Tag Archives: harrisburg

Capitol Shoe Repair Opens Downtown

September 4, 2012 | by Ruth Hoover Seitz

A state capital needs a good cobbler, and an award-winning craftsman like Lee Card needs plenty of foot traffic, which is why he relocated his shoe repair shop in downtown Harrisburg.

“I need more walking traffic, and downtown has people walking,” said Card, a third-generation shoe repairman.

Card opened Capitol Shoe Repair at 202 N. 2^nd St., in mid-August. He wore a black apron as he and his 18-year-old son, Alex, worked on shoes.

He cited economics as a reason why the art of shoe-making and repair has diminished–many shoes are cheaply made and inexpensive enough to buy new ones.

Shoe repair requires skill, said the 40-year-old Card, a former Marine and a National Guardsman who served two tours in Iraq. A certain level of physics is required to ensure a shoe is balanced for a comfortable fit.

“You have to have a little bit of an artistic eye for it,” he said.

Card, who started shining shoes as a boy in his father’s Lemoyne shop, bought the business in 1998. He’s a cobbler who enjoys his work and has won three regional awards for his shoe repairs. “My men’s half soles were the best in the nation,” he said, proudly.

Capitol Shoe Repair, 202 N. 2^nd St., 717-213-4140; Mon.-Fri., 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Sat. 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Small Business Boondoggle: Lacking standards, oversight, Harrisburg’s loan fund fell into dysfunction.

September 4, 2012 | by Peter Durantine

In December 2009, Mayor Stephen Reed’s last full month in office, one thing was certain about Harrisburg’s revolving loan fund program: it was no longer making money that could be loaned to other prospective, job-creating businesses.

Instead, it has cost taxpayers nearly $1 million. No loans have been made since Reed left office. And the cost to taxpayers could even increase.

That December, the Reed administration reported writing off $963,000 in loans in which the borrowers were unable to make payments, filed for bankruptcy or simply went out of business, according to documents and city officials.

Moreover, the Reed administration showed little effort at making sure loans were repaid. “There was not a proactive approach to collecting delinquent loans,” said Jack Robinson, head of the city’s Department of Building and Housing Development, the agency Mayor Linda Thompson has charged with recovering the remaining loans.

Questions remain as to how these loans were made, what financial documentation and collateral was required, and what specific policy the Reed administration adopted and followed in determining who received loans.

Officials have found little documentation to answer these questions, but what they have found since assuming the program indicates a disregard for adhering to standard banking procedures and due diligence in properly determining whether to grant a loan.

“I would typify the approach taken by the prior administration as unprofessional,” said Robinson, who worked in the state Department of Economic and Community Development before joining the city two years ago.

The Thompson administration is trying to collect the remaining outstanding loans from the revolving loan program. There is about $3.6 million from that program; $53,500 from a federal Community Development Block Grant; and $426,629 from the state’s Enterprise Community program, all of which were administered by Reed’s office.

Periodically, the Thompson administration releases to the media an updated list of loan recipients, what they owe and what they’ve paid. It’s public shaming of sorts that has brought in significant delinquent payments. The last such report was in May.

“Hundreds of thousands of dollars that would not otherwise have been collected,” said Robert Philbin, the city’s spokesman.

Yet, of the $3.6 million outstanding from the revolving loan fund, there is $900,000 in past due payments, Robinson said. Some loans appear to have no chance of getting repaid, though Robinson said the city is trying to work out payment plans with all its loan recipients.

One business, Sugar Mama’s, a restaurant on 29^th Street that has been closed a couple of years, was one of the last recipients of a loan under Reed, receiving $175,000 in November 2009, a month before Reed reported writing off nearly $1 million in loans. To date, according to city records, no payment has been made by Sugar Mama’s.

