Pa. official comes to Aston to get update on development

On a whirlwind tour Tuesday in none other than a Neumann University bus, Rick Vilello, deputy secretary for community affairs and development for the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development, got treated to township highlights from the growing art district to the fire house pegged for a $1 million expansion.

At the end of June, Aston Commissioner Carol Graham met Vilello at the First Class Township Commissioners Conference and he talked about how they help with planning and obtaining grants for community revitalization.

“We sort of have a revitalization going on in the art district,” she said of the Rockdale section where former mills are being transformed into art spaces. “We don’t know what to do and we don’t really have the money to do it.”

So, she asked if the state could help and Vilello told her he’d come out.

State Rep. Leanne Krueger-Braneky, D-161 of Swarthmore, said the tour gave Vilello gave him an opportunity to see all the work in action.

Just last week, the Aston Township Fire Department received a $1 million Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant to quadruple the size of its Dutton Mill Road firehouse. When completed, the new firehouse will have six fire truck bays, two bays for emergency medical services, new office space, meeting rooms, bunk rooms, a recreation room and space for storage and equipment.

State Sen. Tom Killion, R-9 of Middletown, said it helps to have Harrisburg officials physically see the area so that when legislators approach them about particular projects, they have a better familiarity with it.

Vilello, who grew up in Upper Darby, agreed that collaboration at all levels is a key to positive development.

“It’s everybody working together to get projects done, to bring things together,” he said.“As the process works its way through, it’s easier to get to get stuff together working together.”

Over in the Rockdale section, Veronica Batter of the Rockdale Arts Center spoke about how artists have been coming together over the past year to more formally designate the area as the Rockdale Arts District.

It consists of nine entities from a music school to artists’ studios to a 1785 farmhouse, all of which are meant to encourage and promote artistry.

“We want this to be an arts destination,” she said, adding that there are opportunities to bring art to the community such as an outdoor mural. “So people can drive along here, there’ll be something to see.”

Vilello said, “This is what I talk about all the time. I talk about coffee, beer and the arts. When you look at what you guys are doing, this is community development and this is where it all starts.”

He said neither community nor economic development happen without each other.

However, he added, “The economic development piece is stuff that we don’t have control over ... but where there is a quality of place and a quality of people, where people want to live makes a difference.”

So when businesses are looking to expand quality of life, including art, makes a difference, he said.

Over at Heron Crest Studios, Stacey Ballard, president/commercial division of Eadeh Enterprises, which oversees the space, said the studios were the perfect repurposing of former mills.

“It really brings a lot of dynamic ideas,” she said. “It brings create people and energies and that turns into the coffee shops, it turns into all other kinds of uses in these buildings. It brings other businesses, it brings people. It makes the area more desirable to move into, which raises the property values of the homes in the area.”

Heron Crest Studios itself was a former industrial warehouse and now houses space for painters, jewelry makers and reclaimed creations.

Then, the tour took a turn toward the fire house. There, fire Chief Mike Evans showed how the expansion will impact the company.

Vilello said there were 323,000 volunteer firefighters in Pennsylvania in 1977 compared to 37,700 active volunteer firefighters in the state in April.

“How we provide fire service is going to be a critical decision for all local governments in Pennsylvania,” he said. “And to see this investment and what you’re doing ... it’s so important for when somebody calls 911, they expect somebody to answer and it’s not happening everywhere in Pennsylvania.”

Evans showed the tight quarters for his crew and said he was looking forward to the construction, which is anticipated to start next spring and then take about 18 months to complete.

With the fire house being the final stop, Vilello said it was a positive trip, highlighting integral aspects to community and economic development.

“Basically, it’s all of this,” he said. “It’s a little bit of the arts, it’s a little bit of the community development, it’s the fire company and this is a good example of people working together. And, it’s not happening everywhere so where we can support it, it’s really important. This was good.”