Press Releases

Gettysburg, PA (March 15, 2024) –

The Borough of Gettysburg is honored to announce the award of $1,272,436 in Congressionally Directed Funding for the construction of the Gettysburg Welcome Center project.

In February 2023, on behalf of the Borough of Gettysburg, Main Street Gettysburg submitted a Congressional Appropriation Request to both the House and Senate. Senators Bob Casey and John Fetterman, and Representative John Joyce, M.D. jointly forwarded the application for Community Project Funding under the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in the FY2024 Budget.

On Wednesday, March 6, 2024, the House of Representatives passed a “minibus” for six appropriations bills including Transportation-HUD, by a 339-85 vote. On Friday, March 8, 2024, the Senate cleared full-year appropriations for those six bills, by a 75-22 vote. President Biden signed the measure into law on March 9, 2024.

Congressman Joyce personally contacted Manager Gable and Main Street President Sellers to announce the appropriation. Senator Casey’s senior staff also contacted Manager Gable regarding the news. “We are grateful for this generous funding to build a legacy project in the heart of Gettysburg, which will enable the Borough to serve residents and the millions of visitors that come to Gettysburg annually,” said Borough Manager Charles Gable, “and it will be completed in time to celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday in July 2026.” The award, combined with local fundraising, will provide for construction to begin in later this year in 2024.

The Gettysburg Welcome Center is a $1.5 million public facility project, which will create greater accessibility and walkability throughout the historic district. The project is in the center of downtown and will provide tourism, transportation, event, and volunteer information, as well as public restrooms. Plans include ADA-compliant facilities. The building site at 340 Baltimore Street was generously donated to the Borough for this purpose by Tim Shields, founder of Future Stake, Inc.

To ensure operational sustainability following construction, Main Street Gettysburg has partnered with Adams County Community Foundation to create an endowment fund. The endowment goal is $1 million.

To donate to the Gettysburg Welcome Center Endowment Fund, contact Main Street Gettysburg at 717-337-3491, or online at www.mainstreetgettysburg.org/donate; or Adams County Community Foundation at 717-337-0060 or online at www.adamscountycf.org.

January 16, 2024

Destination Gettysburg donates $100K to Welcome Center project

Main Street Gettysburg plans to open building by 2026

To invest in the future of the community and tourism industry, Destination Gettysburg recently donated $100,000 to Main Street Gettysburg to kick off the operations endowment campaign that will support a downtown Welcome Center.

The Gettysburg Welcome Center, to be located at 340 Baltimore Street between Steinwehr Avenue and Lincoln Square, will serve as a hub for tourism and event information and provide public restrooms.

Destination Gettysburg will further support the initiative by staffing the welcome center with visitor service representatives and supplying the facility with brochures and other informational materials.

“We see the new welcome center as a key touchpoint for visitors and residents, where they can get information on everything to see and do in Gettysburg and Adams County, get questions answered, and orient themselves as they explore our area,” Destination Gettysburg President and CEO Karl Pietrzak said.

Donations like Destination Gettysburg’s will be key in helping Main Street Gettysburg reach its capital goal of $1.5 million for construction costs and endowment goal of $1 million for operations. Local grant match funds total approximately $425,000 currently.

“Partners like Destination Gettysburg are enabling the sustainability of the facility to benefit the community for generations to come by contributing to the endowment,” Main Street Gettysburg President and CEO Jill Sellers said.

Main Street Gettysburg has been working toward this project since 2017 and is also collaborating with the Borough of Gettysburg, Adams County Historical Society, Adams County Community Foundation, the Gettysburg Foundation, and other community organizations to develop a joint venture responsible for operation of the facility.

“Gettysburg does not currently have an information center downtown,” Sellers said. “Gettysburg’s major economic driver is historic tourism, and Baltimore Street plays a major role in moving people to experience the historic attractions and unique places of interest. Its health and accessibility are critical to economic stability and growth.”

Main Street will launch a capital campaign this year to support the welcome center project, with a goal of opening in time to celebrate America’s 250th birthday in 2026.

“Destination Gettysburg is proud to partner with Main Street Gettysburg on this much-needed project and looks forward to the Gettysburg Welcome Center being an anchor for our visitors and community,” Pietrzak said.

Destination Gettysburg, the official destination marketing organization of Adams County, Pa., promotes Gettysburg and Adams County as a premier travel destination to benefit and enhance our community by sharing history and creating new experiences.iption goes here

PENNSYLVANIA DOWNTOWN CENTER ANNOUNCES 2023 TOWNIE AWARD WINNERS

June 2023

HARRISBURG, PA. – Pennsylvania Downtown Center (PDC) recently presented fourteen awards during the organization’s annual statewide Townie Awards gala. The Townie Awards are a festive and venerable tradition designed to recognize the commonwealth’s core communities and individuals for creation and implementation of projects, programs and events that exemplify the goals of PDC’s community revitalization mission. Eligible communities consist of Pennsylvania Downtown Center’s nearly 200 member organizations, including Main Street and Elm Street programs, making the Townies a competitive award process each year.

Pennsylvania Downtown Center’s executive director, Julie Fitzpatrick, said “Each year we look forward to the Townie Awards presentation for its ability to excite and inspire our members to continue their community revitalization efforts. Our member communities work tirelessly to improve their cities and towns, and we love having the opportunity to applaud them for their efforts.”

The Townie Awards are a part of PDC’s annual statewide conference, which is held in a different commonwealth community each year in order to highlight the respective city or town’s accomplishments in community and neighborhood revitalization. This year’s conference, Making Room: Housing for a Vibrant Community, held in downtown Scranton, was attended by close to 300 individuals and included borough and municipal officials, experts in community planning and landscape architecture, and dozens of Main Street and Elm Street managers.

