a flaming red robe kept yelling ‘This is the payment for your sin’ over and over,” said Matthew Kopecky, who parked in the satanic garage last Friday. “But my friend, who parked on the street, had to pay six bucks for two hours. So, in the end, I think I win.”

Beer Week Extended

The founders of Harrisburg Beer Week last month announced that they would extend their event indefinitely.

The new “Beer Years” involves drinking 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 52 weeks a year, for the foreseeable future, an extension supported by 97 percent of Harrisburg area residents.

“Eff it,” said Beer Years co-founder Tierney Pomone. “We’re just gonna drink all the time anyway. Might as well give it a name.”

Anonymous Commenters Honored

Anonymous commenters on local news sites were honored last month at the annual Capital Region News Media gala.

Awards for “Longest Rant,” “Least Relevance to Article” and “Most Blatant Racism” were given out to posters to comment sections throughout the Harrisburg area.

The gala was a cold, eerily quiet affair, as commenters such as ColdDeadHands, ThaHarrisburglar and Th@nksObama accepted their awards remotely, by way of a live-stream comment section projected on the ballroom walls.

The annual “Longevity” award was also bestowed, for the longest amount of time a veiled slur was able to escape censorship. The award-winning comment, though deemed unprintable, can be viewed underneath the Web version of this article.

Same 3 Guys Speak

Those same three guys who speak at every City Council meeting did so again last month during council’s two regular legislative sessions.

For the 135^th consecutive meeting, those same three guys informed council of their complaints about the Broad Street Market, noise downtown and the white man, respectively, until told that their time was up.

Council members fantasized about winning the lottery and getting the hell out of Harrisburg until the meeting’s public portion was over.

Drinks Menu Analyzed

On her Facebook page, Messiah College Intersectionality major Denise Duncan last month dissected the drinks menu of a local bar, finding more than two dozen examples of micro-aggressions, triggering words and ableist language in the establishment’s two-page list of on-tap beers.

“India Pale Ale?? Are you kidding me???” Duncan wrote, before giving a lengthy history of the high-alcohol-content beer’s “colonial imperialist roots.”

Among the other drinks Duncan lambasted: all of New York-brewed Doc’s Draft Ciders, for endorsing the country’s “medico-industrial complex”; Colorado-brewed Yeti stout, for being “specist”; and California-brewed Ten Commandments dark ale, for “replicating and perpetuating the female prison of patriarchal monotheism.”

“Seriously, this stops now,” Duncan reiterated at the bar that night to her friends, before consuming two large glasses of white zinfandel and falling asleep in a taxi.

New Marketing Campaign

Young people looking to begin their careers should choose Harrisburg over Ganymede, Jupiter’s largest moon, according to a new marketing campaign launched last month by the Harrisburg Regional Chamber.

The “Live the Life You Want” campaign features a slick online video that tells the story of college graduates Anna and Ben, two attractive white people just beginning their careers. One stays in the Harrisburg area, while the other moves 365 million miles away in search of better job prospects.

“Anna was attracted to the big moon excitement and the magnetosphere,” says the video narrator. “Ben decided to stay in the Harrisburg area and now enjoys a low cost of living and surface oxygen.”

The video wraps up with Ben diving into his new pool, while Anna drowns in the deep salty ocean beneath Ganymede’s icy crust.

“While other places in the solar system may seem more exciting, Harrisburg is right here on Earth,” the narrator concludes.

Candidates Struck

This year’s municipal primary election has been plunged into chaos, as a series of court challenges have struck virtually every candidate from the ballot due to paperwork errors.

Candidates for City Council, school board and other offices were felled by seemingly avoidable errors, such as submitting papers on the wrong date, in the wrong county or with signatures from pets and children. Several apparently struggled to remember their own names.

One candidate’s papers were invalidated, according to elections bureau director Gerald Feaser, simply for being “too sticky.”

“It’s not supposed to be that hard,” Feaser said. “I always tell candidates to remember the three ‘don’ts’: don’t complete your paperwork in the dark, don’t use Klingon script and don’t eat jelly with your hands while filling out your petitions.”

Unaffected were the races for countywide office, as those are filled each year by a lottery among the Republican county commissioners’ friends and family.

It’s possible that the events on this page didn’t happen. Happy April Fools!

