(From a contributor)
Because the Historic Preservation Trust of Lancaster has been unable to pay the Lancaster County Convention Center Authority the final $741,254.50 it owes to pay for work already performed inside the convention center on the Stevens, Kleiss, and Smith historic buildings, all agreements between the HPT and LCCCA are in the process of being terminated.
Lancaster History.org will sign a 20 year lease on the Stevens and Kleiss buildings, including the museum space inside the convention center, with the intention of creating a museum to replace the failed HPT project. LancasterHistory.org will be the conduit for a new Pennsylvania State DCED grant to pay the balance owed by the HPT.
The LCCCA will be seeking tenants for the vacant Smith buildings at E. Vine and S. Christian Sts., and is investigating how best to divest itself of the Swan hotel and its carriage houses along S. Christian St.
The LCCCA board approved these actions at its regularly scheduled meeting held on Thursday evening, December 16th, 2010.
It’s good to hear that the building will still be well taken care of. As a long standing citizen of SM I would like to see more of this in the future as well.
Looks like most of the same “insiders” to me using more public, DCED, money for the benefit of their own…Penn Square Partners
Our Trustees
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Kathleen A. Gray, Esq., Chair
Deborah M. Martin, Vice Chair
Robert F. Groff, Jr., Vice Chair
Timothy A. Mackey, Vice Chair
Kenneth I. Huber, Treasurer
Molly Wakefield Milner, Secretary
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Robert E. Coley
Timothy A. Mackey
Kenneth H. Richards
Kathleen A. Gray, Esq.
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Constance D. Santarelli
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Samuel M. Mecum, Esq.
Marguerite S.V. Adams
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Marguerite S.V. Adams
Kendig C. Bare
C. Richard Farmer
John B. Graybill
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W. Fred Kinsey, III, Ph.D.
Bruce P. Ryder, Esquire
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Lynn Dolan, Ph.D.
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Dale Mohler
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Penn Square Partners strikes again!!!!!!!!!!!
The real news here is that the Historic Preservation Trust – which was an integral part of the project from the beginning – is now OUT. Remember it was HPT which supported the demolition of the Watt & Shand building, which was at one time on the National Register of Historic Places (a facade does NOT qualify). Admittedly HPT did work to save the Stevens/Smith/Kleiss properties, but it then went on to support the demolition of large portions of all four historic buildings – while supporting the total demolition of the Oblender’s building, along with another historic building on E. King St. (to make room for the parking garage), BOTH of which predated Thaddeus Stevens’ offices.
The other issue worth noting is how much the HPT was expected to contribute to the overall taxpayer-financed hotel and convention center project. HPT was expected to fund not only the total renovation of the historic properties, it was also expected to fund a large area inside the convention center itself which was to be turned into a museum. The promoters of the project were counting on HPT to add something “unique” to their convention center, which might give Lancaster’s “integrated facility” some kind of advantage in a viciously competitive market. At one point, the public was promised that HPT would provide $3 million to the project for some kind of “facade easement”. An executive director was hired, along with a secretary. Plans were even made for a $20 million “educational center” across the street.
The fallacy behind all of this, of course, was the expectation that people would voluntarily contribute totals of several millions of dollars toward a project which has already consumed nearly $150 million taxpayer dollars. HPT was being used as a tool to help the people behind the taxpayer-financed hotel and convention center project build an “integrated facility” that was far more elaborate – and expensive – than economics would dictate. Unreasonable demands were placed upon HPT, expectations which it never would have had the resources to produce. As a result, for the past year and a half the HPT has for all intents and purposed been bankrupt.
Of course it is very good news that a very unpleasant situation was resolved in a relatively pleasant way (with the possible exception of yet another $756,254.50 in State tax dollars going directly to the convention center). But the real news here is how an organization which was such an integral part of the project from the beginning was used and taken advantage of (so much like all the rest of us), to the point that it ultimately failed in so many ways.