Among loans the Reed administration wrote off was FDA Packaging Inc., which received a $250,000 loan in March 2001. Located Uptown, the company paid back $141,568, but, after becoming Atlantic Coast Packaging in 2006, filed for bankruptcy in 2008. The $158,501 it still owed was written off in 2009.

FDA Packaging no longer exists and where its packaging operations once stood, 2715 N. 7^th St., is an empty lot slated to become a solar field for energy generation.

The loan program’s purpose was to provide businesses with capital to grow, but recipients also had to create jobs. These criteria were stated in documents submitted as part a 1992 lawsuit filed by 13 city residents against Reed for taking $7 million from the sale of the city’s water system to create a special projects revolving loan program in 1991.

Unlike what has been described as the unprofessional administering of the program by the end of his 28 years in office, Reed was running a tight ship in 1991, according to the court documents – memos, directives and executive orders.

For example, a mayoral memo outlining the program’s criteria stated: “One (1) job must be created for every $50,000 borrowed from the SPRLP … All SPRLP loans must be fully secured/collateralized.”

Reed lost the lawsuit. The court ruled, among other things, that he had no authority to create the special projects revolving loan fund. Yet, Reed continued to operate the program, and, though it appears he initially ran it responsibly, adherence to standards seemed to slip over subsequent years.

Controller and former city councilman Dan Miller had been appointed to a board overseeing the revolving loan fund in the late 1990s.

“This board was to determine whether the businesses were worthy of receiving a loan,” Miller said. “They had me come to one or two meetings and then we never met.”

Miller assumed no loans were being made because they board never met, but then he would read in the paper of a business getting a loan. “Apparently loans were being made, but not appropriately,” he said.

Wendi Taylor, one of the Harrisburg 13 that took Reed to court, examined the businesses getting loans in the early ‘90s. “There were so many of them that weren’t credit worthy,” she said. Moreover, Taylor said, the Reed administration “didn’t seem to care about getting the money back.”

One more recent loan recipient, Island Grill LP, borrowed $100,000 in July 2005, which was to go toward a more than $2 million project to build City Island Grill restaurant on the south end of City Island. It was never built and Island Grill never made a payment. In 2009, the Reed administration wrote off the loan.

A Market Grows in Steelton: Fresh produce, ethnic foods stacked high at Steelton Farmers Market.

August 18, 2012 | by Lawrance Binda

Steelton is known for its narrow, steep streets, multi-ethnic heritage and, of course, the giant steel mill that gave the town its name.

Unfortunately, it’s not been known for its quality food choices, a reputation that Maricruz Alvarez hopes to change.

Last month, Alvarez opened the Steelton Farmers Market at 750 N. Front St., a spacious, open grocery just a few blocks from the Harrisburg line that once housed the International Food Mart.

In fact, Harrisburg shoppers might recognize Alvarez, as, until recently, she was the proprietor of Garden Fresh Produce inside the Broad Street Market.

She decided to move into the much larger, 7,500-square-foot space to vastly expand the goods she’s able to offer, including a wide range of prepared food, deli meats, salads and groceries.

In addition, she hopes to bring broader, healthier choices to Steelton, a largely working class community that has few grocery options other than a smattering of corner stores.

“We want to give people something better,” she said. “So far, everyone’s welcomed us and told us that they’re glad we’re here.”

Here’s what you’ll find at the Steelton Farmers Market: fresh produce, grocery staples, special dietary items, hard-to-find imported goods and specialty foods that appeal to Steelton’s large population of immigrants from Latin America, the Middle East and Asia.

Here’s what you won’t find: cigarettes, lottery tickets and an overabundance of sugary drinks and salty snacks.

“We want to keep our items as healthy as possible,” said Alvarez.

The market has one of the widest selections of halal foods, those allowed under Islamic dietary guidelines, in the area, said Alvarez.

Middle Eastern favorites on the shelves include Barbody Egyptian rice, Cortas baba ghanoush and Laziza beverages.