Course of a Lifetime: This Harrisburg author marches forward, with no regrets.

March 31, 2015 | by Susan Ryder

Having a successful real estate career, traveling the world, calling France a part-time home, writing five books—accomplishing any of these things might be considered a life well lived. What then is a life that has attained all three?

Gene Albano knows and, with just a little prompting, he will tell you.

When he’s stateside, you can find him holding court most mornings over coffee in Café Fresco in downtown Harrisburg, which is where I encountered him, a dark, peaked beret perched atop his head, an air of relaxed determination over his face.

As I approached him, the first thing he said was, “You look like a writer.”

Yes, this is a guy who knows how to make friends fast.

No Obstacles

Albano has led a long life moving forward, not allowing regret, failure or any other obstacle to stand in his way.

Born Eugenio Michael Albano in 1939, he grew up in the hamlet of Philipsburg, Pa.

Following a less-than-impressive stint at Penn State (“I flunked out”) and a turn as an Arthur Murray dance instructor, he landed in the Army, which sent him to France, beginning a lifelong love affair with that country and language.

Fast-forward 50-plus years, and France is where Albano, now 76, writes his books.

His first novel, “The Letters of Peter Mitchell,” describes some of his initial experiences in that country. Published in 2008, the semi-autobiographical novel tells the story of a young soldier who can’t shake a memory of what happened to him just before his deployment abroad.

A year later, he published “Bashful Lucy,” a book that describes his mother’s life and also delves into the rich Italian, Roman Catholic culture of the early 1900s.

“I use nonfiction to draw out fiction,” Albano said of his approach to storytelling.

A good example of this blend of fact and fiction is Le Procope café, which finds its way into each novel. When in Paris, he frequents the restaurant and has even held book-signings there. His experiences as an adjunct professor crept into “Martin’s Story,” and Café Fresco, his morning Harrisburg haunt, appears in an early novel.

Intriguing

Writing may have fictionalized his real life, but being a writer is just Albano’s most recent reinvention of himself.

For 42 years, he worked in real estate, helping to plant the seeds of Harrisburg’s eventual revival.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he and two partners redeveloped and restored the 1700-block of Penn Street. Albano said that he introduced loft living, exposed kitchen brick and second-story laundries to the city, new ideas at the time.

Not willing to rest on his laurels and wanting to learn French, he returned to school in 1983, starting with a French course at HACC. Snagged by a love of learning, he continued to Penn State Capital Campus, even as a single parent of two boys, where he received his bachelor’s degree.

Thinking his age might preclude him from working towards a master’s degree, he told a friend, “I’m going to be 50!” The friend then replied, “Aren’t you going to turn 50 anyhow?” Seeing the point, he went on to receive a master’s degree in humanities from Penn State in 1988.

He put his humanities education to work by writing for the New Hope Gazette, a weekly paper in Bucks County, Pa. His editor, Scott Edwards, who also had an interest in travel, found Albano intriguing.

“It was great to see someone think something and accomplish it,” he told me, saying he admired Albano’s “well-rounded life.”

Edwards admits they were an odd pair, this guy in his 70s and a 20-something hanging out for coffee, but he felt as though he could learn something from Albano. As a young person, he appreciated Albano as “a guy who wasn’t going to let anything stand in his way.”

What could have stood in Albano’s way was the lack of a publisher for his books. No matter—he self-published.

Albano acknowledges that self-publishing isn’t as prestigious but said “that doesn’t bother me anymore.” He’s pleased with his ability to have written and published five books that have been well received by the community, both in the states and abroad.

“I want to share my writing with a reading audience,” which self-publishing has allowed, he said.

His advice for young writers: Your motivation should be purer than just to see your name in print.

“Please, don’t waste your time with that,” he said, saying there are other ways to make a name for yourself.

Secondly, believe in what you are writing and be willing to “stick your neck out.” Lastly, “Don’t let writing clubs dictate what you should be writing.”

Albano doesn’t want to prescribe what people read, either. When I asked what I should read if I only had time to read one of his novels, he said that it depends on what I want to get out of the book. I should read “Letters to Andrea,” for a narrative about a young woman’s life; “The Letters of Peter Mitchell” for a glimpse into Army life; and “Bashful Lucy” for the quality of the story.

