After running in the annual “Sticks and Biscuits” 5k race on Thanksgiving morning, my wife, children, niece and I drove through chilly-but-sunny downtown Hershey via Chocolate Avenue.
The realignment at Chocolate and Cocoa avenues and construction of the new Park Avenue bridge are complete, and green wreaths with large red bows adorn street lamps for the holidays.
From Milton S. Hershey’s High Point Mansion, however, it’s easy to witness some of my town’s unfinished business. There’s the mansion itself (more on this below) and the view from it of the demolition that is taking place at Mr. Hershey’s disused factory.
In this season of joy and wonder, I offer five ways in which downtown Chocolate can unwrap its potential, to the benefit of residents and visitors alike.
1. Create pedestrian entrance to Hersheypark: It’s easy to overlook the fact that the park borders downtown. In fact, there used to be a pedestrian entrance at Park Avenue and Park Boulevard. For the sake of a more vibrant downtown, how about creating a new pedestrian entrance at or near the Intermodal Transportation Center?
2. Resume monorail into downtown: Hersheypark’s monorail used to have a downtown stop near the old Hershey Drug Store building. Now it loops close to Chocolate Avenue but doesn’t let passengers get on or off, even though the infrastructure is still in place. It should.
3. Convert former community center into hotel: The old monorail stop is directly across the street from the former Hershey Community Center, a 190,000-square-foot, five-story gem at Chocolate and Cocoa avenues. As offices for the Hershey Co., the building is not living up to its potential as a hospitality destination, particularly given that it abuts the Hershey Theatre. It already has a fitness center, including a pool. Make it a hotel: The Milton Hotel.
4. Develop post office and drycleaner parcel: Moving west from its square, Hershey boasts Houlihan’s restaurant, Devon’s Seafood Grill and The Hershey Story museum. Then there’s the tract that comprises Hershey Post Office, Hershey Laundry & Drycleaning and nothing else. This represents the prime developable space downtown.
5. Open High Point Mansion: While Hershey Co. is renovating its offices at 12 E. Chocolate Ave., not known is what will go next door where the factory is being razed. But tourists will continue to flock to see the two remaining smokestacks and the bushes that spell “HERSHEY COCOA.” From the bushes, it’s a short walk to High Point Mansion, where the Hershey Trust Co. has its offices and, before that, the Hershey Co. had its headquarters. It’s high time that High Point opened its doors to the public.
