Trustees agree to sell land

By Adam Smeltz

- asmeltz@centredaily.com

WASHINGTON — Penn State trustees agreed Friday to sell as many as 159 acres for conservation and recreational use in the Centre Region.

Seventy-five of those acres will go to Ferguson Township and the Centre Region Council of Governments for $230,775 — roughly the price that Penn State paid for the land a decade ago.

The municipalities plan to build a public recreational park and sports fields there, near Blue Course Drive and between Whitehall Road and state Route 45. State money and some township funds are financing the deal, which should close in April.

Other Penn State-owned acreage — some 59 acres — will go to the State College Borough Water Authority. The authority has pledged to pay $383,500 for that land, which will remain undeveloped as a water-recharge area. It, too, is near Whitehall Road, and the price reflects what the university originally paid.

Penn State trustees also agreed to make an extra 25-acre parcel available to Ferguson Township. The township can buy the land, also near Whitehall Road, any time in the next 10 years, said Gary Schultz, the senior vice president for finance and business.

While the all parcels have “no direct strategic value to the university,” Schultz said, they could have value to the wider Centre Region community. He said that strong quality of life in the region can help Penn State recruit top-notch employees.

The university bought the land in 1999 from the Mellon Family Trust and the Richard King Mellon Foundation. The acquisition was part of a larger, $3.8 million purchase — some 1,100 acres, all in Centre County.

From the start, Schultz said, Penn State leaders have figured that the land holds long-term potential for community uses and quality-of-life improvements. So far, the university has shared or sold more than 470 of those acres for community functions.

It’s too soon to say when the new park and sports fields in Ferguson Township may be complete, township Manager Mark Kunkle said Saturday. To fund a master plan for the project, the Council of Governments is trying to secure a grant from the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

Municipal officials should hear from the DCNR within two or three months, Kunkle said. If the state delivers money for a master plan, he said, the local COG will next issue a public request for proposals.

Adam Smeltz can be reached at 231-4631.