Quality best describes Albano’s time on this planet and will continue to define it. Soon, he will travel to Europe for an Italian opera tour, continues to learn French and Italian and is working on a new book. Look for “The Other Marconi” on the shelves in a year or so.

In other words, after seven-plus decades, making the most of life remains Albano’s top priority.

Gene Albano will hold two book-signings this month: Friday, April 17, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Strawberry Square in Harrisburg; and Sunday, April 19, 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at Cornerstone Coffeehouse in Camp Hill. His books also can be purchased through Amazon.com, AuthorHouse Publishing or at the Hallmark Store in Strawberry Square, Harrisburg.

Reversing Course: By returning its roads to its residents, Harrisburg begins the process of weaving itself back together.

March 31, 2015 | by J. Alex Hartzler

With spring finally upon us, city residents’ thoughts turn to better days ahead after a particularly long, cold and snowy winter. In a similar way, the city itself is poised to emerge from a half-century-long “winter” of misguided urban planning and destructive transportation infrastructure with several upcoming projects that will reverse many of the mistakes made during the 1950s and give way to better days ahead.

Starting shortly, much of Front Street, historically Harrisburg’s most important road, will get a makeover with the addition of a bike lane, repaving, curb improvements and, most significantly, a reduction from three to two lanes of vehicle traffic. Then, perhaps in the next couple of years,N. 2^nd Street will return to two-way traffic from Forster to Division streets. Both plans, approved by PennDOT and promoted by Mayor Papenfuse, are long overdue transportation improvements that have been talked about since the 1970s.

Most immediately, both changes will improve safety for residents and visitors alike by slowing vehicular traffic and encouraging pedestrians and bicycles. The Susquehanna River, physically divided from the city by not one, but two, three-lane “highways” running through residential neighborhoods, will be reconnected to those neighborhoods that border it. Property values and the overall condition of the Midtown and Uptown neighborhoods will improve as the highways shrink in favor of the original residential streets and traffic patterns. Currently, property values for similar-sized homes on 2^nd Street are about one-third less between Forster and Division, where traffic is one-way, compared to properties north of Division Street, where traffic is two-way; no one really wants to live next to a three-lane highway, and market prices reflect that.

From an economic development perspective, the change could add tens of millions of dollars in increased value over the coming decade. From a civic perspective, the change is priceless.

Meanwhile, commuter traffic into and out of the downtown will experience slower traffic moving north to I-81. I personally take these streets several times a day from my downtown office to my home near Italian Lake and look forward to a more leisurely commute instead of the frantic current pace. Some traffic that uses these streets to go through the city as a route to somewhere outside of it will no doubt find alternative routes, to the benefit of all.

Just as important as the immediate practical impacts on safety, economic development and beautification is the profound symbolic and philosophical impact of these changes. They signal nothing less than the city beginning to reclaim itself as the central place in the region while simultaneously shaking off a mid-century view of cities as places to leave a quickly as possible, as reflected in their transportation infrastructure.

To understand the broader contextual impact, one must first understand why these streets were changed from their original two-way nature in 1956 by then-Mayor Nolan Ziegler. While the stated reason was “easing congestion,” ironically, Ziegler’s inspiration came not from local residents but from his traffic engineer Eugene Simms, a transplant from New York City. And those ideas had their roots in the ideas of an urban planner who had reinvisioned the nature of cities themselves.

Ziegler and Simms, it turns out, were mere applicants of the ascendant urban design and planning philosophy of the 1950s, known broadly as Modernism. One of the chief architects and leading proponents of Modernism (and perhaps its most destructively influential one) was the architect and city planner Charles-Edouard Jeanneret-Gris, better known as Le Corbusier. The Swiss-French Le Corbusier envisioned a clean and modern city that separated where people work and live. And he placed great value upon speeding the flow of traffic through cities with the creation of multi-lane superhighways.

Although offered as a solution to restore cities that were no doubt neglected and tired in many ways after the Great Depression and Second World War, Le Corbusier’s planning ideas actually caused great harm and have been largely rejected today by New Urbanism and a more mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly view of urban areas. Even at the time, Jane Jacobs, a prominent critic, pointed out in her book, “The Death and Life of Great American Cities,” that the Modernist view was profoundly at odds with the essential nature of cities that requires density, sidewalks and walkability, multiple overlapping uses and the mixing and mingling of people of all natures in order to achieve vibrancy and their full potential.

