By DAN SOKIL
dsokil@thereporteronline.com

LANSDALE — The borough's 311 West Main Street task force now has new leadership, some homework to do before its next meeting, and plenty of feedback from the public to ponder.

"We're going to have a whole lot of ideas we're going to try to channel into one common thing," committee chair Mike Sobel said. "We've just started tonight. This is the beginning of the process."

That process began with the task force's first public meeting, which set up a schedule of future meeting dates and elected the leadership of the eleven member task force, and will will advise borough council on the future of the borough-owned building that once operated as the Lansdale Center for the Performing Arts.

During Tuesday night's meeting, each task force member shared bios of their background and their vision of the building. Borough council member Sobel was unanimously voted to chair the Task Force and Charles Booz, owner of Chantilly Floral on Main Street, was voted vice-chair.

"I look at the building as just pure potenti," Booz said. "The property's owned by the borough, which means it's owned by everybody, so everyone has stake in it.

"It's our fiscal responsibility to maximize the square footage, and make sure the return on investment pays us back threefold: through education, the arts, and any financial aspect," he said.

After electing officers and sharing introductions with a full meeting room of roughly 40 borough and area residents, the task force reviewed two presentations of the current status of the building, originally presented at a dedicated meeting of borough council in August.

Borough manager Timi Kirchner described the ordinance passed by council earlier this year, which set up the task force's structure and responsibilities to meet monthly until council decides its task to restore 311 W. Main to operation is complete.

"This is a community process, and it's important for this community to buy into it, and to feel that it is theirs, which is why we've set (the task force) up the way we have," Kirchner said.

She described the 38 code violations found within the building by the borough's code staff and engineering firm, but said the information was designed to give the task force a handle on the task they're facing, not to look back and assign blame. Continued...

"Fourteen violations had to do with accessibility, 10 with fire-related construction, seven were concentrated in the electrical systems, two were with regards to the mechanical systems, and five were related to structural issues," Kirchner said.

The total cost just to repair those problems would be in the $240,000 to $400,000 range, according to Kirchner, but architect Scott Malin of consultant Speizle Architects presented an analysis his firm prepared for the August meeting on how to address those issues while completing the rest of the building construction.

"We were asked, 'Was the building worth preserving? Within the three main floor spaces, what's usable?' As you can see, quite a bit — it probably isn't quite 50 percent, but it's pretty close," Malin said.

After his presentation, the task force members each shared their visions of the building moving forward, and task force member and comedian James Collins said he hoped to see the building used as a community gathering place as well as a stage where he can do his standup routine.

"I'm big on community, big on sharing things with your neighbors, and seeing your friends at those types of meeting places," Collins said.

"I think this is a fantastic opportunity for the borough to reach out to businesses and form that partnership, so when you have something that people are coming to for other areas, for an art show or comedy show or musical event, that's a selling point you can bring to businesses," he said.

Then residents and concerned citizens from around the area had their say, like Candace Masucci, who lives in East Norriton with her husband Tom, but said they're both hoping to soon move back to the borough, where he grew up."

"I'm just very excited, and I hope that in the next couple of years, there will be a space for me to bring all of my business here, because I really do believe Lansdale is a great place," Candace Masucci said.

She added that she had taught harp classes inside the building when it was operated as the Lansdale Center for the Performing Arts, and thinks it can draw crowds of both instructors and students from the surrounding area, the way it drew her up from Philadelphia.

"I'm looking to become a permanent fixture in Lansdale, and I really believe Lansdale has a great potential to bring Philadelphians in," she said. Continued...

I've worked in Ambler, King of Prussia, Horsham, but I keep coming back here, and I wanted to let you know there people like me who are seeking to become a part of whatever this project will become," Masucci said.

Longtime borough residents John and Henry O'Hara also shared their thoughts. John said he felt a "laser-sharp vision" of the goals for the building would be essential, and Henry suggested the task force consider asking the borough to float a bond to cover the estimated $3.8 million cost of completing the building.

"If it's a three-point-something million project to actually create a nice facility, the idea is who would pay that back? It's not necessarily going to be a borough burden, if there's a capital campaign that people from beyond the borough can contribute to and make this happen," he said.

Betsy Falk of borough based performance group Theatre & Kids said she thinks using social media will be a key to helping get a younger crowd involved, and suggested the task force could do handouts or a survey during monthly First Friday celebrations to help build interest and get feedback.

"I've done some performing and general walking around, and people who are nto from the area are just shocked at how many people come out to support Lansdale" on First Fridays, she said.

"It's very important to look at what's available in the area: you have dance schools and theater groups, young filmmakers that are local, and it's very important to keep that local tie, because of the passion people have for this town," Falk said.

After the feedback finished,  task force members volunteered to form a selection committee that will consider the answers the task force gets from a Request for Proposals seeking an outside consultant that can help lead the task force through the process of examining the building and determining its future.

"We really need somebody with expertise, who has taken communities through this kind of process before and who will then guide us through it," Kirchner said.

That RFP has already been sent out by borough staff, and responses are due in by mid-November so the task force can review the responses before its next meeting.

That meeting is currently scheduled for 7 p.m. on Dec. 13, and Sobel said the task force will likely meet consistently on the second Tuesday of every month with the goal of building bigger crowds. Continued...

By DAN SOKIL
dsokil@thereporteronline.com

LANSDALE — The borough's 311 West Main Street task force now has new leadership, some homework to do before its next meeting, and plenty of feedback from the public to ponder.

"We're going to have a whole lot of ideas we're going to try to channel into one common thing," committee chair Mike Sobel said. "We've just started tonight. This is the beginning of the process."

