NEWS INFORMATION FROM

THE OFFICE OF MAYOR STEPHEN R. REED
City of Harrisburg
King City Government Center
Harrisburg, PA 17101-1678
Telephone: 717.255.3040

FOR IMMEDIATE USE
19 February 2004

PENNSYLVANIA PLACE REOPENS

Harrisburg, PA—Mayor Stephen R. Reed today reported that residents on the sixth through twenty-fifth floors of Pennsylvania Place at 301 Chestnut Street have been permitted to return to their apartments following the completion of safety inspections by city Codes Enforcement officers. Clean up efforts will continue around the clock on the building’s fifth floor, the last remaining residential floor, delaying the return of residents on that floor until tomorrow.

Reed lauded the efforts of AE-Pennsylvania Place Associates, owners and operators of the signature downtown residential and commercial high-rise, for their concerted efforts to return the building to occupancy. “The owners of Pennsylvania Place have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to and concern for their tenants, and have spared no expense in getting the building back up as quickly as possible. They have set a high standard for business recovery operations and we are very grateful for their good efforts,” said the Mayor.

The Mayor said building managers continue to work around the clock so as to allow commercial tenants back into their space on floors one through four, which remain closed for around the clock restoration work. Minor water damage clean-up is all that remains to be completed, and most commercial tenants should be able to return to their offices by early next week.

The second tallest building in the state between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Place was temporarily closed on Monday night after an electrical fire knocked out power to the building and cause minor fire damage on the fourth floor. The Mayor said the building’s fire suppression system helped to quickly knock down the blaze, but the resulting water damage from fire sprinklers caused more extensive restoration problems on the commercial space floors.

“In spite of the water damage,” said Mayor Reed, “the sprinkler system clearly helped prevent the possibility of an even greater tragedy.” Harrisburg was one of the first city’s in the nation to require that every high-rise building housing residential tenants be equipped with a fire sprinkler system, a move that has since been duplicated by cities throughout the country.

Reed said some minor repairs to the building-wide fire alarm system remain underway and building management has implemented some special measures to ensure occupant safety until repairs are fully completed.

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