Put plainly, cities should be built and function foremost for their residents and visitors, not for commuters driving through. A vibrant city that is a great place to live, work and play will attract residents, businesses and visitors. As we’ve learned and as has been borne out in many cities, the ease of getting in and out is secondary, if relevant at all. Anyone who has been to Manhattan realizes that it is not easy or fast to drive in or through. That hardly limits the multitude of visitors, residents and workers who choose to live and visit one of the greatest cities in the world. Of course, this reality isn’t limited to New York. Nearly all great urban centers have traffic and congestion, but people want to live and visit them nonetheless.

So too Harrisburg, in order to realize its full potential, must function first and foremost to the benefit of its residents, not for the ease of entering or leaving. The fact that this has not been the case for more than 60 years is ironic on at least two levels. First, if Harrisburg were vibrant and aesthetically pleasing, more people from the surrounding area would want to live, work and visit, not just pass through. Secondly, when Harrisburg regains its place as the vibrant heart of central PA, the city and all of the region will benefit from a vibrant core. The racing in and out results in the worst of all worlds for both urban and suburban residents.

Most importantly, though, the coming change reflects an improvement in the very civic nature of Harrisburg. With three-lane super-highways racing up and down its best real estate, Harrisburg can never be thought of as anything more than a place to go through on the way to some other, “better” place. However, with restored residential neighborhoods and lovely homes and businesses along the Susquehanna, Harrisburg can once again be the best destination and address for those who choose to live and work in the region, just as it was a century ago. The few extra minutes to arrive and depart—if you must—will be well worth the effort.

In 1956, a mistaken philosophy was thrust upon Harrisburg, and it ripped apart several of its best neighborhoods, helping to hasten its decline in the name of progress. Long after the philosophy crumbled under its own weight, Harrisburg has been living with its consequences and enduring legacy. We are now on the cusp of a major restoration for our neighborhoods, for our city and for our own self-determination and civic pride. It can’t come soon enough.

J. Alex Hartzler is publisher of TheBurg.

Resident Artist: Renowned artist Crystal Wagner could work anywhere. Attracted to The Millworks, she now calls Harrisburg her home.

March 31, 2015 | by Rebecca Hanlon

Crystal Wagner was a kindergarten student in Baltimore when the teacher pulled her mother aside and predicted the young girl would be a famous artist.

“My mom kind of laughed at it,” Wagner said of the experience. “But, after that moment, everything in my life was geared toward art.”

At 33, Wagner is living the dream as a full-time artist, showcasing her meticulously crafted boxes that hold paper folded into three-dimensional objects at The Millworks in Harrisburg.

Cultivating her love of art at a young age, Wagner’s parents would line her bedroom floor with tiles instead of carpet so she could create without worry of ruining the flooring. An entire wall was devoted to a peg-system easel to allow her to paint and draw at will.

Wagner never doubted she would pursue art as a profession—it was the only option she saw for herself. Art as an expression was the language that spoke the loudest to her, she said.

She would spend the rest of her life moving around the country, living in Pine Grove through high school before pursuing an associate’s degree at Keystone College in La Plume. In 2004, she received her bachelor’s in fine arts from Atlanta College, and in 2008, she earned her master’s in fine arts from the University of Tennessee.

Like many artists, Wagner’s craft wasn’t lucrative enough to support her. Instead, she started teaching art at Georgia College of Liberal Arts, just south of Atlanta. After five years in academia, it was her time to shine as an artist.

“It was clear that the potential was there for me to live on my art alone,” Wagner said. “People were noticing the work that I was doing, and they wanted me to do more. It was a surreal time for me.”

Handing in her resignation felt much like the day she handed in her apron at her first job as a waitress, Wagner said. She was done with this. It was time for something new.

Now, on any given day, she’ll open her inbox to see fan mail from all over the world and requests from museums, galleries and collectors who want to showcase her work. After years of working to get that attention, she said, it’s nice to see people coming to her.

The decision to move to Harrisburg was one that seemed inevitable but worked out well, she said. Wagner and her ex-husband share custody of their two children, and, after he started attending school at Penn State, Wagner said, she needed to move closer. Hoping to not have to venture as far as Philadelphia, she searched for galleries in the area and found The Millworks.

