A recent decision by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has made way for the construction of a Catholic Student Center on East Park Avenue, despite complaints from neighbors.

A group of residents in the College Heights neighborhood had asked the state Supreme Court to block plans for the center and overturn a ruling made by a judge who originally allowed construction.

On Nov. 22, the court notified the attorneys of The Roman Catholic Diocese of Altoona-Johnstown, who are heading the project, that they will not hear the residents' appeal, diocese spokesman Rob Egan said.

The student center is going to be roughly 21,773 square feet and will include a 70- seat chapel. The diocese also owns three residential lots along the 100 block of East Park

Avenue, where the center will be built.

Egan said the diocese has not decided on a date to begin construction, because fundraising has not yet commenced.

"We have not started fundraising for the project," he said. "We didn't want to jump the gun. If there are no more appeals, we look forward to progressing with the project."

Donald and Mildred Hopkins, who filed the appeal along with the College Heights Association, the group that headed the effort to block the center, released a statement saying they are not happy with the decision.

"We are disappointed that the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has denied the request to take under consideration the case involving the Catholic Student Center," they said. "We are not happy that our residential neighborhood will be altered by the destruction of family homes for the building of a student facility."

The Hopkins said they are concerned their neighborhood would be changed if the student center were to move in, and they felt the decision to build the center was an encroachment by a university-related facility on a family neighborhood.

"It would have been nice to have been able to maintain the integrity of the neighborhood," the statement said.

State College Borough Council President Cathy Dauler said she was not surprised by the court's decision, because "they hear such a limited number of appeals."

Dauler said she thought this situation was a good example of neighbors rallying together over an issue of neighborhood preservation.

"This has been an ongoing concern for the neighborhood for a number of years," she said. "Although I think people were hoping for a different outcome, it was a demonstration of neighbors helping neighbors."

Dauler, a resident of College Heights and a former president of the College Heights Association, said she felt the neighborhood was very vulnerable because of its proximity to the university.

"It has been, in many ways, difficult for us to maintain the quality of life in the neighborhood," she said, citing problems with increased traffic.

She added that single-family homes in the neighborhood have been looked at as investment properties by people who do not live in the area, and this has helped erode the quality of life for permanent residents.

She said the College Heights Neighborhood advocated for a student housing ordinance to prevent the loss of additional owner-occupied, single-family homes in the borough. The ordinance prevents someone from buying a house and turning it into a student rental if that house is less than 225 feet from another student rental, Dauler said. She said it prevents the "domino effect" of neighboring houses becoming student rentals in a neighborhood of owner-occupied homes.

"The ordinance has slowed the degradation of the residential owner-occupied atmosphere that many people have come to love," she said.

Egan said the diocese was also not surprised by the decision of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.

"I wouldn't say we were surprised; we felt the initial decision by the zoning board and the ruling by the courts after that followed precedent," Egan said.