But it’s not just the food–the piles of colorful, ripe oranges, bananas, lettuce, peaches, pears, potatoes and even pineapple– that make the Steelton Farmers Market unique in the town. It’s also the shopping experience, as the market has an open, airy layout that contrasts sharply with the congested, claustrophobic feel of many urban groceries.

“We hope to appeal to shoppers throughout the region,” said Alvarez. “But our main focus right now is on the people of Steelton.”

The Great Unknown: Leadership means minimizing our instability.

August 18, 2012 | by Lawrance Binda

Nevermind.

That was the message that rang forth from the Harrisburg school district last month.

Remember that multi-million deficit and unbalanced budget? Nevermind.

The cancellation of kindergarten, of all school sports, of band, of extracurricular activities? Nevermind.

Residents, taxpayers, parents, schoolchildren, furloughed teachers–please forget about the recent past because nothing has really changed after all.

Like most city residents, I’m delighted that public education in Harrisburg has not been stripped to the bare bottom. Harrisburg’s children already have lost much over the past few budget cycles, and they cannot afford to lose any more.

However, the rapid, perplexing shrinking of the deficit–from $17 million to $8 million to $6.6 million to a balanced budget to a surplus with all the cuts restored–underscores an unfortunate truth: living in this city has become an unceasing leap into the great unknown.

Nothing is ever stable. There’s no predictability, and everything could change tomorrow.

One day, we have a capable receiver who seems truly concerned about Harrisburg; the next we don’t. Then, awhile later, we have another one–one with no experience in municipal finance, priorities unknown.

One day, we can file for bankruptcy, then we can’t. Then maybe we can again, until the state again intervenes and extends the bankruptcy prohibition.

When will years-late municipal audits be done? What will happen if the council continues to defy the receiver? Who will control the school system next year? How much debt will be left over after the incinerator is sold and parking assets leased?

No one knows.

I’m often asked–who’s really in charge of Harrisburg? The mayor? The receiver? The state Department of Community and Economic Development? The City Council? A couple of out-of-town law firms?

To some extent, all of the above, I respond. Power in Harrisburg is deeply fragmented.

So, it’s not just about the school budget situation–instability is endemic everywhere here. Why?

The crumbling of the entrenched, controlling Reed regime is largely to blame, as is the financial disaster it left behind, both of which have left the city in chaos.

That turmoil is deepened by the desire of state legislators to protect the interest of distant creditors over their own citizens, which has resulted in repeated and profound interventions into city affairs.

Then there’s the political feud between the mayor and the council, the departure of so many quality city employees and the widening split between Gov. Tom Corbett and the legislature over budget priorities.

And, since not everyone is a bad guy, some of the turmoil is due to legitimate differences over how best to restore Harrisburg to fiscal health.

Life, as we know, does not always follow a straight path. It bends and twists and sometimes heads in weird directions. However, no healthy society can be built upon unyielding chaos and crisis.

Governmental bodies must work to create a foundation of stability and predictability, from which people can build their lives.

Given its dire financial situation, Harrisburg will be less stable than most other cities for the forseeable future. There’s no way around that. But that stress must be managed and minimized, not exacerbated.

Kids must know they’ll have a school to attend, vital programs they can rely on, sports they can play and take pride in.

Residents should have a decent idea what they’ll pay in taxes each year, the basic services they can expect–that crime will be fought, streets fixed and garbage collected.

Citizens should know that their state and county officials will represent them first, not Wall Street.

Some measure of stability, even in the most trying of times, is the least we can ask for.

The Envelope Please: This month, you may find a MID in your mailbox.

August 18, 2012 | by Lawrance Binda

At some point this month, Midtown Harrisburg property owners will retrieve their mail and find a large envelope among the usual bills, coupon shoppers and credit card come-ons.

Please–don’t toss it out along with the other unsolicited missives.

The 48-page document is the Midtown Improvement District (MID) draft plan, and it’s essential reading for any neighborhood homeowner.

