‘There’s joy in Happy Valley today.’ State College businesses react to full capacity at Beaver Stadium
Happy Valley’s hallmark is almost back.
Beaver Stadium, along with Penn State’s other athletic venues, are set to return to full capacity in the fall, the university’s athletic department announced Tuesday. More than 107,000 fans could pile into the world’s fourth-largest stadium for the first time in more than 650 days.
College Avenue could be flooded with fans wearing blue and white. Recreational vehicles embellished with Nittany Lions’ flags could be stationed in fields that have sat empty.
Beleaguered businesses that sit on an about one-mile stretch in downtown State College, meanwhile, could welcome back fans looking to make new memories instead of reminiscing on what life used to be like.
“This is fabulous news. It sort of signals that the financial nightmare is over — almost,” Happy Valley Adventure Bureau President and CEO Fritz Smith said Tuesday. “... This puts an exclamation point on the fact that Happy Valley is open again. It puts a smile on a lot of faces.”
The university’s announcement led to a moment of “pure joy” for the hospitality industry, Smith said. Restaurants, bars and hotels were limited by the state’s COVID-19 restrictions, which largely expired Monday.
That allows restaurants to get back to “hospitality at its finest” instead of policing for potential violations, Hotel State College & Company Operations Director Curtis Shulman said.
The restrictions were important, Shulman said, but were also beyond many restaurants’ bailiwick. The company operates a handful of downtown State College businesses, including The Corner Room, the Allen Street Grill and Bill Pickle’s Tap Room.
“When you’re focused so much on different guidelines and rules, it just adds a layer of policing and enforcement that’s not really in our day-to-day effort. It’s exciting to get back to really focusing on smiles, good times and making Happy Valley what Happy Valley is,” Shulman said. “This is a huge win for our town. Just as much as it’s been a bummer for us, it’s been a big drag on a lot of people emotionally in town. There’s some really big inherent victories in getting back to normal, as scary as it can be.”
Even Faccia Luna owner Bill McFadden — who said Penn State football games that don’t start at noon “kill” business at his Italian restaurant — welcomed the announcement.
He, like Smith, acknowledged the overriding — if not overboard — importance of Penn State football in the region.
“After a year and a half of some pretty relentless bad news, this was the shot in the arm that we needed. We’ve been getting some progressively better news as we’ve gone along, but this one is in a category of its own,” Smith said. “There’s joy in Happy Valley today.”