(rshsdepot) Packerton Yards, PA

[I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com]

From today's Morning Call.
 
Bernie Wagenblast
 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
 
State OKs razing of Packerton Yards

But arts center owner says county official misrepresented  site.

By Sarah Fulton Special to The Morning Call 

Satanic cult worship and ''booze, drugs and sex parties'' have  taken place 
in a historic railroad building marked for demolition to make way  for 
industrial development, the Carbon County commissioner chairman told the  state 
Historical Museum Commission.

Besides that, a New Jersey developer  plans to build at least one shell 
building on the site measuring up to 80,000  square feet, and possibly a second 
building of up to 30,000 square feet,  Commissioner Chairman William O'Gurek told 
the state in a letter seeking to  justify the demolition.

Based on the information, the Historical Museum  Commission has deemed the 
42,000-square-foot, century-old building in Packerton  Yards in Lehighton and 
Mahoning Township to be of no historical significance,  and cleared its 
demolition for development of an industrial hub.

But a  Lancaster arts center owner who wants to redevelop the massive 
building said the  county misrepresented the building's history in its proposal to 
the state to get  the demolition approved.

And the county's minority commissioner, who is  opposed to tearing down the 
building if someone wants to use it, criticized the  details of O'Gurek's 
letter, saying it doesn't address the building's historic  value.

Review of the building by the Historical Museum Commission was  required 
before demolition under the U.S. National Historic and Preservation Act  because 
the county used $675,000 in federal and state grants to buy the 57-acre  
Packerton Yards and assess environmental problems there. The county also would  use 
government money for the demolition.

In an Oct. 24 letter to the  state, O'Gurek said the building not only is a 
dilapidated eyesore, but it is  ''being used for booze, drug and sex parties, 
satanic cult worshipping and  harboring vagrants and vagabonds.''

Asked about the letter Thursday,  O'Gurek didn't give details of the alleged 
activities, but said that after  walking though the building and viewing 
debris and graffiti, it is obvious what  has recently been happening there.

Lehighton Police Chief Matthew Bender  on Thursday gave no indication of 
police finding satanic cult activity, but said  homeless people live in tents at 
the north end of Packerton Yards — about a mile  from the historic building — 
and children congregate there to drink. Bender said  a group of youth recently 
set a brush fire in the area but it was quickly put  out.

In 1992, Lehighton police said they found charred boards, pentagrams  and an 
animal carcass on the floor of the building, but then-Patrolman Larry  Smith 
said, ''This to me is not devil worship but the result of a group of kids  with 
an overactive imagination.''

Efforts Thursday to reach Mahoning  Township Police Chief Mark Zenko were 
unsuccessful.

The Historical Museum  Commission determined the building is a remnant of the 
railroad complex and  ''does not convey the significance of the site,'' nor 
is it eligible any longer  to be placed on the National Register on Historic 
Places.

''A property  must retain integrity, the ability to reflect its history, in 
order to be  eligible for the National Register,'' Anne MacDonald, chief of 
preservation  services, wrote in a Nov. 13 letter to commissioners. ''This 
property has lost  its integrity of setting, materials, feeling and association. 
Therefore, no  further evaluation of effects to historic structures is 
necessary.''

The  county must still do an archaeological survey of the earth at the  site.

Commissioners voted 2-1 in October to award a $67,000 contract to  Flynn 
Demolition of Pottsville to tear down the building, but haven't said when  the 
work would begin. This museum board ruling allows work to go  forward.

But Republican Commissioner Wayne Nothstein, who opposes the  demolition, 
said O'Gurek's letter didn't address the building's historic  value.

In his letter, O'Gurek said the structure was used as a storehouse  with two 
or three employees. The information is validated by a Lehigh Valley  Railroad 
track map from 1917.

But the overall Packerton site was used as  a transfer station for freight 
cars from the 1870s until 1971.

April  Koppenhaver, owner of Mulberry Art Studios, Lancaster, who has 
proposed  developing the buildin g, also said O'Gurek misrepresented the building's 
size  and valuable history.

Koppenhaver, who redeveloped an 1800s bakery in  downtown Lancaster and New 
Holland investor Bruce Clark are interested in  preserving the building and 
developing it as an arts center and shopping area.  New Jersey developer Larry 
Masi of Dominion Development has said he is  interested in teaming up with 
Koppenhaver and Clark to develop residences at the  site, which is along the Lehigh 
River.

Koppenhaver said the ''History of  Carbon County'' book series said 
construction of the remaining Packerton  building began in March 1899 and that a crew 
of 1,000 men repaired 461 cars  there in one day. But the book said such work 
occurred at the site in February  1899, which would have been before the 
building's  construction.

Koppenhaver said O'Gurek also misrepresented the size of  the building. 
O'Gurek's letter said it measures 21,000 square feet, but that is  the area per 
floor, and the two-story structure totals 42,000 square  feet.

Koppenhaver also said there are not large holes in the walls as  Democratic 
Commissioner Charles Getz has said. She noted one 3-foot-by-2-foot  hole on the 
second story.

''That could be easily patched and repaired,''  she said. ''It doesn't 
reflect the integrity or the structural integrity of the  building.''

Last month, Koppenhaver filed an injunction in Carbon County  Court to stop 
the demolition, but a judge ruled she has no legal standing and  dismissed her 
motion. She did not indicate Thursday whether she will try  anything else to 
stop the demolition.

O'Gurek defended his work to  proceed with the demolition and thanked state 
Rep. Keith McCall, D-Carbon and  state Sen. Ray Musto, D-Luzerne for meeting 
with him to discuss abiding with  state historical requirements.

''The county has done its due diligence in  this regard,'' O'Gurek said. 
''I'm happy to say we'll proceed with our plans for  Packerton.''

O'Gurek's letter said that more than 300 jobs could be  created at the site.

He said J.G. Petrucci, a New Jersey development  company, intends to build at 
least one building there measuring up to 80,000  square feet. It could 
possibly build a second building of up to 30,000 square  feet, according to the 
letter.

County estimates show it would cost $2.5  million to expand gas, electric and 
other infrastructure at the site. About $3.3  million in state and federal 
funds are pending for the project.

O'Gurek  and Getz said the site is suited for industrial development because 
of its rail  access and existing gas lines. Nothstein said truck access is 
limited and the  site lacks buildable land outside flood plains.

Sarah Fulton is a  freelance writer. 


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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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End of RSHSDepot Digest V1 #1451
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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org