Downtown State College street to transform into summer pop-up park. What to know
A portion of Hiester Street in downtown State College will have a long-term closure between May and August, and transform into a “seasonal pop-up park” with live music, public art and community programming, sponsored by the Downtown State College Improvement District.
The State College borough council on Thursday enthusiastically approved the closure and granted an open container ordinance waiver for what will be called the East End Social. The closure is scheduled to take place from 7 a.m. May 11 through 11 p.m. Aug. 3.
Lee Anne Jeffries, executive director of the Downtown State College Improvement District, said they’ve been working on this program for more than a year and a half, and received some grant funding to support the infrastructure pieces. They’re still seeking additional funding for some of the programming and working to figure out what that will look like.
They regularly hear from community members who don’t fully feel welcome or connected to the downtown, and reflect a broader national trend, Jeffries said. She cited recent studies that show social disconnection defines the American experience, and that’s what they’re looking at and seeing in downtown State College.
“Nearly half of Americans report low levels of social support, trust, difficulty connecting across differences, and lower life satisfaction. It’s not just a social challenge. We see this as a place making opportunity in downtown State College,” she said. “At the improvement district, every program we create is intentionally designed to be welcoming and accessible, but as we plan for the future, we are thinking more intentionally about how to foster connection and how to create a true third place beyond work and home, and how to cultivate a culture of community play.”
She described East End Social as a seasonal, free and inclusive place making activation, that is designed to function as a welcoming pocket park for all. The East End Social will help highlight the east end and new businesses in downtown, Jeffries said.
The DSCID is working with Comet Properties, who wanted to spearhead this event on Hiester Street because a lot of their properties are in that area and wanted to highlight the businesses. Erica Quinn is working as a consultant on the project and helping manage it, and the State College Redevelopment Authority is the government partner.
They’ll transform Hiester Street between College Avenue and Calder Way into the seasonal pop-up park, with a launch date of May 15.
Making Hiester Street a ‘living room’
Quinn said the inspiration for the project came from looking at similar sized communities across the country and thinking about how to utilize public space to create connections between people in the community. Sidney Friedman Park is a great resource, she said, but it’s kind of tucked away.
“We were thinking about what is a way to engage some kind of ephemeral green space on the east end of town?” Quinn said. “We’re really interested in utilizing what’s right now kind of an underutilized space. We’ve been watching for the last couple years, the way business is starting to turn over in that east end. And there’s always been this emphasis on the western side of town, and so just pulling some of that activity over to the eastern side.”
They think this will be a good solution for the lulls that business owners face during summer due to the population change and different construction projects that impact growth, Quinn said.
Infrastructure wise, everything will be temporary, so nothing will be permanently affixed to the asphalt or public space, but will still be sturdy and up for the summer, and stored away in the off-months. Quinn said they’re envisioning a stage similar to the MLK stage and MLK Plaza.
“We’re also working with not just local business owners, but also local community groups, different artists in the community, and we really want people to think of this as their living room. So in conversations that we’re having with community groups and businesses, saying, ‘What would you do if you had a patio for the summer that you didn’t have to be in charge of setting up, paying for, cleaning up,’” Quinn said.
Part of her job will also be creating a rotating community calendar so people can understand how to book and use the space.
The open container ordinance waiver is to allow them to hold a summer happy hour series. Quinn expects there to be a handful of them throughout the summer.
The borough council applauded the project and its vision, and talked about the positive impact it will be for the downtown area. Council president Evan Myers said there are other areas that could work well for this, too.
“I think there are other spots this would work as well in State College downtown. So at least we’re getting started,” Myers said, “And I’ll go back in time, it was applied to a different type of thing, but I’ll take a phrase from the late 60s, and the streets belong to the people. So we got it.”
Council member Kevin Kassab said the project will be a great addition to the downtown.
“This is fantastic. I’m so excited that this is finally coming to reality,” he said.