It will explain exactly what the MID would be, how it would be funded and what it would cost. It also will include a list of all the properties in the proposed district, which runs from Forster to Maclay streets and N. Front to N. 7th streets.

“Our primary goal is to improve safety and security,” said Eric Papenfuse, the owner of Midtown Scholar Bookstore who has spearheaded the effort to establish the MID. “We figured that safety and security are paramount in life, whether you’re a resident, a business owner or a visitor.”

As proposed, the MID would hire off-duty Harrisburg police to boost security in Midtown, which, just last month, suffered a series of muggings committed by two armed men.

Longer term, the MID would help Midtown become eligible to enter the state’s Elm Street program, which provides grants to beautify and revitalize historic neighborhoods, said Bill Fontana, executive director of the Pennsylvania Downtown Center.

Under the current plan, the MID would charge an assessment of one-tenth of 1 percent of the value of a property, which, for most homeowners, would amount to $60 per year, which also is the minimum assessment.

That money would fund most of the $430,000 annual budget of the MID. The MID then would hire a team of two off-duty Harrisburg police officers for one eight-hour night shift, 6 p.m. to 2 a.m., Monday to Thursday, and two teams of two officers, each working one eight-hour night shift, Friday and Saturday.

The budget also would fund a person to oversee the operation of the MID. It’s expected that, at first, the MID would be run from the Downtown Center, but would transition quickly to another non-profit organization, perhaps Friends of Midtown, which has expressed interest and already runs a community foot patrol.

At a public information session last month, residents seemed generally supportive of the MID, but also had numerous concerns.

For instance, Green Street resident Bob Deibler wanted to ensure that city police would continue to cover midtown, even as their off-duty colleagues were patrolling the area.

“Are we sure the city would not slough off on us because we have our own police?” he asked.

Papenfuse responded that the MID’s municipal services agreement with the city specifically prevents on-duty police from skipping the neighborhood.

Neil Grover, who lives on N. 3rd St., said he is opposed to the MID on principle as he believes that it creates a distinction between Midtown and the rest of the city.

“This whole thing runs against my grain at the deepest level,” he said. “I think it’s a bad way to govern.”

So, upon receiving the plan, what should a Midtown property owner do? Nothing yet, other than reading it and becoming familiar with the details. A public hearing on the MID will be held sometime in September, Papenfuse said.

Afterwards, probably starting in October or November, property owners in the district will have a 45-day window to vote on a final plan.

The plan would be rejected only if 40 percent of the 3,161eligible property owners in te district vote against it. If appproved, the MID likely would be up and running on Jan. 1, said Fontana.

Papenfuse mentioned several other factors that he believed were benefits of the MID.

First, the area’s developers, who own large amounts of property, would have to make new, substantial contributions to the community. Secondly, non-profits, which own non-taxable property not assessed under the plan, would be encouraged to donate. Thirdly, the community would have a new tool to use against negligent property owners, as “nuisance” properties would be assessed at a much higher rate.

“This is a good way for some developers and others to contribute to the neighborhood,” said Papenfuse.

Want to see the proposed Midtown Improvement District plan now? Go to https://midtownimprovementdistrict.wordpress.com/

Green, All Year Long: Hardcore gardening equals a greenhouse.

August 10, 2012 | by Jay Stanton

As a hobby greenhouse owner, most people tell me how they’d like a hobby greenhouse to start seeds for flowers and vegetables.

That always leads to a conversation about what it takes to germinate seeds – lots of light, a constant bottom heat of about 70 degrees and misting to keep new plants moist. I advise new gardeners to be careful about starting plants too early. The reward of being careful is a whole bunch of plants ready to be transplanted into the garden in the spring. It’s a challenge, but many folks really enjoy the process and have wonderful success.

Other people tell me they want to build a greenhouse to grow orchids and houseplants year-round, or use the greenhouse’s protection to extend the growing season of vegetables. Some people grow veggies during the winter months.

