Ribbon cut on new Highridge travel plaza decades in the making
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - Confetti flies as the burrito is cut at the Onvo Travel Plaza in Cass Township on Oct. 22, 2024.
HIGHRIDGE – A quarter-century ago, the Schuylkill County Economic Development Corporation (SEDCO) and PennDOT made an agreement.
PennDOT planned two full rest stops in the county, replacing two bare-bones rest stops at Pine Grove and Mahanoy City. Frank Zukas, president of SEDCO, said as the Highridge Industrial Park was being developed, a second way out of the park was needed to entice development.
So, SEDCO and PennDOT reached an agreement: if PennDOT builds an Interstate 81 interchange at what is now Highridge Park Road with the funding earmarked for the two rest stops, SEDCO will build a larger travel plaza via private development.
Well, half of that happened. PennDOT built the interchange, decommissioned the rest area at Pine Grove, and converted the rest area at Mahanoy City to a weigh station, creating a 76 mile gap between state-maintained rest areas along I-81.
“Ultimately, PennDOT sued us,” Zukas said, leading to a settlement after two years and the abandonment of specifications provided by PennDOT. “The promise of the facility got the interchange built, and I think it gave us the ability to build to a much larger scale than we’d ever thought.”
About 5,000 people work in the industrial park’s facilities today, Zukas said, and, 25 years later, there is finally a travel plaza open for business in the park.
“I tried to find if the attorney that sued us for PennDOT was still working, but he retired,” Zukas said. “I wanted to invite him here to say ‘I told you we would build it.'”
Tuesday marked the formal ribbon cutting on the Onvo travel plaza at Highridge Park Road and Keystone Boulevard.
Prior to the ribbon cutting was a ceremonial burrito cutting, celebrating the companies entry into the made-to-order food business and becoming the first gas station with such offerings to open on or north of the mountain in Schuylkill County.
Robert Carl, President of the Schuylkill Chamber, commended Zukas for his work to develop the industrial park and the travel plaza.
“SEDCO has done a tremendous job of bringing 50 Fortune 500 companies to Schuylkill County,” Carl said.
Dozens of people came out for the event, including many employees and managers from the plants in the park.
Carl said the Onvo plaza will create about 75 jobs. Along with the in-house made-to-order program, the facility also features a full-service Burger King.
The company also made two check presentations.
They presented a $2,500 check to the Gordon AMVETS post and a $2,500 check to Cass Township.
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