NEWS INFORMATION FROM

THE OFFICE OF MAYOR STEPHEN R. REED
City of Harrisburg
King City Government Center
Harrisburg, PA 17101-1678
Telephone: 255.3040

FOR IMMEDIATE USE
05 October 2001

HARRISBURG HISTORY PROJECT WORK UNDERWAY; PEDESTAL SIGNS BEING INSTALLED AT 120 PROMINENT CITY SITES

Harrisburg, PA — Mayor Stephen R. Reed’s efforts to enhance tourism in Harrisburg received another boost today with work beginning on the installation of 120 pedestal-type informational signs in front of historic attractions throughout the city. Known as the Mayor’s Harrisburg History Project, the effort features attractive informational signage about each targeted property and contains rare archival photographs of the site from yesteryear.

Reed said the major tourism and visitor service amenity is being implemented in several phases with the first phase involving the placement of the new signage at 20 downtown sites. Installation crews will move on to the next phase as each previous area is completed.

Conceived by the Mayor several years ago and in the planning stages since, the Harrisburg History Project is a unique and highly-visible effort to enhance public awareness and enjoyment of the city’s many historic sites and attractions. The project has involved extensive research by city staff on the selected sites, with reproduced archival photographs and brief histories about each location then placed onto fiberglass exhibit panels that are permanently installed in the ground. Every attempt was made to place the signage in locations that duplicate the view of the structure from the earlier taken archival photograph.

“The Harrisburg History Project is in effect turning the entire city into a unique and distinctive visually-interactive outdoor museum,” said Mayor Reed. “The sites selected are among Harrisburg’s most treasured historic structures and other important locations. Memorializing their heritage serves to increase public awareness of their importance in Harrisburg’s development over the centuries, as well as enhance the public’s appreciation for the need to preserve and protect them.”

Reed said the entire project cost of $109,020 is being covered by the city’s share of Dauphin County hotel room tax revenues, and should be completed by mid-2002. Nearly 120 sites will eventually be covered by the project, and more may be added as is warranted. The signs were designed by GS Images of Hagerstown, MD, and manufactured by Hopewell Manufacturing. Installation work is being conducted by the Ed Chambers Company. GS Images is nationally-recognized for their work of this type, and their product can be viewed at many U.S. attractions and historical sites, including the nearby Gettysburg battlefield.

Reed said the city conducted extensive research on each site, drafted brief descriptions and other information of note, and selected the archival photographs to be reproduced. Historic resources for the project and selected photography were provided by the PA State Archives, the Dauphin County Historical Society, Historic Harrisburg Association, and the city’s own archives.

The Mayor said the sites covered in the first phase of the project include the Old Courthouses, Old Pennsylvania Railroad Station, Camelback/Market Street Bridge, James McCormick Mansion, Zion Lutheran Church, Walnut Street Bridge, Grand Opera House, Market Square, Harrisburg Hospital, Eagle/Bolton Hotel, Technical High School, Former Union Trust Building, Old Dauphin County Prison, Lochiel Hotel/Colonial Theater, Harrisburg Public Library/Dauphin County Library, Strawberry Square Phase II, Kunkel Building, Pine Street Presbyterian Church, Market Square Presbyterian Church and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. City Government Center.

Reed noted that the Harrisburg History Project work now underway is in addition to the city’s recently completed directional signage project, which involved the placement of dozens of large vehicular directional signs on the city’s major thoroughfares. The City also recently released the new Harrisburg Heritage Tourism Brochure, produced in conjunction with the PA Historical and Museum Commission, and updated reproductions of all the city’s other tourism brochures will also be soon completed.

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