I have another reason for our little greenhouse: We over-winter tropical plants rather than buy new hibiscus, angel trumpets and the like every spring. All of our tropical plants are maintained in large containers that we arrange around the garden, deck and patio for our outside seasons. Rather than planting, potting and replanting, we keep these tropical plants in their containers, where we can move them in and out easily. With containers, however, more maintenance is required – watering and fertilizing.

Back to greenhouses: There are two types – free-standing and attached to your house or garage. You need transparent glazing to let in the sun. There are three types – thin plastic that comes on a roll and only lasts a few years, but is inexpensive; glass, which is expensive and difficult to install, but lasts forever with care; and the new polycarbonate glazing that is found in newer lightweight eyeglasses.

Most new hobby greenhouses are glazed with a double-walled polycarbonate, with air spaces between for better heat insulation. There’s also the old standby known as the cold frame, a window frame covering some plants in a hole, but let’s not get too technical.

Greenhouses are fun. I really enjoy just stepping into ours. As a gardener, I enjoy stepping into anybody’s greenhouse. The warmth and smell of living plants just lifts my spirit. Maybe you feel the same way.

My parents were in the commercial greenhouse business and I grew up learning the business venture. I could have moved home and taken over the business with my brother, but by that time I had my own hobby greenhouse and that scratched my itch.

If you’re thinking about building your own hobby greenhouse, there are a few basic requirements. First, is a town code permit needed? Do you have water and electricity? What type of heat and ventilation will you use? Is there ample light in the winter months? If it’s an extension of your home to share with plants, you may need to consult an architect or a company that specializes in constructing sun rooms.

If you plan on a standalone structure, there are several options. Buy a kit, from a catalogue or online that is delivered to you or have a greenhouse company build it for you. I designed and built my own. Not having a computer at the time, I used the public library and read as much as I could about the subject. I contacted the Penn State Extension educator who had knowledge of greenhouses and visited Delaware Valley College, where I spoke to the horticulture professor about new materials and current trends.

As I began construction, I entered the Dauphin County Master Gardener program, where I was required to give a presentation. With photos, I showed the concrete block foundation, 2 x 6 construction with full insulation of the north half, and a fully glazed southern exposure. I built in thermal efficiency such as a stone pit as a heat sink/source, a brick floor, green-painted back block wall and an unvented propane gas heater.

If you’re thinking about pursuing this adventure – and make no mistake, it’s an adventure – a good place to start would be to attend a meeting of the Central Pennsylvania Chapter of the Hobby Greenhouse Association, www.hobbygreenhouse.org. You will meet people like me who will be happy to share their success stories, and their biggest mistakes, to keep you from making the same ones.

If you’re interested, contact me at [email protected] or 717-566-3415. I’ll be happy to get your feet planted on the right path.

Jay Stanton, a Hummelstown gardener, is founder of the Susquehanna Hosta Society, and a member of the Hobby Greenhouse Association.

What’s Old is New: Need furniture? Tight budget? Make a stop on 3rd Street.

August 10, 2012 | by Peter Durantine

Between Muench and Peffer streets in Midtown stands an old one-story building with a modest sign: 3^rd Street Used Furniture.

Inside, behind a counter with some toys and plenty of candy, is 28-year-old owner Phil Wagner. He cheerfully greets customers, most of whom are also his neighbors, who like to stop in – when not buying furniture – for a soda and some conversation.

“I’d say at least 80 percent of our sales are very local, probably from Forester to Division, and from Front to 7^th street,” Wagner said. “Every now and then I’ll get up on the Hill, but most of it is Uptown and Midtown.”

Wagner grew up in the furniture business. His mother, Diane Werner, is an antique dealer whose Country Collectibles is in Dillsburg. His stepfather, Don Stoner, had 3^rd Street Used Furniture for 10 years before deciding to get out of the business.

