COMMUNITY GATEWAY
South Keim Street’s future explored at open house
POTTSTOWN >> With the replacement of the Keim Street bridge due in 2021 (hopefully), borough officials are getting a jump on deciding how to redevelop what’s on the Pottstown side of the bridge.
Tuesday, alongside the portion of South Keim Street that bisects the former Bethlehem Steel plant that dominates the south side of Pottstown, they met with residents look for answers. There were plenty. But first, they had to pose the questions and create goals.
Those goals are to envision new development compatible with the built environment; to enhance connectivity, particularly with the Schuylkill River Trail; economic opportunity to add businesses and jobs; and to “enhance the streetscape” to create a pleasing public space.
To accomplish these goals, some rough ideas were sketched out for residents to consider, while planners kept their ears and eyes open for better ideas.
And to gauge which of those four goals earned top priority, the handed out money, well, fake money. The Monopoly 5s, 10s and 20s, were to be deposited in one of four jars, each one representing a goal.
A fifth jar, with a question mark, was for anything that
didn’t fit into any of those categories.
South Street resident Mike Halliday put all his money into that jar, writing carefully on the back of each bill, an idea or a priority he felt the project should embrace.
“My initial worry was that they were going to close Keim Street and turn it into a bike path,” said Halliday, adding he was pleased to learn that is not the plan, although a bike path is likely to be built.
“As long as they’re using grant money for this, there’s no doubt this area needs improvement, so that’s fine,” said Halliday, “but it needs an anchor.”
The study now underway is being funded through a grant from the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission.
Halliday recalled plans to transform one of the former Bethlehem Steel buildings, now known as the Pottstown Industrial Complex, into a sports and exhibition center.
“We need something like that, an anchor, something that gives people a reason to come to Pottstown,” he said.
“We’re asking people what uses they’d like to see. What would make you come down here and stop?” said Pattie Guttenplan, section chief of the county planning commissioner’s design planning and graphic design division.
“Maybe that’s outdoor dining. Maybe that’s a coffee shop, or a businesses that’s down here,” she said. “Or if you’re coming through on the connection to the Schuylkill River Trail, what would make you stop in the middle of your trip?”
Chris DeLucia and Yassine Benzinane both put most of their their money into the “connectivity jar,” noting that connection to the river trail is paramount.
Both are language teachers at The Hill School and DeLucia is also the cross country coach. He said linking the school to the Schuylkill River Trail down Keim Street would enhance the town.
“This part of town is very much cut-off from the rest by the railroad tracks,” said DeLucia, who teaches Chinese. “Forging a better connection with High Street would bring people off the trail into town,” he said.
Benzinane, who teaches Arabic, French and Spanish at The Hill, said he is “an avid walker and I use the trail all the time. A better connection would really enhance the town.”
The Rosenberger brothers started their metalworking business in Pottstown and moved it back when their location in Perkiomenville got too small for their growing requirements.
Called Contrast Metalworks, the company provides “customized structural steel to general contractors for specific projects,” said Justin Rosenberger.
He said his preference “is definitely for more economic development, more businesses in here” along the route, “and maybe a restaurant. It would be nice for the guys to have a close place to eat.”
“I just wanted to see what they have in mind, how it is all supposed to work,” said Ben Rosenberger.
That may depend on what input the planners receive from the open house, said Brian J. Olszak, a senior planner with the Montgomery County Planning Commission.
“So there’s a lot of industrial type uses here,” said Olszak.
And they are thriving, said Peggy Lee-Clark, executive director of Pottstown Area Industrial Development. She said the Pottstown Industial Complex “has 90 percent occupancy.”
“And we’re also looking at the neighborhood to ensure we’re getting people safely from this northern area and down to the trail, and also to serve the greater interests of Pottstown Borough,” Olszak said.
“We’re looking at this corridor, and what kind of new development opportunities may be here; how to create a walkable and bikable environment and making sure we have compatible development with our other industrial uses here,” said Olszak.
However, “we’re still very much in the conceptual, theoretical phase and trying to come up with ideas for what kind of development may happen. There’s a lot of thinks to consider, like truck traffic, because there are a lot of businesses, so we have to make sure they get in and out of their respective businesses easily.”
One man, who said he owned “property around the corner” and declined to give his name, had his doubts about the whole process.
“It’s seems kind of frivolous to me,” he said, noting he had worked at Dana for 43 years.
“We’ve lost tax base, but we still have infrastructure to support, and less income to pay for it,” he said. “I don’t know if this will do it.”
It will be up to the task force put together to guide the project to make sure it does.
The task force is comprised of residents, county planners and two members of Pottstown Borough Council, Rita Paez and Council President Dan Weand, who also serves on the borough planning commission.
“Forging a better connection with High Street would bring people off the trail into town.”
— Chris DeLucia, Hill School teacher “Definitely for more economic development, more businesses in here.” — Justin Rosenberger, co-owner of Contrast Metalworks