A ribbon-cutting and block party will celebrate the grand opening of East End Social, a new seasonal pocket park on Hiester Street in downtown State College.
The festivities begin at 5 p.m. Thursday with remarks from project organizers the Downtown State College Improvement District and Comet Properties followed by the ribbon-cutting.
The block party will take place from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., featuring music by JT Thompson with Muggsy Gallagher from 5:30 to 7 p.m. and the PennSoulvanians from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Craft beverages from Big Spring Spirits, The Press and Antifragile Brewing Company, as well as bites to eat from downtown businesses, will be available for purchase.
Funded in part by a grant from the Commonwealth Financing Authority, East End Social opened to the public on May 15, though Thursday’s event will mark the first official programming for the pedestrian-friendly plaza.
Following approval by State College Borough Council, East End Social will be in place until the beginning of August on Hiester Street between East College Avenue and East Calder Way.
Featuring bistro lighting, landscaping, seating areas and art, the space will provide a venue for community programs and events, as well as casual gatherings. It is open to the public around the clock.
“The goal is to create a free environment for people to come and enjoy, bring their families, bring feet to the street, which we hope those feet will walk into businesses and create a strong economic impact,” Lee Anne Jeffries, Downtown State College Improvement District executive director, told StateCollege.com earlier this month.
East End Social grew from a demand for more pedestrian-friendly spaces downtown and earlier attempts to try a similar project on South Allen Street.
Locating the park on Hiester Street provides an opportunity to showcase the eastern end of downtown, Jeffries said.
“We’ve got several new businesses moving into that block, and so their desire was to highlight the east end a little bit and some of the new tenants that were moving in,” she said. “We started talking about this a while ago and it’s come off of conversations regarding closing Allen Street for a temporary kind of pedestrian mall …years ago, and highlighting a side of town where maybe some of our residents don’t really know what’s going on down there.”
Other events scheduled so far include a June 11 block party and outdoor concert with the Garifuna Collective of Belize in partnership with Manny’s Live Performance Space, a July 17 block party and an Aug. 1 closing celebration. As part of Rhoneymeade Fest, the park will host free music performances from 1 to 9 p.m. on June 5.
Additional programming will be announced, and organizers encourage residents and organizations to propose their own events, pop-ups, workshops and creative activations through an online community submission form.
East End Social may also help determine whether State College could eventually support a more formal pedestrian-oriented social district similar to those found in other college towns, Jeffries said.
“I think after the first year, we’ll start to see if this is something we can extend a little bit longer, is this something that can potentially turn into a permanent closure, not necessarily year-round, but something that’s a little more like an official social district, which other college towns do as well, where the road is closed and you’re able to walk around freely with an alcoholic beverage,” she said.
Evan Halfen contributed to this report.
