DSI gets planner approval for innovation center, parking lot near M&T Bank
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - A banner for the planned innovation center on Main Street adorns the fence of its future site on March 15, 2023. Shenandoah planners approved the final land development plan for the lot Wednesday.
SHENANDOAH – Downtown Shenandoah, Inc.’s planned innovation center on the former Davison’s and Thunder Road lot, as well as a parking lot on the former Emporium lot, received planner approval Wednesday.
The Shenandoah Planning Commission met Wednesday to vote on a final lot consolidation and land development plan for the Center for Education, Business, and the Arts (CEBA), the innovation center Downtown Shenandoah, Inc. has been working towards since 2016.
The 21,300 square foot facility will be built in the 100 block of North Main Street, across from the A.P. Damato Post. The lots have been vacant since a 2006 fire destroyed the former Davison’s Furniture building and a 2012 fire destroyed the Thunder Road nightclub.
The center will include a commercial kitchen, event center with catering kitchen, Penn State classroom, DSI offices, co-working maker and office spaces, according to its website.
According to the plans reviewed at Wednesday’s meeting, the facility will have a small parking lot and loading dock fronted on North Market Street.
An additional parking lot for the center was also approved by planners at Wednesday’s meeting.
DSI plans to build a parking lot between M&T Bank and the Blue Sky Chinese restaurant on South Main Street, which would serve the center about a block and a half away. The parking lot will be fronted on Ferguson Street, and no vehicles would enter or exit on Main Street.
The Schuylkill County Planning Commission endorsed the DSI’s plans at their February meeting.
Shenandoah’s planners — Charles Vascavage, Joe Boris, and Gary Hronec, approved the plans unanimously.
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