Slippery Rock mulls move to NexTier building
SLIPPERY ROCK — Borough council was approached by NexTier Bank with an interest in purchasing a vacant lot at the corner of Main and Franklin streets to erect a small location with a drive-through window.
Discussion Tuesday night, Dec. 3, involved the lot, the NexTier building/property on Main Street and the borough building/property on Crestview Road.
“If this works out for all parties involved, NexTier and Slippery Rock borough would ‘trade’ the vacant lot for the NexTier building and property,” borough manager Christian Laskey said. “We are currently looking into the feasibility of moving all municipal operations to the NexTier Bank location.”
The borough is weighing three potential options:
■ The borough trades the vacant lot for the current NexTier Bank building and relocates municipal operations there. The borough building goes up for sale.
■ The borough trades the vacant lot for the current NexTier Bank building but keeps municipal operations where they are. The NexTier Bank building goes up for sale.
■ The borough does not proceed with any property exchange or relocation.
“I have no idea what the future holds for this opportunity, but we are looking into costs and feasibility studies now. This is still a very preliminary conversation with no agreements or letters of intent submitted yet,” Laskey said.
Councilman Paul Lueken said construction for the first option would take 90 to 100 days.
“We went through and talked about values of property, and they perceived their property would be the same value as our property,” he said. “We did tell them that we had concerns about the HVAC system that would need to be replaced, so we’re waiting on numbers for that.”
The lot has a pavilion and a grass field, which are utilized for events like VillageFest, Independence Day and Light Up Night.
“We’ve talked about the pavilion, and they definitely want to work out an agreement to maintain that,” Lueken said. “They talked about (moving it to) the sidewalk.”
Council President Jeff Campbell said he has “reservations” about the potential deal, and that council will receive community input before moving forward with any decisions.
“It’s a community space. It should stay a community space, it’s paid for by the taxpayers of this town,” Campbell said, referring to the lot. He also mentioned having concerns about parking with all the changes.
“I’m really about the lot itself,” he said. “I was one of the ones (who) have been against selling it from the beginning.”
Mayor Jondavid Longo, however, said the lot has been in his “rear view” since he took office. He believes the property could use a tall building with recreation space for students and community members.
“I remember being a student here and thinking, ‘I just wish there were more for us to do, stimulation,’” Longo said. “That’s the spice of going away from home. You want experiences … the college experience that a lot of us at Slippery Rock were hoping to achieve.”