Stoner sold the building, originally used as a machine shop, to WCI Partners, but two years later, with a hankering to have his own furniture business, Wagner re-opened the store, renting the building from WCI.

“With the economy, people aren’t buying new furniture,” he said. For his customers, he said, it’s “function over style.”

Dressed in a T-shirt and shorts, Wagner is easy-going and casual as he deals with a couple of customers looking for mattresses. He buys his stock at estate sales, always with an eye out for unique but practical pieces, and prices them affordably.

“I appreciate antiques, but I wanted to sell stuff that I would want to use in my house,” Wagner said. “I just try to price to sell.”

Stoner said of his stepson’s furniture business acumen: “Does a great job of it, better than me.”

Furniture in his two spacious showrooms, the walls decorated with art and photography also for sale, look solid and practical. But there are special pieces such as a custom-made cherry china cabinet that looks like a steal at $249.

Many of his customers are just looking for starter furniture, he said. He works with Keystone Human Services that brings clients by who have modest budgets in which to furnish their new apartments.

Wagner has some choice furniture – a brown, retro ‘50s vinyl industrial sofa, for instance – for customer seeking something special. Neil Choquette, of Neil Choquette Fine Upholstery on 2^nd Street, said he has bought a few quality pieces from Wagner.

“He really provides a niche for providing neighbors with affordable furniture,” Choquette said.

For neighbors, the store is a place to socialize, visit with friends, sort of like the old country store where people sat or stood around the pot belly stove.

“It’s good to be friends with everyone,” Wagner said. “I’ve been in every house on this street and the next one over … you get to know people and they’ll stop in and say, ‘I like that dresser you got. I’m not ready to buy anything, but I just wanted to say that.”

Wagner smiled. “That part is the fun of it.”

3^rd Street Used Furniture, 1918 N. 3^rd St., Harrisburg, Mon. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tues. 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Wed.-Sat. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed Sunday. 717-920-9800 or [email protected]

Denver Group Checks In: Harrisburg Hilton, Bricco bought by Greenwood.

August 10, 2012 | by Peter Durantine

The 341-room Hilton Harrisburg, the landmark project that lead to a downtown renaissance in the 1990s, and the upscale dining restaurant, Bricco, have been sold to Greenwood Hospitality Group, a Denver-based hotel investment and management firm.

The announcement was made June 29 by Mayor Linda Thompson, along with Russell C. Ford, president and CEO of Harristown Enterprises Inc., which built the Market Square hotel in 1990 as part of Harristown’s downtown revitalization efforts.

Thompson praised the sale because, she said, it showed the investment potential global investors see in Harrisburg and also because it frees the city of the millions of dollars in bonds it had backed for the hotel.

“Although the hotel has always paid this debt as scheduled,” Thompson said, “the fact that nearly $17 million in city-guaranteed debt has been permanently removed from the city’s balance sheet as a result of this transaction in an important outcome benefiting the city.”

Harristown’s hotel debt is not related to the city’s $326 million incinerator debt. Thompson said the city’s receiver, William Lynch, was consulted about the sale, though not required to authorize it, and gave his blessing.

Ford said Harristown decided to sell the hotel because it wanted resources to do more economic development projects in the city.

“We’ve looked at a number of ways to help this city,” he said. “This transaction does allow us to recover resources and re-invest them.”

Neither Ford nor Thomas W. Conran, a principal of Greenwood who works out of Hartford, Conn. and will oversee the hotel, would discuss the sale’s financial terms.

“It’s a purely private transaction,” Ford said, explaining public dollars used to help finance the hotel’s construction 22 years ago had long been paid off. And despite the city backing the bond financing, the hotel is a private business.

According to Dauphin County tax records, the hotel and its .77 acres of property combined are valued at nearly $20 million, on which the Harrisburg Hilton paid nearly $111,000 this year in county taxes. The hotel paid $148,870 in city real estate taxes and $404,074 in school taxes.