That process began with the task force's first public meeting, which set up a schedule of future meeting dates and elected the leadership of the eleven member task force, and will will advise borough council on the future of the borough-owned building that once operated as the Lansdale Center for the Performing Arts.

During Tuesday night's meeting, each task force member shared bios of their background and their vision of the building. Borough council member Sobel was unanimously voted to chair the Task Force and Charles Booz, owner of Chantilly Floral on Main Street, was voted vice-chair.

"I look at the building as just pure potenti," Booz said. "The property's owned by the borough, which means it's owned by everybody, so everyone has stake in it.

"It's our fiscal responsibility to maximize the square footage, and make sure the return on investment pays us back threefold: through education, the arts, and any financial aspect," he said.

After electing officers and sharing introductions with a full meeting room of roughly 40 borough and area residents, the task force reviewed two presentations of the current status of the building, originally presented at a dedicated meeting of borough council in August.

Borough manager Timi Kirchner described the ordinance passed by council earlier this year, which set up the task force's structure and responsibilities to meet monthly until council decides its task to restore 311 W. Main to operation is complete.

"This is a community process, and it's important for this community to buy into it, and to feel that it is theirs, which is why we've set (the task force) up the way we have," Kirchner said.

She described the 38 code violations found within the building by the borough's code staff and engineering firm, but said the information was designed to give the task force a handle on the task they're facing, not to look back and assign blame.

"Fourteen violations had to do with accessibility, 10 with fire-related construction, seven were concentrated in the electrical systems, two were with regards to the mechanical systems, and five were related to structural issues," Kirchner said.

The total cost just to repair those problems would be in the $240,000 to $400,000 range, according to Kirchner, but architect Scott Malin of consultant Speizle Architects presented an analysis his firm prepared for the August meeting on how to address those issues while completing the rest of the building construction.

"We were asked, 'Was the building worth preserving? Within the three main floor spaces, what's usable?' As you can see, quite a bit — it probably isn't quite 50 percent, but it's pretty close," Malin said.

After his presentation, the task force members each shared their visions of the building moving forward, and task force member and comedian James Collins said he hoped to see the building used as a community gathering place as well as a stage where he can do his standup routine.

"I'm big on community, big on sharing things with your neighbors, and seeing your friends at those types of meeting places," Collins said.

"I think this is a fantastic opportunity for the borough to reach out to businesses and form that partnership, so when you have something that people are coming to for other areas, for an art show or comedy show or musical event, that's a selling point you can bring to businesses," he said.

Then residents and concerned citizens from around the area had their say, like Candace Masucci, who lives in East Norriton with her husband Tom, but said they're both hoping to soon move back to the borough, where he grew up."

"I'm just very excited, and I hope that in the next couple of years, there will be a space for me to bring all of my business here, because I really do believe Lansdale is a great place," Candace Masucci said.

She added that she had taught harp classes inside the building when it was operated as the Lansdale Center for the Performing Arts, and thinks it can draw crowds of both instructors and students from the surrounding area, the way it drew her up from Philadelphia.

"I'm looking to become a permanent fixture in Lansdale, and I really believe Lansdale has a great potential to bring Philadelphians in," she said.

I've worked in Ambler, King of Prussia, Horsham, but I keep coming back here, and I wanted to let you know there people like me who are seeking to become a part of whatever this project will become," Masucci said.

Longtime borough residents John and Henry O'Hara also shared their thoughts. John said he felt a "laser-sharp vision" of the goals for the building would be essential, and Henry suggested the task force consider asking the borough to float a bond to cover the estimated $3.8 million cost of completing the building.

"If it's a three-point-something million project to actually create a nice facility, the idea is who would pay that back? It's not necessarily going to be a borough burden, if there's a capital campaign that people from beyond the borough can contribute to and make this happen," he said.

Betsy Falk of borough based performance group Theatre & Kids said she thinks using social media will be a key to helping get a younger crowd involved, and suggested the task force could do handouts or a survey during monthly First Friday celebrations to help build interest and get feedback.

"I've done some performing and general walking around, and people who are nto from the area are just shocked at how many people come out to support Lansdale" on First Fridays, she said.

"It's very important to look at what's available in the area: you have dance schools and theater groups, young filmmakers that are local, and it's very important to keep that local tie, because of the passion people have for this town," Falk said.

After the feedback finished,  task force members volunteered to form a selection committee that will consider the answers the task force gets from a Request for Proposals seeking an outside consultant that can help lead the task force through the process of examining the building and determining its future.

"We really need somebody with expertise, who has taken communities through this kind of process before and who will then guide us through it," Kirchner said.

That RFP has already been sent out by borough staff, and responses are due in by mid-November so the task force can review the responses before its next meeting.

That meeting is currently scheduled for 7 p.m. on Dec. 13, and Sobel said the task force will likely meet consistently on the second Tuesday of every month with the goal of building bigger crowds.

Councilman Matt West, who said he is temporarily occupying a spot on the task force until January, said he wanted each person in attendance to do one thing before the next meeting: "Build the buzz. Let's see if we can get as many people here on Dec. 13 as we can, because we don't have all of the answers."

And councilwoman and task force member Mary Fuller emphasized the importance of receiving input from the public, and moving quickly but carefully to take action to restore the building.

"As anxious and as excited as I am, it's imperative and absolutely critical that we do it right. I think we need our next grand opening to be our last, because we won't get another chance," she said.

Follow staff writer Dan Sokil on Twitter @DanSokil. For breaking news SMS alerts from The Reporter, text LANNEWS to 22700 from your mobile phone. Msg and data rates may apply. Text HELP for help. Text STOP to cancel.