“(Wagner) is passionate and focused, and we are delighted to have her,” said Tara Chickey, arts director for The Millworks.

Wagner will have three shadowboxes on display through April 30.

“These works are so unique, modern, organic, rhythmic and absolutely beautiful,” Chickey said. She has found herself admiring them on numerous occasions and is eager to see more of what Wagner has to offer.

In addition to her boxes, Wagner is known for creating larger-than-life paper sculptures that can take up entire rooms and require viewers to walk inside them. Her goal is to create a sense of wonder for those who enter the sculptures, and she’s seen people brought to tears, laughter and joy as they view them.

Since moving to Harrisburg in August, Wagner hasn’t spent too much time in the area. She’s often traveling to different exhibits where she sets up her sculptures for display—sometimes taking weeks at a time to complete the projects.

But she’s looking forward to the times she does get to settle in to her new home. While Harrisburg doesn’t have the amount of contemporary art she’s used to seeing in Los Angeles or San Francisco, she’s met many people who are proud and passionate about what they create.

“There are craftsmen here who value conviction in their labor and work,” Wagner said. “There’s a real sense of community in all of it. The excitement is really wonderful, and, the second this place becomes a destination for artists, I think we’ll see contemporary art take over.”

The Millworks is located at 340 Verbeke St., Harrisburg. Crystal Wagner’s shadowboxes will be on display through April 30. For more information, visit www.millworksharrisburg.com or call 717-695-4888.

Change of Course: New races, dates, routes for 2015 Harrisburg runs.

March 31, 2015 | by Matt Lewis

If you’re a runner in Harrisburg, you know the drill.

The Harrisburg Mile is in July, the half marathon in September, the marathon in November.

It’s been that way seemingly forever.

For 2015, the East Shore YMCA has decided to shake things up to inject new life into an old routine, add some races and better integrate the events.

“This new series is no longer a number of single events,” said Tom Gifford, race director for the East Shore Y. “Now, they are all tied together for the cause of promoting the Y and its programming for the community.”

The result is the Harrisburg Area YMCA Race Series, sponsored by Capital BlueCross.

“This is an ideal sponsorship for Capital BlueCross because of the strong connection to health and community,” said Amy Nilsen, manager of community relations for Capital BlueCross.

For many runners, the greatest change will be in the popular half marathon, which now will take place in late June, not September. The event was moved up to serve as a training run for the marathon later in the fall, said Gifford.

The marathon still will be run in early November, but runners will enjoy new scenery as the course has been completely rethought. Instead of plodding mainly along the Greenbelt, runner also will wind through Harrisburg neighborhoods.

“We are looking at featuring the bridges and neighborhoods of Harrisburg with the new course design, as well as the most scenic parts of the Greenbelt and downtown,” said Gifford. “However, we will still try to keep it as flat as possible since this is a Boston [Marathon] qualifier, and people look to run good times here.”

The course change will better connect the race with its host city, said Chad Krebs, executive director of the East Shore Y.

“We have a gem of a city and would love to grow the marathon to a premier race on the East Coast with 3,000 to 5,000 runners,” he said. “Ultimately, we look for the series to have a positive economic effect on the city.”

The marathon also has a new sponsor, AspireCARE/AspireFIT of Harrisburg.

“This is a great hometown race with a beautiful course, and Aspire is excited to promote it,” said Dr. Richard Rayner, Aspire’s director of family medicine, who has volunteered for and run the marathon in the past. “At Aspire, we are all about encouraging fitness as a way to prevent illness.”

Wine, Beer, Mud

The East Shore Y is hosting new and near-new events designed to appeal to every type of racer, from those who just like to run to those who also like a tasty drink. In addition, there’s now a racing event nearly every month.

On May 3, the Vinewinder will debut, covering a four-mile course of rolling hills in and around the Vineyard and Brewery at Hershey.

“This is the first year we have partnered with them, and we are really excited,” said Gifford. “We hope to sell out and make it a yearly event.”

The following week, the Y will hold the Freedom 5K to give members of the military and veterans their own event, while still involving the community. This will be an evening run, and organizers plan to follow the race with an after-party and fireworks.

“This year, we are offering separate heats, one for civilians and one for individuals with military service,” said Gifford.

