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Student to create final plaza design

Officials looking to redesign Heritage Plaza

Officials who have been working with Penn State landscape architecture students on a redesign of Heritage Plaza are hoping the Pennsylvania Railroad mailcar near the back of the plaza can help deliver new life to downtown’s central gathering space.

Repurposing the mailcar — long used for storage — is one of the most interesting ideas the subcommittee found among 33 competing designs the students submitted in the spring, according to local architect Rick Karcher, a member of the Greater Altoona Economic Development Corp. subcommittee that evaluated the proposals.

The repurposing and other features favored by the committee could become part of a final design created by the student whose initial design included more of those favored features than the design of any of the other students, according to Karcher.

The subcommittee is compiling a document that outlines the collected elements it favors from all the original designs in preparation for a meeting with that student and other participants in the plaza project, including city officials, said GAEDC member Marla Marcinko at a recent corporation meeting.

The subcommittee hopes the student can complete the final hybrid design during the holidays, so the subcommittee can present it to the community in January, in hopes of inspiring donations that would enable the city to execute the design, Karcher said.

The subcommittee may seek permission to pay the student a stipend, Karcher said.

A second student whose original proposal also included favored elements may participate, Karcher said.

The subcommittee had urged the students to think unconventionally, he said.

Proposals for the mailcar include turning it into a store or a restaurant — maybe a diner, Karcher said.

Other favored proposals include additional green space and a fountain, which would not only satisfy the desire to bring water to the space, but also create a “kinetic” element and sculptural qualities, according to Karcher.

The members want something that will last, he said.

They also want something that won’t be “a maintenance nightmare,” Marcinko said.

The improvements should include the city’s abandonment of the alley thoroughfare that cuts through the plaza in front of the mailcar, so that space can be fully incorporated into the plaza, Karcher said.

The changes must allow for continuation of the farmers market, Karcher said.

The improvements to the plaza ultimately could become an impetus for “a lot of other growth to occur,” Karcher said.

In preparation for changes, city workers have removed a damaged bench from the plaza, according to GAEDC CEO Patrick Miller.

Workers had previously removed other damaged benches.

Workers have also placed large rocks in front of the mural on the side of the Saleme Insurance building to augment the landscaping and deter skateboarding, Miller said.

And workers have pruned trees in the back of the plaza to help clear the way for better use of that space, Miller said.

The plan for now is to use the platform of the mailcar — which is bigger than officials realized — as a stage for concerts and other performances in the plaza, he said.

Previously, performers have used temporary stages closer to 11th Avenue.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 949-7038.

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