An Allen Street pedestrian plaza could be on the horizon. Here’s what it would look like
An updated proposal for South Allen Street to temporarily become a pedestrian plaza made an appearance at the State College Borough Council meeting Monday night.
Presented by Brad Groznik on behalf of Groznik PR, Centre Foundation and the Downtown State College Improvement District, the plan — called “Summers On Allen” — proposes transforming the 100 block of South Allen Street into a “pop-up park” with seating, landscaping, a children’s play area, performance stage and more attractions.
“I believe the town will benefit. ... I believe that this will create a significant draw downtown for families visiting the Centre Region. I believe businesses will see an increase in sales,” said Groznik.
Funded through a roughly $100,000 Knight Foundation grant secured by Centre Foundation, the pedestrian plaza would close South Allen Street from May 11 to July 5, reopening in time for the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts to set up.
Boalsburg-based company Landscape II — which sets up Allen Street for Arts Fest — will create the pop-up space, said Groznik.
Twenty of 22 business owners on Allen Street support the plan, he said. Woodring’s Florals and Rapid Transit Sports were against the proposal, though Groznik did not elaborate on why.
Businesses like McLanahan’s, Jersey Mike’s, Sauly Boys, Champs Downtown, Local Whiskey and Hotel State College will take deliveries on Beaver and College avenues, Calder Alley or Kelly Alley, he said.
The loading zone in front of The Corner Room on College Avenue would be lengthened to 75 feet each morning by bagging additional parking meters, he said, and a permanent loading zone will be created at the intersections of Allen Street and Beaver and College avenues.
Seating in the pedestrian plaza will accommodate up to 100 people with Adirondack-type chairs and cafe tables and chairs, he said. The children’s play area will include a mister and a small performance area with a stage and sound system will be set up.
Regular programming in the plaza will include weekend events like the JAM Fest from Jana Marie Foundation, Happy Valley Music Festival, We Are Weekend, Rotary Ice Cream Fest, Central Pennsylvania Theatre and Dance Fest and Central PA 4thFest, Groznik said.
Ideas for new weekend events include a community dinner, a wellness weekend with yoga and fitness competitions and a local music showcase. Some ideas for weekday events include a family board game night, kids craft time, salsa dancing lessons, rock band karaoke contest and a mini-golf tournament.
Groznik PR and the DSCID will advertise the plaza through the website SummersOnAllen.com, posters and social media accounts. They will monitor the plaza’s success by counting the number of daily visitors, evaluating parking statistics downtown, conducting a public survey and speaking with businesses about sales during the eight weeks.
To cordon off the plaza, water barriers will be located at the intersections of College Avenue, Calder Alley and Beaver Avenue. For drivers, a traffic control sign will be placed on College and Beaver avenues one block before South Allen Street advising drivers of no left turns ahead.
Though councilwoman Janet Engeman had some accessibility concerns, Borough Manager Tom Fountaine said the water barriers would be constructed so as not to disrupt wheelchair users or mobility-impaired people. Both Alpha Fire Company and Centre LifeLink EMS approved the plan and said they could move water barriers in case of emergency, said Groznik.
A security guard from St. Moritz Security Services will be on duty patrolling the plaza from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. every night.
Councilwoman Theresa Lafer derided the project, saying it was “nothing new, it’s nothing special, it’s merely disruptive.”
Creating a pedestrian plaza would not add anything, she said, as many of the events planned could be moved to parks.
“I just think it’s a shame that this lovely grant is being used to make more of what we have instead of improving what we already have,” she said.
But councilman Dan Murphy commended the plan for creating more public spaces for people to gather. Several council members said a version of Groznik’s proposal had been done successfully in other cities and towns and could work in State College.
“I think we should try it out and see. If it doesn’t work we’re gonna know right away,” said Councilman Jesse Barlow.
Councilwoman Catherine Dauler said programming for the space would be important for its success. While Groznik agreed, he he said there would be many days with no planned programming.
“We don’t believe this should have programming all the time. We believe we’d be creating a space in the public and the community will find ways to use it,” he said.
In the meantime, Summers On Allen hopes to form a community of six to eight people from government, the community, businesses and Penn State to steer planning. They also want to host community meetings to gather ideas for what brings people downtown, and they aim to reach out to nonprofits, businesses and organizations to partner on events and programming.
A previous application to turn the block into a pedestrian mall was withdrawn in May 2018, with Centre Foundation and the DSCID saying the project needed more community input.
Public comment on the proposal is scheduled for Dec. 2 and a vote on the proposal will be taken Dec. 16.
This story was originally published October 15, 2019 at 6:57 AM.