Updated Dec. 2, 2022
Penn State’s Lion Surplus will offer a chance to bring home a piece of university history with a furniture sale scheduled for next month.
From Dec. 5 to 9, Lion Surplus will host a week-long sale of Nittany Lion Inn furniture and other items on the hotel’s grounds. The sale will run from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. each day.
Furniture Sale Details
Items at the sale will come directly from the 91-year-old hotel, according to Lion Surplus. A running list of featured items includes:
- Beds
- Nightstands
- Artwork
- Mirrors
- Televisions
- Pillows
- Lamps
- Dressers
- Desks
- Chairs
- Armoires
- Ice buckets
- Garbage cans
- Other “miscellaneous items” from hotel rooms
The Nittany Lion Inn furniture sale will accept payments through credit cards, cash and checks. Items must be taken when purchased and will not be held on-site.
Parking, Traffic Impacts
The Nittany Lion Inn’s furniture sale is expected to bring heavy traffic to the northern end of campus, Penn State said. Drivers passing by are urged to avoid the area if possible.
Parking for the sale will be available for $1 an hour at the Nittany, East and West decks on Penn State’s campus. Oversized vehicles (those standing 7’9″ and taller), as well as those with trailers, are required to park at the Porter North lot and pay through the in-lot station or ParkMobile app.
Additionally, Penn State will operate a free shuttle between the Porter North lot and the Nittany Lion Inn from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The shuttle, which will run both to and from the sale, will accommodate up to 14 passengers per trip.
Three free, on-campus CATA bus routes — the White Loop, the Blue Loop and the Red Link — all stop at the Pattee Transit Center, which is the closest stop to the Nittany Lion Inn. The buses can be traced online and through CATA’s myStop app.
To prepare for the upcoming sale, Penn State will close the Green B surface lot from Monday through Friday. Additionally, the Nittany Deck will be reserved for permit holders who have daytime parking access, as well as hourly visitor parking between 7:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Hourly student parking won’t be permitted at the Nittany Deck during that span.
What’s Next for the Hotel?
The furniture sale comes about six months after Penn State moved to enter a purchasing agreement and ground lease for its two University Park campus hotels, the Nittany Lion Inn and the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center.
The transaction is expected to be finalized in December or January and will hand ownership and operation over to the Scholar Hotel Group, which already owns four hotels in the area: Scholar Hotel State College, 205 E. Beaver Ave., Hyatt Place, 219 W. Beaver Ave., Courtyard by Marriott, 1730 University Drive, and Residence Inn by Marriott, 1555 University Drive.
The university, meanwhile, will retain ownership of the land on which the buildings are located.
The Penn Stater will remain open during the transition between owners, while the Nittany Lion Inn, which has not operated as a hotel since 2020, will remain closed until further notice. The Nittany Lion Inn was repurposed to serve as a student residence hall and classroom facility during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic during the 2020-21 academic year.
In 2021, the university began exploring options for the future of its two campus hotels. An analysis found both sites faced mounting maintenance backlogs and needs for renovations, while the pandemic added unexpected costs and diminished revenue into the equation.
For more information on Lion Surplus’ furniture sale, visit the re-sale store’s website and Facebook page.