Conran said Greenwood, which has ownership interest or operates hotels in eight cities around the country including Baltimore and Princeton, N.J., intends to spend in the range of $5 million over the next three years upgrading and updating the hotel’s guest rooms and public spaces.

At the moment, there appears to be no plans for Bricco, which opened in 2006 at the corner of S. 3^rd and Chestnut streets. Greenwood owns not only the hotel’s and restaurant’s businesses but also the properties.

Greenwood, which had been working with Harristown over the last year to purchase the hotel, has negotiated a long-term agreement with the Hilton and intends to keep the hotel’s 400 employees, half of whom reside in Harrisburg.

“Everyone over there will keep their jobs,” Thompson said at the press conference at City Hall, directly across the street from the hotel.

In addition, Bill Kohl, current president and CEO of the Hilton Harrisburg, will stay on in a management role as well as become a principal at Greenwood. Conran said he and Kohl have known one another for more than 25 years.

Tax abatements to help start the hotel two decades ago have long expired. City and Harristown officials said the hotel pays significant business and property taxes as well as generates more than $120 million in economic activity downtown.

“It’s a tremendous economic generator,” Kohl said.

Moreover, Thompson said, the millions of dollars in upgrades and renovations that Greenwood intends to make could lead to a reassessment of the property and potentially more tax revenue for the city.

While the Hilton brand and quality staff helped attract Greenwood’s interest, it was the hotel’s solid, consistently top-performing financials in a sound market that convinced the management group to make the purchase, Conran said.

Conran dismissed questions about whether the city’s fiscal troubles, known internationally, concerned Greenwood. “There’s a lot of chatter,” he said. “We believe the best days of Harrisburg are ahead.”

HU Endures Trying Times: The university weathers its critics, moves forward.

August 10, 2012 | by Peter Durantine

Eleven years after its founding in 2001, Harrisburg University of Science and Technology is to its supporters a success story that is growing and evolving as any new university, particularly in an era driven by constant technological change.

In a region with dozens of traditional colleges and universities, HU, they say, has raised the bar, graduating students well-trained in their fields of endeavor, compelling other schools to increase their emphasis on math and science.

“I think it’s made everyone better,” said Robert Scaer, president and chief operating officer of Gannett Fleming in Camp Hill and a HU board of trustee member.

At the local liberal arts college in his Lancaster County town, Robert Dolan, chairman of Conrad Siegel Actuaries and HU’s board, said, “In just the last few years I’ve seen them emphasize their math and science education.”

Despite its academic success and growing enrollment, the university’s finances are “fragile,” which school’s administrators readily admit, but say is not unheard of in this economy – most schools are strapped, particularly a new institution like HU.

Critics, though, think otherwise, challenging whether HU can succeed.

“It’s not a question of the need for the project,” said Eric Papenfuse, a former board member of the Harrisburg Authority and owner of Midtown Scholar Bookstore. “It’s about the financing of the project.”

In June, Papenfuse conducted a public forum about the university that featured a fierce critic of HU, Steve Barrows, who had been blogging anonymously. He revealed that his wife was a university faculty member whose job was recently eliminated.

The forum’s audience included current and former HU staff who challenged the assertions made about the school’s finances including claims of deception made by Barrows. Barrows defended himself, but acknowledged his information could be wrong.

In a city teetering toward bankruptcy after years of financial mismanagement, HU officials believe that some of their critics unfairly lump them with such things as Harrisburg’s costly incinerator and struggling school district.

“I think we’ve been included in other issues,” Dolan said. “I think if they knew the complete picture they would feel very proud of what’s been going on at HU the last 10 years.”

The mission that business, academic and government leaders set down for HU zeroed in on what the university’s former president, Mel Schiavelli, called a curriculum for the 21^st century: science, technology, engineering and math – the STEM subjects.

From U.S. presidents to high school principals, STEM is viewed today as the curriculum needed to build the nation’s economic competitiveness.

