Outdoor amusement to replace Dank's

The ring of cash registers might return soon to the former Dank's Department Store, this time mixed with the organ notes of a carousel.

A food court looking out over the park is planned on the lower level and one or two retailers will be situated on the upper two stories, Ed Friedman of Friedman Real Estate Group said.

"We are moving pretty fast on this," he said. "There is an engineer working on it."

The corner of Allen Street and Beaver Avenue was ground zero of State College retail in years past. A McLanahan's Drugstore occupied the now-vacant lot at 138 S. Allen St. for 50 years until it was destroyed in a fire in 1989. The drugstore moved to West College Avenue a few months later.

Dank's occupied the corner location since the late '40s until the Lewistown-based chain left the State College market in May 1995, Dank's president Scott Welham said.

The store's absence was noticed by Dorene Smallwood, a sales associate at Tadpole Crossing, 101 E. Beaver Ave, who said she misses the perks of having a big store like Dank's downtown.

"At Christmas I used to always go in and see what they had," she said. "I hope they get something new in there."

The redevelopment also appeals to Linda Johnson, owner of State College Floral Shoppe, 127 W. Beaver Ave. Her business, founded by her grandfather more than 70 years ago at the same location, needs more foot traffic downtown

"The University helps, but we need more," he said. "We need to get the locals downtown, and the out-of-towners, too."

The department store did draw some people to the corner, she said, but not enough in its waning years.

"We miss it a little," she said. "I think anything in there would be nice as long as they don't cut into anyone else's business.

The final plan will likely be announced in June, Friedman said, adding that he is in negotiations with several retailers to fill the building

Originally Friedman asked State College Borough to purchase the lot and develop the park.

Some merchants have expressed concern about how involved the town may become in the development of the park. A new development could mean a hike in taxes, said Binh Nguyen, owner of Kayes Korner groceries, 200 S. Allen St.

"It's a big project that they're talking about and the thing is, where are they going to get all the money to do it?" he said. "I hope they don't raise the taxes."

Instead, Borough Council President Tom Daubert said, there will be no tax money in the project.

"We can't spend tax money on that. But he has asked for the borough's cooperation," Daubert said. "And we will work with him every way we can."

Alternatively, the borough might borrow money to buy the land and use its cut of the rent to pay off the debt, Borough Manager Peter Marshall said. Under this plan the borough would only be helping with financing, he said, and the park would eventually pay for itself.

No firm decision has been made on the park portion of the project, Marshall said, and council has not decided if, and to what extent, it will get involved.

However Nguyen conceded that having something in the building, which is across the street from his store, would be good for business.

"It's been slow since the arrival of the Wal-Marts and Sam's Clubs," he said. "Fewer people come downtown to shop."

This could be because area residents are disappointed with the downtown's retail offerings, Daubert said. Most downtown stores appeal to college-age customers, he said, leaving nothing to draw an older clientele.

Daubert said he would like to see a variety of downtown stores.

"We certainly don't need any more souvenir stores," he said.