In addition to the many conference sessions scheduled and the awards dinner, attendees of the conference took advantage of mobile workshops highlighting the not only the city’s various redevelopment projects, history of Scranton, murals, and urban landscaping but also those of neighboring communities to include Pittston, Wilkes-Barre, Honesdale and Hawley. Dan Parolek, founding principal of Opticos Design and expert on the term Missing Middle Housing delivered the opening keynote sharing his expertise of the now international Missing Middle Housing movement and how to incorporate this type of housing in communities across the country and in our neighborhoods here in the Commonwealth. Jason Roberts, founding director of Better Block, presented an inspirational breakfast keynote about his international movement to transform blighted blocks with vacant properties by converting them into temporary, walkable districts with pop-up businesses, bike lanes, café seating and landscaping.

Founded in 1987, the mission of Pennsylvania Downtown Center is to advance the sense of place, quality of life and economic vitality of Pennsylvania’s downtowns, traditional neighborhood business districts and nearby residential areas. For information about the Townie Awards and this year’s recipients, contact Virginia Mauk at (240) 338-2862.

### EDITOR’S NOTE: Following are the 14 Townie Award winners for 2021 and 2022 projects

Kutztown Community Partnership Organizational Excellence: Community Partnerships Keith Haring Outdoor Fitness Court

Scranton Tomorrow & NeighborWorks NEPA Organizational Excellence: Community Partnerships Scranton City Pride

Monongahela Main Street Physical Improvements & Design: Public Space Improvements City Mission Thrift Store

East Falls River Development Corporation Physical Improvements & Design: Public Space Improvements East Falls River Landing

Main Street Hanover Physical Improvements & Design: Public Space Improvements Heart of Hanover Trails

Downtown Chambersburg Inc. Promotions & Marketing: Special Events New Years Martin’s Famous Potato Roll Drop

United Neighborhood Centers of NEPA Promotions & Marketing: Special Events Pine Brook Family Arts Festival

Main Street Gettysburg Promotion & Marketing: Holiday Display A Gettysburg Christmas Festival Shop

Downtown Lock Haven Inc. Promotions & Marketing: Holiday Display Haven Holiday Harmonies

Venture Lititz Promotions & Marketing: General Image & Identity Committing to Core Values

York County Economic Alliance & York County Industrial Development Authority Anchor Building Historic Yorktowne Hotel

York County Economic Alliance Asset Enhancement York County Trail Towns

Spanish American Civic Association (SACA) Safe Clean & Green: Cleanliness Pershing Avenue Demonstration Project

Wayne Evans Volunteer of the Year Scranton Tomorrow, United Neighborhood Centers of NEPA & NeighborWorks of NEPA

MAIN STREET GETTYSBURG SELECTED TO PARTICIPATE IN PILOT RURAL SMALL BUSINESS SUPPORT PROGRAM

Gettysburg, PA (February 9, 2023) – Main Street Gettysburg has been selected to participate in a new small business resiliency audit and resources pilot program. In partnership with Main Street America, Pennsylvania Downtown Center and PA Department of Community and Economic Development, Main Street Gettysburg will serve an important role in creating new tools to assist rural small business owners in identifying and responding to challenges. Financial support for this project comes from USDA’s Rural Business Development Grants program.

The global pandemic has had a devastating impact in rural communities throughout Pennsylvania, exasperating the unemployment rate and requiring small business owners to continually adapt to new economic realities. Additionally, there are extensive challenges and geographic constraints to delivering technical assistance to the over 30 million small businesses in the U.S., with those located in rural areas being disproportionately impacted.

Rural small businesses’ ability to navigate and respond to a number of emerging issues such as workforce and supply chain constraints, as well as how to leverage new opportunities presented through social media and e-commerce, is crucial to preserving existing businesses and nurturing entrepreneurship. Some recent data demonstrate these needs:

• 53% of small businesses did not have a digital commerce component to their business. And of those that did, it represented less than 10%; (MSA Study 2021)

• New business formation grew 48% from January 2020 to December 2021; (U.S. Census)

• 73% of small business owners expect to pivot their business model again in 2022; (American Express)

In response, Main Street America—a national nonprofit commitment to preservation-based economic development and community revitalization in historic downtowns and neighborhood commercial corridors—is piloting the development of a model that creates more efficiencies in assessing and meeting the needs of rural small business at scale, in four existing rural Main Street communities in Pennsylvania. These communities include Danville, Oil City, Lewisburg, and Gettysburg.

“The Pennsylvania Downtown Center is thrilled to be a partner in the Small Business Resiliency Audit Tool & Resources Pilot,” said Julie Fitzpatrick, Executive Director at Pennsylvania Downtown Center. “Although we know that the tireless efforts of our Main Street programs have resulted in our communities experiencing a level of economic resiliency from the impact of the pandemic, we also recognize that there is a need for identifying persistent issues and finding creative common solutions to build and maintain sustainable and adaptable businesses.”

Over the next four to six months, Main Street Gettysburg will engage five small business owners and entrepreneurs through assessments, on-site focus groups, and interviews exploring challenges and areas of opportunities. Main Street America will research potential solutions and develop technical assistance materials, resources, and tools tailored to meet the needs of the participants.

“This is a unique opportunity for local businesses to benefit from a national Main Street project, focused specifically on rural communities,” said Jill Sellers, President of Main Street Gettysburg. “The goals include better understanding of shared challenges, connecting businesses to the resources they need, and ultimately helping businesses adapt and get ahead.”

Main Street communities in New Mexico and South Carolina have also been selected to participate in this pilot program.