PSU Altoona eyes downtown initiatives

Penn State Altoona Chancellor Lori Bechtel-Wherry wouldn't describe Thursday the college's plans for the former Wedding World property downtown - where the city has forgiven a lien to accommodate a Penn State project.

That would be "premature," Bechtel-Wherry said after she spoke at the Blair County Chamber of Commerce Breakfast Club meeting.

She spoke of three downtown initiatives that may be possibilities for that location at 11th Avenue and 13th Street.

The most likely possibility seems to be the entrepreneurial fellowship program the college is developing, thanks to a $2.5 million gift from Altoona businessman Steve Sheetz and his wife, Nancy.

Another is the rail and transit engineering degree program the college is developing to take advantage of a growing need for engineers in the railroad industry.

The third is the visual arts program. Its primary location will be a former church on West Chestnut Avenue, well outside of downtown - but which could use downtown housing for students and storefronts to display student art.

Downtown has struggled to reinvent itself but seems to have found a formula for success with "meds and eds" - relying most heavily on the Station Medical Center to anchor the medical side and Penn State Altoona to anchor the education side, Center City Coordinator Bob Scholl said.

Penn State came downtown not only to revitalize the heart of the community but also to help it solve problems with lack of space for housing, classrooms, offices, activity areas, research labs, library space and places for recreation and hanging out, Bechtel-Wherry said.

Having established a beachhead at 12th Avenue and 15th Street with the Devorris Downtown Center, the Aaron Building and the Kazmaier Family Building, the college has been looking at other possibilities mainly between 13th and 15th streets and 11th and 12th avenues, Bechtel-Wherry said.

There are challenges, including parking, housing, transit, security, policing and "brand identification," she said.

The college said it has answered the challenges with its work with the Altoona Parking Authority to reserve spaces. It also has benefited from private development of student housing, signed mutual aid agreements with city and township police and painted paw prints to stake out the sidewalk in front of the Devorris Center.

Bechtel-Wherry projected humility to chamber members.

"This isn't Penn State Altoona's gig," she said. "None of what we are doing would be possible without the help of others" - including city elected officials and staff, development officials, businesses and various components of the college.

The entrepreneurial center program will go somewhere downtown "under the Sheetz name," Bechtel-Wherry said.

The college previously said the program will seek to instill in students ethical principles and leadership, teach them how to think critically and carry out independent research, show them how to communicate effectively and instruct them in multi-cultural awareness.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 949-7038.