A stretch of Hiester Street in downtown State College closed this week as crews began transforming the roadway into East End Social, a new seasonal community gathering space designed to bring residents, visitors and businesses together through outdoor programming, art and public events.
The project, led by the Downtown State College Improvement District and Comet Properties, converts the 100 block of Hiester Street between East College Avenue and Calder Way into what organizers describe as a “summer living room” for downtown State College.
The space will have a soft opening beginning Friday, May 15, with a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony scheduled for May 28.
Construction fencing and road closure signage appeared on the block earlier this week as work crews began preparing the area for installation of overhead lighting, seating areas, landscaping and public art. The redesign will temporarily remove vehicle traffic from the street through Aug. 3 as the space shifts toward a pedestrian-focused environment centered on community use.
“The closure gives us the time we need to install the infrastructure, the art, we’re using overhead lights, so really transforming the space so that hopefully it doesn’t look like a street when you get there,” Downtown State College Improvement District executive director Lee Anne Jeffries said.
Organizers say the goal is to create a “pocket park” that feels separate from the surrounding downtown streetscape while still remaining connected to nearby restaurants, shops and businesses. Plans for the site include movable seating, shaded gathering areas, murals, planters filled with native plants and a stage for performances and community programming.
The temporary closure marks the beginning of what organizers are calling a “pilot year” for the project. Through the summer, East End Social will host performances, block parties, workshops and informal public gatherings while also remaining open for casual daytime use.
Jeffries said the idea has been in development for roughly a year and a half and grew out of ongoing discussions about expanding outdoor public space in downtown State College. A similar idea was planned for South Allen Street in 2020, but scrapped amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Comet Properties owns several buildings along the east end, where new businesses and entertainment venues have opened in recent years. The project is intended in part to draw more residents and visitors toward that section of downtown, which historically has seen less pedestrian activity than areas closer to Allen Street.
“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,” Jeffries 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.”
The project follows a national trend of temporary pedestrian plazas and outdoor social spaces that gained popularity during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Similar concepts have appeared in college towns and downtown districts across the country as communities looked for ways to encourage outdoor gathering and increase foot traffic for local businesses.
“I think other downtowns have done this over the years, and COVID certainly kind of sparked some of these pocket parks; people were spending more time outside and less time trying to be close and in close quarters indoors,” Jeffries said.
East End Social is intended to function as more than an event venue, Jeffries said. Organizers want the area to serve as an all-day public gathering place where residents can casually spend time downtown even when formal programming is not taking place.
“Really it is taking a block of a downtown street, closing it for the season and filling it with furniture and art and overhead lights and a stage for music and programming and really creating a space that the community can come and enjoy at any time of the day, regardless of the programming that’s happening,” she said.
Programming throughout the summer will include concerts, art activations, community gatherings and the East End Social Block Party Series in partnership with local craft beverage producers. Organizers said additional programming details and event calendars will be released throughout the season both online and on-site.
The first major event will take place May 28 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 5 p.m. followed by the opening block party from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m.. Other scheduled events 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.
Jeffries said outside organizations and festivals are also expected to use the space throughout the summer, including Rhoneymeade Fest, which has previously partnered with downtown venues for performances and cultural programming. The music festival runs from June 4-7 at Manny’s and Rhoneymeade in Centre Hall, and on June 5 will include free performances from 1-9 p.m. in East End Social.
East End Social was funded in part through a grant from the Commonwealth Financing Authority. Organizers said receiving state funding late last year accelerated planning and required coordination between downtown organizations, property owners and the Borough of State College.
“It was around Christmas time last year that we got the announcement that we received our grant funding,” Jeffries said. “So this has been a very quick turnaround year, so a lot of things had to fall into place.”
In addition to serving as a public gathering space, organizers view East End Social as an economic development initiative aimed at increasing activity for nearby businesses during the summer months.
“I think this is core to our mission, this project,” Jeffries said. “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.”
The space will also feature new artwork by artist Margalo Guo alongside landscaping designed with Pennsylvania native and pollinator-friendly plants. Organizers say the artistic elements are intended to encourage exploration throughout the downtown district and connect visitors with other public art installations nearby.
“I think that that’s also another draw in terms of finding the space, and then something that maybe you haven’t seen before, and there’s another brochure, and go check out the new pieces of art, and then the 40 other pieces that already exist to discover,” Jeffries said.
The project is focused heavily on creating a more welcoming and interactive downtown environment where residents and visitors can gather freely outdoors.
“Our core focus right now is noticing that sometimes we lack that sense of community, and this is a practice that truly brings people together, friends and neighbors and strangers, in a space where everyone feels welcome,” Jeffries said. “So that is pivotal to our mission as well.”
For now, organizers say the summer installation will function as a trial period to evaluate how the concept operates in State College and how the public responds to the closure.
“For us, I think we live in a location that is pretty rough in the winter, and so we always look to do these kinds of things in the warmer months,” Jeffries said.
Jeffries said organizers hope the investment in infrastructure could allow the concept to return in future years and potentially expand, depending on community response.
“We got a grant from the state, the Commonwealth Financing Authority, to do this infrastructure,” she said. “So we’re going to own the infrastructure, the tables, the chairs, and so of course, we would love to be able to repeat this year after year.”
She added that 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.
“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,” Jeffries said.
State College has maintained an open container ordinance for years, with short-term exemptions granted on an event-by-event basis, and East End Social could help demonstrate how a larger shared outdoor social space might function responsibly downtown.
“Is that something that we can do in this town? We’re not sure,” Jeffries said. “So this is a good test to see how it goes.”
In addition to concerts and block parties already announced for the summer, organizers are encouraging residents and organizations to propose their own events, pop-ups, workshops and creative activations through an online community submission form launched alongside the project. The application allows individuals, artists, nonprofits and businesses to pitch ideas for performances, gatherings and interactive programming that could take place in the space throughout the season.
Sponsorship tiers include support for live entertainment, public programming, seating areas and seasonal activations designed to keep the area active during daytime and evening hours. Sponsors will help support “high-quality programming and operations that keep the space lively, inclusive and welcoming.”
A closing celebration and block party is already set for the end of summer on Saturday, Aug. 1, ahead of its closure.
