Meeting Notice: Mon. August 18, 2008 @ 6:00 - 8:00 PM
United House of Prayer for All People
349 Reily St., Harrisburg

Public Flyer

Our Federal Representatives, Senators Specter and Casey and Representative Holden, have announced a hearing in Harrisburg on the siting of the Federal Couthouse (see 2/2/08 Patriot News). The GSA will present their rationale for the "newest" site, the tearing down of the current courthouse. Our representatives have directed GSA to provide an analysis of that site vs. the community preferred site at 6th and Reily. We believe community groups and perhaps individuals will be able to testify at that hearing. Right Site Harrisburg Coalition will be presenting our petitions to our federal represenatives and GSA at that time. Though the announcement is short notice, we hope you will be able to attend to show our community support for the 6th and Reily site.
We will provide more details on how to provide testimony when we have them.

"Right Site Harrisburg" was created when the Capitol Area Neighbors, Midtown Action Council, Friends of Midtown and Historic Harrisburg Association joined forces to convince the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) that their "Final" choices of the North East corner Second and Locust Streets and the South West corner of Third and Pine Streets are inappropriate locations for the new Harrisburg Federal Courthouse. The goal of "Right Site Harrisburg" is to have the new Harrisburg Federal Courthouse built at the North East corner of Sixth and Reily Streets.

The Downtown Sites are seriously flawed for the following reasons:
- Both sites are very small, considerably less than the original GSA criteria for a site in order to provide for security measures
- Both sites are located in a very congested area of downtown. These locations inordinately threaten the safety of many citizens, employees in the future courthouse, and closely adjacent downtown properties. Response time would be severely hampered in this area.
- Both sites would destroy existing taxable properties and thriving businesses, causing major immediate and severe long term economic harm to the city
- Both sites are the most expensive of long list sites for site cost and construction cost (cost of prime downtown real estate, cost of tearing down large and small buildings, business re-location costs, having to build up on small sites
- It is a huge waste of federal tax dollars to proceed with these sites

Sixth and Reily is the win-win site for GSA and the City:
+ This 5 acre site (more than twice as large as downtown sites) provides ample space for security setbacks
+ This 5 acre site provides adequate space for future growth (stated as an important criteria for site selection)
+ This site is easily accessible for the public and for responders in a much less congested area
+ The vacant lot is the most cost effective site to procure and on which to construct
+ This site would promote re-development that is already occurring and planned in that area, a goal stated in Executive Order 12072, governing site acquisition
+ This site offers a huge saving in federal tax dollars
+ This site is an economic boon to the city rather than long term huge economic loss to the city
+ Executive Order 12072 states that "the process for meeting Federal space in urban areas shall give first consideration to a centralized community business area and adjacent areas of similar character, including other specific areas which may be recommended by local officials".
+ Everyone in the area is behind this site; city government, local government, federal legislators, neighborhood associations, the local NAACP, and the average citizen whose tax dollars are being spent on this project!

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