Music, food, beverages and community members filled Hiester Street on a picture-perfect Thursday evening as State College celebrated the grand opening of what organizers have called downtown’s “summer living room.”
East End Social, an initiative by the Downtown State College Improvement District and Comet Properties, is a seasonal pocket park between East College Avenue and East Calder Way, offering community events and casual gathering space in a pedestrian-only setting for the summer.
“I am so excited about the East End Social,” State College Mayor Ezra Nanes told StateCollege.com. “It is something that I know the Jonathan Friedman of Comet Properties and [executive director] Lee Anne Jeffries at the Downtown Improvement District, that so many folks in the borough have dreamed about doing, creating a pedestrian space, a place where you can gather, have events and just really enjoy being together in downtown. And so it’s exciting that we have this for the whole summer.”
Nanes was one of several elected officials on hand for Thursday’s event, which opened with remarks and a ribbon cutting. A block party followed as hundreds mingled through the evening and enjoyed music by JT Thompson with Muggsy Gallagher and the PennSoulvanians, craft beverages and pizza from Antifragile Brewing Company and ciders from the neighboring The Press.
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 was the first official programming for the pedestrian-friendly plaza.
Featuring bistro lighting, landscaping, seating areas and art, the space will provide a venue for community programs and events, as well as a place for residents to simply congregate and enjoy. It is open to the public around the clock.
“Every time I’ve passed by East End Social before the ribbon cutting, there were people here,” Nanes said. “Except on the heavily rainy days — we had a couple — but otherwise people are sitting here. Whether it’s a mother and a child, or people just having a coffee, people are using the space to hang out and relax and enjoy downtown. And now tonight you see a massive turnout and there’s music and there’s food and people are having a beverage.
“It’s everything you want to happen downtown. So I hope we can do this again and do more things like this, because people really love it.”
State College Borough Council in March approved the street closure, which will continue until Aug. 3, as well as an open container exemption for a limited number of events with alcohol sales. The borough is providing in-kind support through set-up and removal of barriers, access to power sources, traffic signage and refuse and recycling assistance.
Sponsors include The Family Clothesline, Student Book Store, Growing Tree Toys and the Chamber of Business & Industry of Centre County.
The target audience for East End Social, Jeffries said in March, is “everyone,” but more specifically it is a response to feedback from non-student adults and families who say they “don’t fully feel welcome or connected to their downtown.”
“We’re constantly getting feedback from the community that we need an adult space downtown, and we want things to do over the summer where adults can gather,” Jeffries said.
A seasonal pedestrian-only space on a downtown street has been the subject of discussion for years. In 2020, Borough Council approved “Summers on Allen,” a plan spearheaded by Centre Foundation that would have turned the 100 block of South Allen Street into a pedestrian mall with amenities and community events for two months.
After COVID-19 hit, “Summers on Allen” was scrapped and the plan was never resurrected, but a number of elected officials and residents have continued to express a desire to have a walkable community gathering space downtown, and an Allen Street Promenade has remained in the borough’s planning.
Hiester Street provided an opportunity to try a similar concept, while simultaneously showcasing the sometimes overlooked east end of downtown and the new businesses — like The Press and Manny’s Live Performance Space — that have opened or are soon to open in the area.
“We’ve heard a lot about ‘Summers on Allen’ over the years,” Jeffries said. “This is kind of our solution to that and really highlighting the east end and all of the new businesses that we’re welcoming on that end.”
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.
A hosted by chef Rebecca Dale is scheduled for Friday. As part of Rhoneymeade Fest, the park will host free music performances from 1 to 9 p.m. on June 5, and Nittany Ballet will hold a free creative movement workshop geared toward kids ages 3 to 8 from 1 to 2 p.m. on June 6. And Discovery Space and The Rivet will present the free “Built for Curiosity” on from 1 to 4 p.m. on July 10.
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.
Erica Quinn, who is consulting with DSCID on the project and who has experience with outdoor downtown street events through her time as director of 3 Dots, said in March that a number of local businesses, community groups and organizations like the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts “are really interested in utilizing this space and thinking of it as another area of downtown to activate this summer.”
East End Social also provides an opportunity for the borough to achieve a goal of more pedestrian-friendly spaces.
“This is a really great step towards the dream of having a pedestrianized downtown, where people can come and really gather and enjoy themselves,” Nanes said. “This gets us towards that dream.”
Nanes added that community members are passionate about downtown State College and he believes the seasonal pocket park will be well-received.
“In all my years in civic life, people care so much about downtown. And whether they’re happy about the evolution or not, they love downtown,” he said. “And so this is a real great thing for downtown. I think people are going to really appreciate that this here.”
