A new State College council could give life to defeated Summers on Allen proposal
A new State College Borough Council could give life to the defeated “Summers on Allen” proposal.
Deanna Behring, assistant dean and director of international programs at Penn State’s College of Agricultural Sciences, and Peter Marshall, former borough manager, were sworn in as council members Monday afternoon, along with returning council members Jesse Barlow and Janet Engeman.
During the new council’s first meeting, former council President Evan Myers put Summers on Allen on next Monday’s agenda.
Summers on Allen, which council voted down 4-3 last month, would have turned the 100 block of South Allen Street into a pedestrian plaza for eight weeks between Penn State graduation and Central Pennsylvania 4th Fest. Funded by a $135,000 Knight Foundation grant, the proposal from Groznik PR and Centre Foundation would make the area a “pop-up park” with seating, landscaping, a children’s play area, performance stage and programming for the space.
“I strongly supported this initiative then, in December ... and have been inundated with nothing but support to have this program put in place,” said Myers.
Though the proposal had apparent wide community support during a public hearing Dec. 2, the four members of council who voted against the plan expressed concerns with safety, parking, traffic and amount of programming.
Now, two of those council members — Catherine Dauler and David Brown — have left council. Dauler did not run for reelection, and Brown did not secure enough votes in the May primary to get on the ballot in November.
Barlow, who was elected council president by a vote of 5-2 Monday, said he, Myers and council member Dan Murphy saw an opportunity to reintroduce Summers on Allen with a new council. All three voted in favor of the proposal.
“There seems to be a better chance of (Summers on Allen) passing,” Barlow said. Last month, “we just didn’t have the votes. And it’s been a tough sell for years with council. ... One thing that makes it easier to sell this time might be that there’s the money for it.”
Behring, who said she looks forward to creating partnerships for innovation and “smart growth,” is generally in favor of Summers on Allen.
“It is the type of community innovation and community space use that I think is really important to keep a community vibrant,” she said. “So I think doing a short term experiment like (Summers on Allen) is something I would support.”
Her only reservation is the lack of baseline data from last summer to compare against an eight-week closure this summer. That data, while serving as a decision making tool for impact, would be important to determine whether the closure is “good or bad for business.”
Molly Kunkle, executive director of Centre Foundation, said if the Summers on Allen proposal is approved this month, the project can still go on.
“I’m excited that they’re going to be reconsidering it,” she said. “If it’s on the agenda for next week and we could get a vote next week, that would be great.”
The next State College Borough Council meeting is 7 p.m. Jan. 13 in Council Chambers.
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