Penn State trustees ripped the Band Aid off Thursday, voting overwhelmingly to close seven of its undergraduate branch campuses around Pennsylvania in two years.
For some, that means thoughts are already turning to what’s next for campuses, which range in size from five to 106 acres, all peppered with institutional buildings of varying conditions and purposes.
The first answer is, it depends.
As in, it depends what Penn State decides to do with the grounds.
Is there any chance that the university would keep some of the campuses for potential future uses?
Trustee Edward “Ted” Brown III told PennLive Friday that there’s been no discussion at the board level of any plans to repurpose or sell the existing facilities so far.
But at a Thursday session, President Neeli Bendapudi seemed to suggest those decisions have not yet been finalized, noting the seven campuses will be closed “for traditional academic degrees.”
Now, she said, her administration will “bring together local state elected officials, business and community leaders, donors and alumni in every community to chart a new future. One that meets local needs, workforce needs, economic development needs that reflect local opportunity.
“That future may or may not involve Penn State directly depending on what the opportunity is,” Bendapudi said. “But we are committed to help shaping it, and we look forward to working with all the constituencies that we’ve named.”
Penn State officials say enrollment has plunged dramatically at all seven campuses targeted for closure, and there are no clear signs of a reversal due to a “demographic cliff” that will further reduce Pa.’s college-age population over the next two decades.
Two of the campuses on the closure list are in south central Pennsylvania: Penn State Mont Alto, in Franklin County; and Penn State York.
Repurposing institutional properties like college campuses can be a tall order.
Existing buildings have usually been built for specific purposes, like a gymnasium, or a performing arts center or academic labs.
New users may want one building or one part of the campus, but not the whole thing.
And then, old bequests and legal restrictions can come into play.
At Mont Alto, for example, the state law that conveyed 37 acres hosting a state-run forestry school to Penn State back in 1937 has language stating that if Penn State ever stops using those lands for forest school purposes, that part of the campus must revert to the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
It also hosts a treasured arboretum with 174 different species of trees.
For all the challenges – known and unknown – that lie ahead, most people seem to be optimistic about new uses for the York and Mont Alto campuses.
Just spitballing, Michael Ross, president of CEO of the Franklin County Area Economic Development Corp., said he’d loved to see a continuation of an education mission at Mont Alto.
Ross raised the prospect that HACC – the Harrisburg-based community college that includes Franklin County in its service area – might be interested in spreading its wings west with a new branch campus.
HACC officials could not be reached for comment on that Friday.
In any event, Ross and others said they can’t imagine Mont Alto’s new Allied Health facility – opened in 2021 to teach nursing and physical therapy – won’t find a new user.
One Mont Alto neighbor, Patti Nitterhouse, expressed support for part of the campus – remember that 37 acres? – as an 11th-hour alternative site for a new visitor’s center for the adjacant Michaux State Forest.
Nitterhouse and her husband, Dennis Zimmerman, own the company that runs the nearby Penn National Golf Course Communities.
Jazz saxophonist Branford Marsalis plays at York’s Pullo Center in 2023.Photo submitted by Penn State
Fifty miles to the east, a top York County economic development leader said he is also confident that the PSU lands will find a new user.
“I actually think this will not be difficult to find a useful redevelopment of,” said Kevin Schreiber, president and CEO of the York County Economic Alliance.
“It is a phenomenal campus. Several of the buildings recently redeveloped and renovated. Has the performing arts theater too. Close proximity to, you know, the city, Wellspan Health, York College, (Interstate) 83… It’s walkable as well.
“I think the challenge will be zeroing in on exactly what the idea is. And actually, it wouldn’t shock me if it ends up serving multiple uses as well,” Schreiber said.
One facility Yorkians are especially interested in is the Pullo Center, a 1,016-seat theatre with full production capabilities that opened there in 2005.
The performing arts center’s development was a condition attached to the city’s grant of 30 acres to Penn State some 35 years ago.
Schreiber noted with interest that Penn State President Bendapudi, in her introductory remarks before the trustees’ vote Thursday night, said:
“Let me say this directly – our commitment to the Commonwealth extends far beyond our academic operations.
“Community-centered programs like our (agricultural) extension work in all 67 Pennsylvania counties continues… Also offerings like the Pullo Center, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute and other avenues will continue to support Pennsylvanians all over, regardless of what happens to a particular campus.”
Attempts to get Penn State to elaborate on Bendapudi’s comment about the Pullo Center were not successful for this report.
There are, of course, two years to define the issues and start developing answers.
Under the university’s timetable, none of the planned closures would occur before the end of the spring 2027 semester.
In south central Pennsylvania, meanwhile, there’s sadness at the loss of the Penn State connection.
But there’s also undeniable optimism for what comes next.
“I think there’s going to be possibilities here,” Ross said.