Nearly 100 gather for innovation center groundbreaking downtown
KAYLEE LINDENMUTH / SHENANDOAH SENTINEL - The ceremonial groundbreaking is held at the future site of the Center for Education, Business, and the Arts on April 18, 2024. From L-R: Susan Williams, DSI Executive Director; Ted Twardzik, Ateeco, Inc; Mary Luscavage, former DSI executive director; Tom Twardzik, Ateeco Inc.; Rep. Tim Twardzik; Rep. Dane Watro; Karen Kenderdine, DSI President; Sen. David G. Argall; Joe Boris, Shenandoah Council President.
SHENANDOAH – “It shows you that we may not win the game, but we never lose a fight in Shenandoah.”
That is how Rep. Tim Twardzik (R-123), a Shenandoah native, described the nearly decade-long effort leading to Thursday’s groundbreaking at the future site of the Center for Education, Business, and the Arts (CEBA).
The center will be built in the 100 block of North Main Street, covering the empty lots left behind when Davison’s Furniture Store and the Thunder Road nightclub burned.
Downtown Shenandoah, Inc. has been fundraising and working towards the project since at least 2016, when the first community meeting on the subject was held.
DSI members, borough, state, and county dignitaries, among many other community members gathered at the Market Street side of the property to break ground on the $7 Million first phase of the project.
Karen Kenderdine, president of DSI, said 40% of the project is funding by private donations.
“That’s unheard of. We are very grateful to every person and company that has given money to us,” Kenderdine said.
Some of those donors included Mid Penn Bank, PPL, the Anczarski family, the Twardzik family, and more.
The remainder is funded by state and federal economic development grants.
The three story building will include a small business incubator on the lower level, as well as DSI offices, a commercial kitchen, job training offices, and a Penn State classroom on the first floor.
The first floor will be level with Main Street, while the lower level will be level with Market Street.
Kenderdine revealed Thursday that Lehigh Carbon Community College and the Primary Health Network have also signed on to utilize the center. The former would be the first community college to have a physical presence in Shenandoah in decades, if ever, while the latter is currently in the former Movie Gallery building on the west end.
Those tenants will “make this building a success and help our community move onward and upward,” Kenderdine said.
Eric Mika, one of the founders of DSI, was not able to make it to the ceremony but provided a statement to Kenderdine to read.
“It is unprecedented in my lifetime for the borough of Shenandoah, a gamechanger and profound catalyst for returning Shenandoah to prominence. Not like the prominence of yesteryear but a new innovative and economic prominence,” Mika wrote. “DSI’s endless devotion and selfless efforts and leadership have proven the naysayers wrong. Shenandoah yesterday and today can accomplish anything.”
“[The people of Shenandoah] can be tough, feisty, certainly fiercely opinionated and quick to shoot from the hip, but if you show them you genuinely care, they are very proud, loyal, and God-fearing individuals who’ll give you the shirt off their back when their community is in need. It is just Shenandoah’s culture,” Mika added.
CEBA is the first new-construction building in downtown Shenandoah in nearly a quarter century. The last new commercial buildings downtown were Rite Aid in 2000, the Pottsville Internists Associates (now Shenandoah Ambulance) building in 1990, Rite Aid again (now Shenandoah One Stop) in 1988, and Burger King in 1988.
State Senator David G. Argall (R-29) surmised that the building is the biggest economic boost to Shenandoah since the pierogi.
“No one is going to say that this is an easy project,” Argall said, “but certainly no one is going to say that it wasn’t desperately needed.”
“We’re looking forward to coming back again, and again, and again to see this beautiful structure breathe new life into this proud little town,” Argall added.
CEBA has consistently been described as “a game-changer for the anthracite region,” offering a wide variety of services and spaces for entrepreneurs, businesses, and the community alike.
“Your hard work, dedication, and commitment have led to this remarkable milestone in Shenandoah’s future,” Shenandoah Borough Council President Joe Boris said. “Your perseverance, talent, and dedication have clearly paid off.”
The first phase of construction is set to be completed by Wagman Construction, of York.
Construction will formally begin next month and should wrap up in 2025.
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