Major land gift to campus announced

Officials at Penn State Hazleton have announced a major land gift which will increase the campus land footprint by twenty percent and will connect the existing campus with another piece of property which was landlocked.

Approximately 25 acres have been added to northeastern portion of the campus near the existing athletic fields, including a parcel of property in the Conyngham Valley, through a donation from Penn State alumni Blair Bates of Allentown and William and Louise Engle Dove of Columbia, Md., along with Mrs. Dove's siblings Susan Engle and John T. Engle. Also donating portions of the property are Peter McCorrson of Orcas Island, Wash., and the estate of John Hutton.

According to Chancellor Gary M. Lawler, "We are thankful to Blair Bates and Louise Dove for helping to make this monumental gift to Penn State Hazleton. A land gift of this magnitude allows for expansion of the campus and programs, permitting Penn State Hazleton to continue to serve the needs of the area for many years to come."

Efforts to secure the gift were led by For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students local chair Attorney Pasco L. Schiavo who worked with the donors and provided all legal work on the gift.

Originally owned by the Santee family, the land was sold to ancestors of the beneficiaries in the early 1900s and was passed on to many family members through wills and trusts. It was divided when Interstate 81 was constructed in the 1960s.

Dr. Lawler added that the addition of the property is consistent with the long-range campus master site plan which includes expansion of the facilities and athletic fields, along with other options which are being explored.

The last major land gift to Penn State Hazleton was an 19-acre parcel contiguous to the eastern side of the campus made by Thomas and Earl Slusser and Matthew Bayzick in 1997. This gift provided space for the campus to improve roadway infrastructure around the campus and for a new maintenance building.

Read the January 6, 2012 Standard-Speaker story.

 

 

Penn State Hazleton campus illustration

Additional illustration of land gift. Campus footprint before gift is marked in light green; land gift in darker green.