STATE COLLEGE — Extra costs and revenues during this year’s fifth annual State Patty’s Day actually added more than $40,000 to the borough’s coffers, according to data in a new borough report.
The report breaks down the costs and revenues to various borough departments resulting from this year’s run of the student- created drinking event, held the weekend of Feb. 26. Created in 2007, the event originally gave students an opportunity to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day, which fell during Spring Break that year.
The borough spent thousands of dollars on extra police service, public works, parking-related expenses and trash collection, according to report. But it made even more than that in revenue from parking garages and parking enforcement.
Using revenue figures provided in the “Parking” section of the report, the borough appears to have made a total of $41,531.
The report, in its final summary, lists overall revenue for the weekend as $15,144, but appears to be using the difference in parking revenues between 2010 State Patty’s Day and 2011, rather than total parking revenues from 2011.
The parking garages that weekend brought in $47,692 in revenue, more than nine times the revenue figure of a normal weekend.
Despite the apparent profit, the borough in an accompanying news release characterized State Patty’s Day as “solely a dangerous drinking event that has become the most dangerous and destructive weekend of the year in State College.”
The borough released the report, which said it was prepared
in May, at 4 p.m. Thursday. No one was available to comment on its contents, or answer questions about the contradictory parking revenue numbers.
The report summary states the data may be used “as a basis for ongoing discussion to plan and prepare for State Patty’s Day in the future.”
The borough spent $18,700 for additional police personnel for this year’s event. They handled a record 480 calls, up from 365 from last year’s State Patty’s Day. Police made 234 arrests, up from 160 in 2010. They made 14 drunken driving arrests, and 14 people were taken to Mount Nittany Medical Center for alcohol overdoses. There were 34 disorderly people or gatherings reported downtown or in nearby neighborhoods.
The report calls “helpful” decisions by some local businesses to remain closed that Saturday or to not offer drink specials, and the decision by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board to close Centre Region liquor stores at 6 p.m. instead of 9 p.m. It also praises the Penn State Interfraternity Council for following self-imposed restrictions on weekend activities.
The report also provides information about the 288 people arrested on State Patty’s Day, including 132 visitors. While 61 gave no college affiliation, others came from various Penn State campuses, schools in Connecticut, Delaware and West Virginia and one from Ohio University.
Students came from schools across Pennsylvania and 116 came from University Park.
A look at 911 calls that weekend showed 558, and another 1,780 calls on the non-emergency line.
The Centre County Emergency Communications Center handled a 911 call every seven minutes. The center scheduled 58 hours of overtime and 16 hours of part-time Public Safety Telecommunicators to handle the calls.
The Centre Area Transportation Authority reportedly spent $9,295 on the weekend, but the report says it appears CATA would break even and cover its additional costs.
One problem with crowd control prompted officials to close the Beaver Avenue/Heister Street bus stop at about 11 p.m. that Saturday. The report states hundreds of riders waited for the bus, and people were crushed against the bus when it arrived. Police closed the stop and directed riders to stops at Schlow Centre Region Library and 500 East Beaver Ave.
Police recommend closing the Beaver Canyon stop during future State Patty’s Day events.
The hospital saw more than 200 patients, about twice as many as on a normal Saturday. Of those, 103 had alcohol-related medical issues, and 34 of them were current Penn State students. The Emergency Department incurred 120 hours of extra staff time.
The report states a total $20,200 worth of damages was reported to six privately- owned apartment buildings, representing only a “small amount” of the incidents resulting in property damage that weekend.
The total cost to the Public Works Department was $15,441, including snow and ice removal, extra trash pickup and replacement of eight street signs.
The report also provides input from the community volunteer effort, in which residents walked downtown streets and offered assistance; comments from anonymous downtown businesses; and feedback from a focus group, which met in April to discuss the event.
Community volunteers recommended a buddy-system approach at warming stations, larger walking groups and better communication for signing up and assignments.
The 10 businesses gave a range of feedback, from one that saw a 45 percent increase in business that weekend to another who reported losing $5,000 to $7,000 as a result of deciding not to sell green merchandise. One business reported that it was closed, but lost $200 on a broken glass door. The report says it’s an “ongoing challenge” to get businesses to share information.
Out of the focus group, the report shows a consensus that the “most critical goal is to reduce harm and reduce the level of violence.” They also agreed other events are necessary to draw participation from State Patty’s Day.
The group also said campus programs and other alternative events should target times people will be out drinking.
Jessica VanderKolk can be reached at 235-3910.
