Allentown planners OK Muhlenberg College development The college hopes to begin site work this spring and complete construction in time for fall 2022
The Allentown Planning Commission on Tuesday signed off on plans for new faculty and classroom space at Muhlenberg College that school officials hope to have ready for the start of the 2022 school year.
05/12/2021
ALLENTOWN, Pa. | The Allentown Planning Commission on Tuesday signed off on plans for new faculty and classroom space at Muhlenberg College that school officials hope to have ready for the start of the 2022 school year.
Muhlenberg College plans on demolishing the former Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity house at 2335 Parkway Blvd. on the south side of campus to make way for a new three-story building.
The roughly 21,000-square-foot building will house about 35 faculty and staff and classroom and studio space for the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Program, the Muhlenberg Institute of Public Opinion, the Division of Graduate and Continuing Studies and the Office of Community Engagement, according to the college. The building will also house art studio space.
The building’s main entrance will be off an upper parking lot on the north side of the building with exits from the south side of the building onto the terraces. The project will remove 17 parking spaces next to the building, but city planning staff said the college provides plenty of parking, so the project meets city parking requirements.
Planning commissioners first reviewed the project in January, tabling a decision to get some clarification on sidewalks and landscaping.
Planning commissioners noted then that the existing two-story building is “relatively invisible” from Parkway Boulevard. While the new building would be one story higher, it will situated further to the north out of view of Parkway Boulevard.
On Tuesday, planning commissioners voiced their continued support for the project and addressed the sidewalk and landscaping issues.
City regulations dictate the college install 5,500 feet of sidewalks along Turner Street to Parkway Boulevard and along the length of Parkway Boulevard as a result of proposed development. But the project is situated on 1 acre within a 25-acre section of campus, prompting college officials to ask planners for a waiver on the sidewalk requirement.
The city ultimately agreed to waive sidewalks along Parkway Boulevard, and Muhlenberg will install about 300 feet of sidewalk along Turner Street. The planning commission on Tuesday formally approved a 10-year waiver for the sidewalks along Parkway Boulevard that will be reviewed at a later date.
As for street trees, Muhlenberg needs to plant about 114 trees on campus to meet the city’s shade tree requirements. Development plans call for 10 trees to be planted at the base of the new building to screen it from the park below.
Planning commissioners said those trees won’t be counted toward the 114 the college needs to plant.
In December, the college announced that it had received a $7.5 million gift for the new building and expansion of the J. Conrad and Hazel J. Seegers Union. A spokesperson said the college plans to begin site work in the spring with an eye toward finishing the project in time for the fall 2022 semester.
Credit: Edward Sieger Mar 9, 2021 Updated Mar 9, 2021 www.wfmz.com
