GAZETTE THE CENTRE COUNTY
www.CentreCountyGazette.com
Let the festivals begin!
It’s that time of year as both the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts and the People’s Choice Festival of Pennsylvania Arts and Crafts get underway. Inside, there are features on both events, which take place in State College and Boalsburg, respectively./Pages 14-19
July 9-15, 2015
Volume 7, Issue 27
FREE COPY
CHAMPIONS!
Borough council paves way for 11-story building
CENTRE COUNTY SPOTLIGHT
Carroll takes pride in Kepler Pool
By ZACH BERGER StateCollege.com
STATE COLLEGE — It took a year to make its way from a local developer’s dream to an amendment passed by the borough council. On June 6, borough council members voted 6-1 in favor of the Collegiate Housing Overlay. The overlay district will allow for buildings up to 11 stories tall in the 500 block of East College Avenue, as originally proposed by Jeff Haas, the owner of Kildare’s Irish Pub. In order to reach those heights, which soar above the current maximum of seven stories, developers will need to include sustainable building features, commercial space on the first floor and two floors of graduate/professional housing. The proposal came with plenty of controversy as it made its way through borough government, and the June 6 vote was no exception. A number of residents came to the meeting to speak about the amendment, bringing mixed reviews ahead of council’s big decision. David Stone, who recently attempted a council run before losing in the primary, said he wishes the overlay covered more ground and looked more extensively at zoning in the downtown area. “I think there’s a lost opportunity to bring the community together around a more positive vision of how we can develop the town,” he said. “Unfortunately, that didn’t happen and we’re just considering one block here.” Peg Hambrick, who lives in the Highlands area of town, has no problem with development, but wants to see it come from community members, not developers such as Haas. “I am not anti-development and I am not antideveloper,” she said. “I think we have to start asking developers and incentivizing them to come forward with plans that we have made in our community. We need public partnerships with private entities and we need to ask them to fulfill our vision.” Susan Venegoni spoke on behalf of the Highlands Civic Association, which has largely been opposed to the Collegiate Housing Overlay. She took issue with the inclusion of graduate students in the incentives for extra floors. “I’ve followed this plan very closely,” she said. “I think this sets a very bad precedent, particularly in that graduate students are considered professionals. I think that’s a slippery slope.” On the other side of the debate, student representative Shawn Bengali spoke on behalf of the undergraduate student government, which reviewed the overlay proposal and supports the concept. “After studying the overlay, myself and the executive branch have come to the decision that we support it because it’s beneficial to both the students and the member of the community,” he said. “The Council, Page 4
By MATTHEW FELDMAN correspondent@centrecountygazette.com
Photo courtesy gopsusports.com
FORMER PENN STATERS Alyssa Naeher and Ali Krieger celebrate the United States’ 5-2 victory over Japan in the World Cup Final on July 5. The United States women captured their first World Cup title since 1999. For more on Krieger, see Page 3.
