Rev. Louis A. Butcher, Jr.’s column on March 8th entitled “Honoring a life of public service” eulogizes former State Representative and long time Senator Gibson E. Armstrong.
“Having served in his last position as the powerful chairman of the Appropriations Committee, Gibson Armstrong recently retired from the Senate, leaving an admirable legacy of accomplishments for Lancaster. Among what he considers his greatest achievements was convincing the governor to redirect unused funds to Clipper Magazine Stadium development. He was also please to shepherd major funding for the Pennsylvania Academy of Music, the Lancaster County Convention Center, Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology renovations, and restoration of the downtown Stevens & [Lydia Hamilton Smith] Historical Site.”
WATCHDOG:
One person certainly can impact history and, for Lancaster, Armstrong is an example. He moved heaven and earth by hook and by possibly crook to enable the development of the Convention Center Project.
We must live with that project, whatever its outcome, but can only speculate how much better off Lancaster may have been if state funds were used for other, possibly worthier, purposes.
Had more funds been directed to the Pennsylvania Music Academy, rather than being saddled with heavy debt, it could be moving forward to become a leading high school music campus, using the likely to soon become moribund Brunswick Hotel as dormitories, cafeteria, practice areas, performance hall, fitness facilities, and lounges. Downtown Lancaster would have become both a local and a tourist destination and shops and cafes would have flourished.
Also, the Lancaster Public Library (Duke Street) would be moving ahead with its remodeling and expansion had not the promised $3.5 million in earmarked funds been diverted to offset cost overruns on the Convention Center Project. Improvements to the library would have benefited a likely two thousand Lancastrians each day.
Time will tell whether Armstrong capped his career with triumph or folly. We hope it will be the former. But we have our doubts.
