News
Reinventing riverspace
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Mike Staugaitis/Staff Photo The marina building at Shikellamy State Park is shown in an aerial image taken Thursday. The Susquehanna River Heartland Coalition for Environmental Studies hopes to turn the vacant building into an environmental research and education center.
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SUNBURY — A local conservation group plans on using the old marina building in Shikellamy State Park to raise environmental awareness of the Susquehanna River.
BY DOMENICK MOORE
STAFF WRITER
domenick_m@newsitem.com
SUNBURY — A local conservation group plans on using the old marina building in Shikellamy State Park to raise environmental awareness of the Susquehanna River.
The Susquehanna River Heartland Coalition for Environmental Studies will turn the building into an environmental research and education center, according to H.W. “Skip” Wieder, convener of the coalition. The group is just waiting on an architectural firm to be chosen to cobble together renovation blueprints.
Wieder is hoping to get construction underway by next spring. “If we can award the architectural contract by Labor Day, we might have plans by the first of the year to bid,” he added, before pausing. “But that might be ambitious.”
The existing building will be completely renovated to include classrooms, research facilities and office space. Plans will also include a 2,500-square-foot addition. Costs
are estimated to be between $2 and $2.5 million, Wieder said.
The marina has sat vacant for the past six years. Before that, a string of restaurants made a go of it, going out of business one by one. Recently, state Reps. Merle H. Phillips, R-108, and Russ Fairchild, R-85, started looking into possible uses for the building. That’s when they put the coalition in touch with the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), the agency that owns the park and building, Wieder said.
“We’ve been working with DCNR to see if it’s feasible to renovate the building,” he added. The group liked the idea and gave it the go-ahead. Funds from the governor’s capital budget have already been released to cover costs.
“(The marina) will be the focal point for not only members of the coalition,” Wieder said over the phone Thursday, “but also for other environmental groups. There will be a lot of research, monitoring the water in the river. There’ll be education classes available for all school students and there’ll be courses for K-through-12 science teachers.”
The coalition also hopes the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission will hold water safety instruction courses at the facility, he added. But research will be its primary function.
“Colleges and universities will use the facility to undertake research in the river,” Wieder said, noting the prime spot for such work. The building is “right there at the confluence of the north and west branches of the river. It’s the ideal location to bring people together and study the river.”
The coalition is comprised of six regional colleges, as well as a handful of environmental and conservancy groups: Bloomsburg, Susquehanna, Bucknell and Lock Haven universities, Lycoming and King’s colleges, Trout Unlimited, Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Commission and the Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy.
In its fourth or fifth year of existence, the non-profit Susquehanna River Heartland Coalition for Environmental Studies is involved in environmental projects related to the Susquehanna River watershed, Wieder said. That stretch of water is the greatest natural asset in the region, and more and more, people are being attracted to such features.
“People are looking for places to live that have a high quality of life,” Wieder said. “And what the river offers is not just recreational opportunities, aesthetic opportunities, but also economic opportunities. ... The quality of water in the river is important to this whole region, this whole watershed, in terms of its future and economic development.”
The Susquehanna River Heartland Coalition for Environmental Studies will turn the building into an environmental research and education center, according to H.W. “Skip” Wieder, convener of the coalition. The group is just waiting on an architectural firm to be chosen to cobble together renovation blueprints.
Wieder is hoping to get construction underway by next spring. “If we can award the architectural contract by Labor Day, we might have plans by the first of the year to bid,” he added, before pausing. “But that might be ambitious.”
The existing building will be completely renovated to include classrooms, research facilities and office space. Plans will also include a 2,500-square-foot addition. Costs
are estimated to be between $2 and $2.5 million, Wieder said.
The marina has sat vacant for the past six years. Before that, a string of restaurants made a go of it, going out of business one by one. Recently, state Reps. Merle H. Phillips, R-108, and Russ Fairchild, R-85, started looking into possible uses for the building. That’s when they put the coalition in touch with the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR), the agency that owns the park and building, Wieder said.
“We’ve been working with DCNR to see if it’s feasible to renovate the building,” he added. The group liked the idea and gave it the go-ahead. Funds from the governor’s capital budget have already been released to cover costs.
“(The marina) will be the focal point for not only members of the coalition,” Wieder said over the phone Thursday, “but also for other environmental groups. There will be a lot of research, monitoring the water in the river. There’ll be education classes available for all school students and there’ll be courses for K-through-12 science teachers.”
The coalition also hopes the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission will hold water safety instruction courses at the facility, he added. But research will be its primary function.
“Colleges and universities will use the facility to undertake research in the river,” Wieder said, noting the prime spot for such work. The building is “right there at the confluence of the north and west branches of the river. It’s the ideal location to bring people together and study the river.”
The coalition is comprised of six regional colleges, as well as a handful of environmental and conservancy groups: Bloomsburg, Susquehanna, Bucknell and Lock Haven universities, Lycoming and King’s colleges, Trout Unlimited, Chesapeake Bay Foundation and Commission and the Northcentral Pennsylvania Conservancy.
In its fourth or fifth year of existence, the non-profit Susquehanna River Heartland Coalition for Environmental Studies is involved in environmental projects related to the Susquehanna River watershed, Wieder said. That stretch of water is the greatest natural asset in the region, and more and more, people are being attracted to such features.
“People are looking for places to live that have a high quality of life,” Wieder said. “And what the river offers is not just recreational opportunities, aesthetic opportunities, but also economic opportunities. ... The quality of water in the river is important to this whole region, this whole watershed, in terms of its future and economic development.”
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