Bellefonte dedicates bridge in grand style By CHRIS MORELLI editor@centrecountygazette.com
BELLEFONTE — Bellefonte residents turned out in force for a recent bridge dedication ceremony, which took place downtown following the Logan Fire Company Parade. A large crowd watched as the High Street Bridge officially became Veterans Bridge. Debra Burger, the driving force behind the name change, said that it was a picture-perfect evening in Bellefonte for the ceremony. “It turned out so wonderful,” Burger said. “The veterans were so appreciative. There were a lot of teary-eyed veterans. A lot of them said they weren’t sure that they wanted to participate in it … that it would bring back memories. But they were so glad that they did. They really felt honored by it.” Approximately 70 veterans acted as grand marshals in the parade. At the ceremony, there were emotional speeches by Army veterans Carol Clark-Baney and Pastor Calvin Miller. State Rep. Kerry Benninghoff, R-
Bellefonte, and U.S. Rep. Glenn “GT” Thompson, R-Howard Township, were also on hand for the ceremony. “Today, we rededicate this bridge as hallowed ground,” Thompson told the crowd. “Today, we commemorate this bridge to all who have answered the call to service. “What a fitting tribute, given that so many from our communities first answered this call to service crossing over this bridge as they boarded trains for training and deployment. For most, crossing this bridge a second time marked a return to loved ones and families following their service. For a few, they’ve yet to return.” As the parade snaked its way through Bellefonte, there was red, white and blue everywhere. The Bellefonte Area High School football team handed out small U.S. flags to spectators along the route prior to the parade. “Everyone went out of their way to make this a very nice parade,” Burger said. “The streets were lined with Bridge, Page 4
BELLEFONTE — The family atmosphere and child-friendly environment were two things that drew Raymond Carroll to the Centre County YMCA, and it began with a pair of shoes. Seventeen years ago, Carroll moved to central Pennsylvania from Yeadon, a suburb of Philadelphia. As the manager of a retail business, he interacted with children a lot, but one such interaction was particularly meaningful. Carroll was waiting on a mother and her son, and the mother refused to buy the son the shoes he wanted for school because he didn’t know how to tie them. Naturally, Carroll knelt down and began to teach the boy. Little by little, the boy learned. A month later, that same boy came running in the store to tell him that he still knew how to tie his own shoes. “That was when I knew that, after 13 years in retail management, I had to find something that would give me that same feeling of pride in what I do,” Carroll said. Carroll, Page 5
TIM WEIGHT/For the Gazette
TAKING PRIDE: Raymond Carroll oversees the Kepler Pool for the Centre County YMCA.
‘We Are’ sculpture installed at Penn State By ALEXA LEWIS
correspondent@centrecountygazette.com
UNIVERSITY PARK — A new sculpture at University Park has brought Penn State’s “We Are” chant to three-dimensional life. The sculpture — which is the gift of the Class of 2013 — was unveiled on June 30 at the northwest corner of Curtin Road and University Drive beside the Intramural building, according to the Associated Press. The artwork, which spells out “We Are” in letters made of steel and sits on a concrete base, stands at 12 feet. “There is a lot of pride and history and lore behind the ‘We Are’ chant, and it conveys that sense of unity among all Penn Staters,” Geoff Hallet, the university’s director of student and recent graduate giving, told the Associated Press. The words to the alma mater in Fred Lewis Police ................................ 2 Opinion ............................ 7
Pattee’s original handwriting are also inscribed across the steel letters. Pattee, who was a professor of American literature at Penn State, wrote the words to the alma mater in 1901, according to Penn State’s website. In addition to the words “We Are,” the 2013 Senior Class Gift Committee also wanted to include the alma mater’s lyrics into the design of the sculpture, said Morgan Delaware, who was the committee’s overall chair for the class of 2013. “It was one year after the (Sandusky) scandal broke, so we wanted a reminder of who we were and what we stood for,” said Delaware, who now works at Penn State Hershey as the assistant director of the annual campaign. After an application process, the 2013 Senior Class Gift Committee selected Penn State alumnus and Brooklyn-based artist Jonathan Cramer to design the statue. “We loved the way his design was not like
Health & Wellness ......... 8, 9 Education ....................... 10
Community ............... 11-13 Arts Festivals ............. 14-19
anything else that was on campus,” said Delaware, who was referring to many aspects of the sculpture, including the reflective material that Cramer chose for the body of the sculpture. That material allows people to see their reflections in the “We Are” letters, serving as a visual reminder of “who we are” and what Penn State stands for, Delaware said. While Delaware explained that the sculpture sends a unique message, it is not the first monument on campus given to the university as a class gift. Starting with the Class of 1861, graduating classes have given gifts to the university. TIM WEIGHT/For the Gazette These gifts include the Lion Shrine, given SIGN OF THE TIMES: A new sculpture by the Class of 1940, and the Allen Street appeared on the University Park Gates, which were presented by the Class of campus at the end of June. The “We 1916. Sculpture, Page 5
Sports ......................... 20-24 Arts & Entertainment 25, 26
Are” piece is a gift from the Class of 2013.
What’s Happening .... 26, 27 Puzzles ............................ 28
Business ..................... 29, 30 Classified ........................ 31