Entrepreneur Center proposed for Downtown Shenandoah
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SENTINEL PHOTO - /SENTINEL PHOTO - Bill Fontana, Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Downtown Center, speaks at the Shenandoah Valley School District auditorium on Wednesday, October 27th, 2016
SHENANDOAH – A crowd of over 70 attended a town hall meeting at the Shenandoah Valley School District Auditorium on Wednesday evening to discuss the proposal of an Entrepreneur Center in Downtown Shenandoah. The meeting was held by Downtown Shenandoah, Inc. and the Pennsylvania Downtown Center.
“Welcome to Shenandoah Valley High School, we thank you all for coming here tonight. We are very proud of our little town, and our little group, Downtown Shenandoah, Inc. One of our primary missions is to rid the town of blight, and since April, we’ve been working very hard with the Pennsylvania Downtown Center and DCED. DSI purchased some vacant blighted land, and they are assisting us in doing a very exciting, wonderful project that we believe is very much needed, not only in Shenandoah, but in our county, and it will move all of us onward and upward.” Karen Kenderdine said as she began the program. She proceeded to introduce PDC Executive Director Bill Fontana.
Fontana gave a brief description of what PDC is and what their mission is, describing the organization as a statewide non-profit organization assisting communities with revitalization projects.
Fontana compared Anthracite region communities to communities in Western Pennsylvania, stating the issues they face are similar.
“And so about 12 years ago, our organization said… part of what we need to do is to help communities deal with specific pieces of property, specific buildings, specific projects that will have a transformative effect on that community,” Fontana stated, citing a restoration project in Oil City, Venango County where PDC worked with the property owner and developer to bring businesses back to a building which sat vacant for 10 years.
Fontana noted the idea of a housing project was first brought up, but noted the percentage of vacant housing in the borough and said “Wouldn’t, in fact, it make more sense for us to try to do something in Shenandoah that would be transformative, not just for Shenandoah, but for all of Upper Schuylkill County, and for that matter… we’re talking about something that can be transformative for communities west all the way to the Susquehanna River.”
Fontana also noted that similar projects aren’t occurring in the smaller boroughs of Pennsylvania. He noted the change in available jobs in the country, and the growing trend of youth moving to cities to pursue jobs that aren’t available in the region. “Shenandoah, that was 30,000 people in 1950 and is 5,000 today, what will that be in 20 years? What will be left here in 20 years for the heritage that you have all built here?
Fontana outlined the idea for an “innovation, entrepreneurship, and events center”. The center, which would be constructed on the former site of Davison’s Furniture and Thunder Road at 113-119 N Main Street.
The center would have an events center for weddings, family reunions, and corporate meetings in a modern setting, as well as a commercial kitchen for local residents to produce food products to sell. The center would also have “Co-Working Space”, for people who work from home or telecommute and need supportive office services. The center would also have “Incubators”, for businesses who need accounting services, technical assistance, bookkeeping, “All of those kind of things that would make your business more successful, and maybe get you into a storefront on Main Street” Fontana outlined.
The center would be three stories with parking underneath at the North Market Street level.
Fontana stated two architects visited the site today and will draft plans for the building.
Schuylkill Economic Development Corp. President Frank Zukas had concerns about the three story design, stating that it isn’t the most economical option, given the cost of elevator maintenance and insurance, if commercial services are on the third floor.
Following the meeting, Fontana asked the audience to fill out a form if they were interested in a business space or hosting an event at the proposed center.
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