At Thursday’s (7/25) Penn Live blog at the Patriot-News (Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania), M. Diane McCormick writes, “In Susquehanna Township’s Montrose Park, neighbors sometimes wonder if the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra will replace the stately trees already lost to the chainsaw before HSO acquired a donated Front Street home in 2012. But the issue of greening a nearly denuded lot is playing second fiddle to a larger question—whether the symphony commits to the upgrades needed to make the 84-year-old house its home. A decision could come in late September, according to HSO Executive Director Jeff Woodruff…. ‘It’s a beautiful property,’ Woodruff said.… ‘But a lot needs to be done to it….’ In August 2012, Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra gratefully accepted a gift from philanthropists Derek and Margaret Hathaway—a 6,500-square-foot, circa-1929 home.… The donation slated the house as the symphony’s new home, to replace Susquehanna Township commercial space leased through June 2015…. The symphony took ownership in December, but the HSO board’s final decision on ‘a comprehensive plan’ will determine whether staff moves in, Woodruff said. Architects, engineers, and ‘other people who know what they’re doing’ have been scrutinizing the property for about a year, he said.” The HSO’s main performance venue is the Forum in downtown Harrisburg.
Posted July 26, 2013