Another addition is the Mud Mash, to be held on Aug. 23 near Fort Hunter. At press time, specifics for this race were still being planned. However, Gifford promised a “fun event where finishing time doesn’t matter and people get as filthy as possible.”

The Troeg’s Hop Dash was introduced last year, and the 500 participant spots sold out in 90 minutes. This is a 5K that starts and finishes at the Troeg’s Brewery in Hershey.

Local Cause

Gifford and Krebs said that they want to continue to cater to locals, but would also like to attract elite runners from around the country.

“Each race has something for everyone, from the novice to the expert,” said Krebs. “We want to draw people into the city from the East Shore, suburbs and greater region to show them that the city is not a bad place. It is safe, and it is thriving.”

The YMCA also wants people to understand that they are running to support a great local cause.

“Ultimately, our goal is to allow the Y to do better for the community,” said Krebs. “This series will provide us with positive income that we can reinvest in our programming, and the rebranding will help us raise our visibility and let people know that we are here to help serve Harrisburg.”

For more information on the Harrisburg Area YMCA Race Series and to register, visit www.ymcarun.com.

2015 Harrisburg Area YMCA Race Series

Vinewinder
Sunday, May 3

Harrisburg Freedom 5K
Thursday, May 14

Harrisburg Half Marathon
Sunday, June 28

Harrisburg Mile
Wednesday, July 15

Harrisburg Mud Mash
Sunday, Aug. 23

Troeg’s Hop Dash 5K
TBD

Aspire Harrisburg Marathon
Nov. 7 and 8

A Kid’s-Eye View: What do Harrisburg youth think of their city? I asked.

March 31, 2015 | by Tara Leo Auchey

Lately, I’ve been talking with a lot of kids in the city of Harrisburg. They’re all ages, from little ones to young adults, and we’re talking about all sorts of things.

Mostly, though, we’re talking about how they see the city. I keep asking them what they think of this place. How do they see other people seeing the city? What do they think the city’s best parts are? What do they think the city needs?

Specifically, I’ve been asking them their points of view of Harrisburg. Here’s what I’ve heard.

They want things to do

“It seems like every time we have something good, the city takes it away.”

So said a 17-year-old SciTech student during a discussion about what there is for young people to do in Harrisburg.

From what I’ve gathered, there’s not much.

Sure, all kids say that about their hometown, but, in the city of Harrisburg, it’s a bit different.

This is a city so, by its very definition, there should be a variety of options for the kids, from shopping spots and entertainment venues to skate parks and diners. But, around here, there really aren’t many places for kids to gather. Yes, there’s the Boys and Girls Club, Harrisburg Police Activity League and the Bethesda Youth group, all of which have youth activities. However, this isn’t for everyone, especially the teenagers of our city.

They don’t always want to do something so organized. They simply want to meet up with each other and chill in a cool city space.

“So many people think that all of us Harrisburg kids are bad. We’re not. But there’s not much for us to do. There used to be a skating rink out on Derry Street. That’s gone. Music? We don’t have anywhere to see it or perform. We’re too young for most places. The nearest mall is awful. We don’t have any place to go and just hang out with our friends.”

Think about it. They’re right.

They want people to talk to and ways to express themselves

When I get together with the older kids, I push them to learn Harrisburg stories, history, people and facts.

Sometimes, I push hard and, in response to one such push, a young lady said to me, “Miss Tara, you want us to go interview people, but I’ve never felt anyone ever wanted to talk with me. I mean,” and she swept her hand over the six adults in the room, “this is the first time a grownup has ever asked me what I think.”

There was a collective intake of breath in the room among those adults. We felt the impact of what she had just said.

She was a high school student who never had been asked to give her thoughts before. She never had the opportunity to converse with an adult, simply asking questions and freely discussing the answers.

It wasn’t that simple, though, because, for her and so many of her classmates, no adult had sat with them and chatted with them about their perspectives, desires, concerns, hopes and ideas.

These kids are ready to express themselves, but they need the grownups in the room to help them do it.

They want respect

Disrespect hurts. It kills. It devastates. It ruins things.

These kids know that. Sort of. They know disrespect for Harrisburg is there, but I’m not sure they know exactly how insidious it is.

What they do know is that they want to get away from it.

As a result, many of them are ready to leave this place just to get away from the contempt.