“Central Pennsylvania thought up this idea before George Bush and [President] Obama heard of STEM education,” he said. “I’ve never been to a place that lives its mission as much as we do.”

Schiavelli’s departure to become executive vice president at Northern Virginia Community College, one of the largest such institutions in the nation, signals HU is progressing, Dolan said.

“Mel’s done a terrific job for us; he’s really put the structure of what the business community and the broader community wanted for the university,” Dolan said. “We’re evolving and it’s time to take us to the next level.”

Over the next year, the university’s board will seek Schiavelli’s replacement, but for the interim, Dr. Eric Darr, formerly the provost, will serve as president. Darr said his plan is to carry on: “Do more, produce more graduates in science and technology fields.”

As president, Schiavelli oversaw construction at 4^th and Market streets of HU’s 16-story tower, acquire housing downtown for 180 students, and build an education program in which more than 75 percent of the students land jobs after graduation.

That’s largely because HU’s non-traditional teaching methods – it doesn’t require SAT scores for student entry – include internships in the field the student is majoring. Often students are hired by the companies in which they interned.

“For Gannett Fleming, it’s been very helpful,” Scaer said, noting his engineering firm, which first went to HU in need of students skilled in geospatial fields, has hired some of its interns upon graduation. “One in particular is a rock star at the firm,” he said.

This year, HU has 320 full-time undergrads out of 440 total students, Darr said.

In the seven years since classes began – and in the five years since its first graduating class of nine students – HU has contributed economically and academically to the city and the region, Dolan said.

“We have provided workforce, shown by the high percentage of students who have gotten jobs,” he said. “I think it has benefitted the city of Harrisburg by attracting students who live downtown.”

For more information about Harrisburg University, visit www.harrisburgu.net.

That Other Building: Ryan Building has sat next to the Capitol for 120 years.

August 5, 2012 | by Jason Wilson

The Ryan Building, the oldest structure in Capitol Park, was the newest and most modern when it was completed in 1894. It also ranks as the building having the most names: the Capitol Annex, the old Museum Building, and the Ryan Building. But officially it was titled “the Executive, Library and Museum Building” upon its completion.

The need for a new “fireproof” building for the state’s artifacts and library was evident from the 1870’s onward as the size of the legislature grew. The debate centered around whether to build a new Capitol or renovate the Hill’s Capitol. Instead the compromise was to build a new structure beside the Hill’s Capitol.

The architectural design of the building stemmed from the 1893 Chicago World’s Columbian Exposition, which revived the ideas of classical architecture in America in a movement known as the “American Renaissance.” The building was designed by Philadelphia architect John T. Windrim and constructed by contractors Doyle and Doak.

The state gave strict guidelines for the construction and completion of the building. The contract was signed on September 28, 1893 and construction was to begin on October 2^nd. The deadline for completion was December 1, 1894 and the contractor would have to pay a $250 dollar per day penalty for each day past this deadline.

The first problem the contractors had to address was moving the 1868 Mexican War monument to a different location. This movement was completed throughout the fall of 1893 and the cornerstone of the building was laid on December 15, 1893. Owing in part to a mild winter, construction progressed at break-neck speed and by October 31, 1894 the building was handed over to the Commonwealth – two months ahead of schedule.

The Italianate-style building was praised for being early and under budget and also for how impressive it was architecturally. It is also the first time the sitting governors of the state had offices and reception space. The building also had room for 500,000 books in the new state library and housed the growing collections of the state historical collections, including the famous 32 x 16 foot Battle of Gettysburg painting by Peter F. Rothermel.

The library moved to the newly-built Education (Forum) Building in 1931 and the now state museum to its present location in 1964. In the mid-1990s, the building underwent restoration. It was renamed in 1999 for the late Matthew J. Ryan, who had been speaker of the House for two years in the ‘80s and from ’95 until his death in 2003.

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