Webster’s In Talks For New Location, Downtown Executive Says

Webster’s Bookstore Cafe co-owner Elaine Meder-Wilgus is talking with a couple State College property owners about potential new space for her downtown business, a downtown leader said Monday night.

Jody Alessandrine, executive director of the Downtown State College Improvement District, said the DID has been working to assist and help guide Meder-Wilgus since last week. That’s when word of her lease termination on South Allen Street began circulating.

Alessandrine said he attempted to serve as a mediator between Meder-Wilgus and her Allen Street landlord, the local Kresge family. He asked the family if it might give Meder-Wilgus more time to stay in the space, 128 S. Allen St.

Scott Kresge, citing unpaid back rent, has asked that Webster’s vacate the 3,800-square-foot space by the end of the month, according to people familiar with the matter.

‘He’s pretty firm’ in that demand, Alessandrine said Monday night. ‘ … All indications are that the property owner has made up their minds.’

But he said that Webster’s, with some help from the DID and the Penn State Small Business Development Center, is making some strides. He said Meder-Wilgus is continuing to gain community support for bank refinancing — refinancing that will help the business move forward. 

The most likely scenario, Alessandrine said, is that Webster’s will establish a new location primarily for its downtown cafe, then open more space later on for its book-selling operation. He said the cafe component, from a business perspective, is most critical because it’s most profitable.

Alessandrine shared these details with local reporters after a State College Borough Council meeting. He said the crisis surrounding Webster’s, an 11-year-old business, has helped to galvanize an emerging DID program that’s designed to recruit and retain downtown businesses.

Meder-Wilgus has said her landlord declined a recent offer that would fulfill the back-rent obligation immediately.

She already had been working to arrange some debt refinancing — a move that would have allowed her to pay all her back rent — when she received the notice to vacate, she has said.

On a related front Monday, Borough Council heard from downtown resident Joel Solkoff, who encouraged council members to pass a resolution supporting Webster’s. He suggested that a resolution could recognize Webster’s value in the community.

Solkoff also asked the council to appoint a delegation that would try to resolve the conflict between Meder-Wilgus and the Kresge family.

‘I think if Webster’s were to disappear, and to disappear from its current location — this would be a tragedy,’ Solkoff said.

Council member Peter Morris supported Solkoff’s proposal. ‘If indeed (Webster’s) does disappear,’ Morris said, ‘it will feel as though a loved one has died. It’s a mourning process.’

But Mayor Elizabeth Goreham said that council members, while sympathetic to Webster’s, cannot involve themselves in private property-management disputes. 

‘This is a place where we’re damned if we do and damned if we don’t,’ said council member Theresa Lafer. She said many residents would be ‘horrified’ if the council ‘started putting our political fingers in the middle of someone else’s legal relationships.’

Still, following some discussion, Goreham suggested that Solkoff draft a proposed resolution for council’s consideration. The resolution is expected to undergo council’s review at a public meeting next week.

In other news at the Monday council meeting: 

• With a 5-2 vote, council members passed a resolution supporting the Uniting American Families Act. The federal legislation, now in committee, would require that same-sex ‘binational’ couples receive the same treatment afforded heterosexual binational couples in the immigration process. 

Binational couples include one U.S. citizen and one non-citizen. Under current law, a heterosexual partner may serve as a sponsor to help his or her spouse gain legal access to the U.S. But the current law makes no provision for committed same-sex couples.

Morris, who supported the council resolution, said the issue is relevant here as some local couples have been affected by the lack of equity. 

Audrey Smith, of the local Justice League, said the resolution is the first of its kind passed by a municipality in Pennsylvania. She said 23 other municipalities nationwide have passed similar measures supporting the Uniting American Families Act.

Council members Silvi Lawrence and Jim Rosenberger dissented, both questioning whether the matter falls within council’s purview.

 

• Council members voted 5-2 to refuse a Penn State request to ‘vacate’ a small portion of North Buckout Street north of West College Avenue.

Since the 1930s, the stretch of North Buckout, a public road, had been turned over to the O.W. Houts business, which used it essentially as a driveway. The borough retained ownership but relinquished any duty to maintain that stretch, as Houts used it for business functions.

Penn State bought the former Houts property in 2008, demolished the former Houts buildings and has been purchasing other acreage in the West College Avenue neighborhood. The university’s request for the borough to vacate was a formality, meant to remove the road-turned-driveway officially from borough ownership.

The portion of North Buckhout in question runs north of Grass Alley. Grass Alley sits directly in front of the the former Houts entrance, between the former building site and a parking lot.

But council member Tom Daubert said he didn’t understand why Penn State ‘is in such a hurry’ with its request. Morris lamented that the borough and the public still don’t know what the university plans to do with the land.

‘I think if this (refusal to vacate) is a little push to Penn State to let us know their plans a little sooner, I think that would be a good thing,’ Morris said.

Dan Sieminski, an associate vice president at the university, attended the council meeting but did not speak publicly. Only council members Don Hahn and Ron Filippelli voted to vacate the portion of roadway.

Earlier coverage: Webster’s Owner Records YouTube Video