They hear/see/experience disrespect for their hometown all of the time. They see the bleeding headlines on the news. They hear people say awful things. They know the horror stories, many of which are not true from their points of view.

In February, I attended a gathering at Messiah College. It was at the president’s house after Michele Norris of NPR notoriety gave a talk entitled, “Eavesdropping on America’s Conversation on Race.”

A Harrisburg student from Rowland Middle School was there dressed and poised for the occasion. Initially, I was just impressed with her mature presence and good manners.

Then I started talking to her about our city.

She spoke of perceptions. She spoke of misconceptions.

Her words to me were short and sweet, but they conveyed a young person with keen awareness and wisdom.

She knows that a lot of people talk bad about the city, and she knows it hurts everyone who lives here.

“There are so many people that say so many terrible things about Harrisburg that if we don’t start showing how much good is here, then well, we’re just going to get crushed.”

She’s right.

Ultimately, we have to remember that, with every generalization, with every stereotype so rudely stated, there’s a young person who hears it.

Every time someone bashes this place, there’s a child here who feels the blow.

It’s as simple as that.

What’s especially harmful is that this place is supposed to be someplace special. It’s the capital city. It’s along the mighty Susquehanna River. It’s one of the early settlements of America.

We try to teach the youth that, yet, everyday, it gets so vehemently dismissed by too many adults around them.

When Harrisburg is disparaged—especially by the people who live merely a drive away over a bridge in any direction—it resonates with the young people who live here.

They feel Harrisburg hated. They feel hated.

Some things for us all to think about.

Tara Leo Auchey is creator and editor of today’s the day Harrisburg. www.todaysthedayhbg.com.

Spirited Arrival: Distillery Set to Open in Harrisburg

March 30, 2015 | by Lawrance Binda

Midstate Distillery is slated to open in the summer in this building on Harrisburg’s Cameron Street.

Lovers of small-batch, locally produced spirits, raise a glass—it looks like Harrisburg will get its first craft distillery after all.

For more than a year, business partners Dan Healy and Brian Myers have been quietly creating a distillery inside the former Smith Paint Building at 1817 N. Cameron St, a couple of blocks south of the state Farm Show Complex. If all goes according to plan, the pair expects to open Midstate Distillery this summer.

“We want to make a product that the people of the greater Harrisburg area will embrace,” said Healy, 32, a Camp Hill resident.

Healy and Myers, 42, bought the building in December 2013 and have been hard at work since transforming the dilapidated, 7,000-square-foot space into a modern distillery and tasting room. They plan to manufacture rum, vodka and moonshine at first, then gin and whiskey.

Healy said they originated the concept two years ago after leaving another manufacturing company co-owned by Myers.

“We left and brainstormed what to do next,” he said. “We had considered brewing, but thought that market seemed more saturated.”

They began touring micro-distilleries, taking distilling classes, working on their business plan and searching for a site. They decided on Cameron Street because of the central location, the proximity to the Farm Show Complex and the existing industrial zone, which allows distilleries to operate by right.

In addition, the building was already fitted with an extensive sprinkler system, which is essential given the potentially volatile process of manufacturing spirits.

This is the second micro-distillery proposed for Harrisburg in recent months. In December, city residents Alan Kennedy-Shaffer and Stanley Gruen attempted to locate a distillery in the historic “Carpets and Draperies” building in Midtown Harrisburg, a location that required a zoning variance. Following a contentious meeting, the city’s Zoning Hearing Board denied their application.

Healy said Midstate Distillery will produce about 20 cases of liquor a week to start, with the ability to ramp up as demand increases. They will serve drinks by the glass, as well as sell bottles, and also would like to distribute to bars in the area. There are no plans to serve food, though they are open to partnering with food vendors.

Healy and Myers hope to open in July, though the timing will depend upon receipt of their state distillery license. They’ve already received their federal Distilled Spirits Permit. They also must complete the interior renovation, which they’re mostly doing themselves.

“The building has required a lot of TLC,” said Healy.

When Midstate Distillery opens, it will be the first distillery in Harrisburg in many decades, perhaps since Prohibition. In recent years, craft distilleries have opened in cities across Pennsylvania, such as Old Republic in York and Thistle Finch in Lancaster.

“We’re very excited,” said Healy. “But we’re also a little nervous because we still have a lot of work ahead of us before we can open.”

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