The Daily Collegian Coltegian file photo Former State College Mayor Bill Welch speaks at a town meeting in 2009. The borough council renamed an Allen St. building in his honor. Council renames plaza in honor of late mayor By Matt Morgan The mcmoi-y of tormer mayor Bill Welch evil! live on tor years to come, alter the State College Borough council \oled Monday night to name the Municipal Building Plaza in his honor. The area in iron! of the build ing, 2-Ci S. Alien St., was previous ly referred to as "the plaza." but during Monday evening's bor ough eouneil meeting, members voted unanimously to name it Welch i’iaza i;i honor ot the mayor v ho stag ed tor ’5 years. "1 thmk it s i, iovHy idea." Mayor Elizabeth Goreham said. "Calling ,t Welch P!a/.a is easy, and it it a Is right. He was an icon of our tow r. Welch mrm d the < V-iiiv I i-iilv Tunes ior more than 2" ire i.k in” ; Teel ed as :n;ror in 1 i 4. Hr is romombor'-u Mr h.is contribu tions to improving the rclation !■ borough and silip iv I Villi M.( Weir; after i in Si’jiU.'miMT 2i>oii ■2 pneumonia due to complications Irani a leg bypass mrsyi-y Councii memm r !>on Hahn said hr >upj)oitfd the plaza renaming partiv because it is an effort-to update a borough land' mark - something that has been Join faculty and fellow students to team more about studying next summer in Japan | History, Culture, and Practice of Traditional Aikido Wednesday. December 8 6:00 p.m. 29 IH Building outreach praams of the College of Agricultural Sciences, the College of Arts and Architecture, the College of Health and Human Development. :hc College of the Liberal Arts, the Smcat College Of Business, and University Office of Global Programs lacking in recent years. He said more areas should be named after people who have influenced the community. "One of the things that the State College borough has been short on is acknowledging its his tory'. and I think this is a step in the right direction," he said. Though there are no plans to renovate or change the layout of the plaza, Hahn said any artwork added to the plaza will most likely be privately funded. There is currently no timetable for adding artwork to the site, as no changes will take place until ideas and funding issues are addressed, council member Jim Rosenberger said. Nadine Kofman. Welch's wife of more than 30 years, said her hus band did not usually approve of naming the borough's public buildings after people, but he would be pleased to know the plaza will be named in his memo ir. m t 'li! or at 'Bill will always be at the bor ough building because of this." she said. Additionally, Kofman said she would like to see a statue of her late husband sitting on a bench in the plaza. "I like the idea of a seated life size statue," she said. "It would be on a bench with enough room for someone to sit beside him." Fraser deadline extended The State College Borough Council approved a one-year extension for the $l.B million pay ment deadline of the ongoing Fraser Centre project Monday night but the Centre's real estate developer said there is still no set timeline for the project. The deadline extension was approved at Monday's borough council meeting with a 5-1 vote. Council member Don Hahn cast the lone dissenting vote. ■'The extension being a full year is excessive," Hahn said. "The developer has had three years and some were months before the recession hit ' But the majority of the council as well as State College Mayor Elizabeth Goreham are still behind the project that has been in the planning stages for more than three years. Some members said they understand the difficul ties Susquehanna Real Estate has faced in the process. Man charged with felony trespass The 19-year-old Maryland man arrested last Thursday on charges of stalking and harass ment was arrested again, just after midnight Wednesday when he was found trespassing in an East Halls dorm. Penn State Police said. A day before his preliminary hearing on earlier charges. Obafemi 0. Ilupeju. of Silver Spring. Md.. was charged with one count each of felony criminal trespass, misdemeanor criminal trespass and summary criminal trespass, police said. Ilupeju was found walking unescorted around the fifth-floor Packer Hall hallway at about 12:50 am. Tuesday, police said. He was taken into custody at the Centre County Correctional Facility at about 8:45 a.m. Tuesday on a $7,500 bail, where he remains as of press time, according to an official from the facility Penn State Police Deputy Chief Tyrone Parham said it does not appear that Ilupeju was attempt- >TATE PENN By Matt Morgan FOR THE COLLEGIAN By Casey McDermott COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER 7/s the season to save on a Mac. 13-inch Mocßook Pro. The fastest, most powerful Macßook Pro ever. Get a Free printer! While supplies last. “We understand the difficulty in the developer’s completion of the project,” council member James Rosenberger said. “My vote was supportive of giving him a little extra time to complete it." Susquehanna Real Estate President Jack Kay said he remains optimistic about the completion of the project even though there isn’t a concrete plan for the beginning of construction. “The timetable is 'not soon enough,’ ” he said. “We’re push ing as fast as we can. Every day costs us money, and we have all the incentives to move as quickly as possible." The Fraser Centre would include retail and office space, luxury condominiums, a cinema and a possible hotel boutique. "The goal is to create a well designed major commercial development in the heart of downtown that would elevate it to the next level," Kav said. Susquehanna Real Estate has already paid $1,475 million and now has an additional year to pay ing to contact the female student whom he is charged with harass ing and stalking. Ilupeju told police he was attempting to retrieve a back- pack and that he had permission to enter the build ing from a stu- dent who lived there, police said. Packer Hall requires card H u P e j u access for stu- dents to enter the building, and police said Ilupeju entered the hall by "piggybacking" with a res ident inside. When contacted, the other stu dent told police he did not invite Ilupeju to enter the building at that time, police said. Parham said Ilupeju had been staving as a guest in the student's room in the residence hall earlier in the week, but the student with whom Ilupeju was staying decid ed he did not want to host him any longer. Ilupeju was staving with the student while he awaited his pre liminary hearing that is sched- ech The Halls AppieCare i 'Tt-CIC-n Now on Sale! Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2010 I 3 a remaining $l.B million, Kay said as well as a 5 percent interest rate. The council still believes the project will eventually be com pleted, though Hahn said he remains skeptical. “I was never too optimistic about it from the beginning,” he said. “Obviously after three years I’m even more skeptical than when it began.” Goreham said she supports the council’s decision and believes the Fraser Centre will be a nice addition to downtown State College. “It incorporates something that will help our downtown and community in general, Goreham said. “It’s something that the town supports." This extension will likely be the last chance for the completion of the project, and there is no back up plan. "If the developer went away, we'd own an empty lot or the developer would own an empty lot," Rosenberger said. uled for today in connection with charges filed against him last week. Parham said. The charges stem from an inci dent in which police said Ilupeju sent repeated harassing mes sages to a female Penn State stu dent via Facebook. He arrived in State College last week, police said. Police said the female stu dent first contacted authorities on Nov. 14 to report that she had been receiving unwanted mes sages from an unknown individ ual identified as Ilupeju via Facebook. Last Wednesday, he arrived in State College, where police said they determined he had no "pur pose of meaningful business on campus" and charged him the fol lowing day Ilupeju was charged with one count each of misdemeanor stalk ing and harassment in connec tion with last week's incident, police said. Ilupeju's preliminary hearing in connection with the most recent charges on Wednesday is scheduled for Dec. 15. To e-maii reporter: cmms773@psu.edu
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