Penn State planning on removal of Kepler Barn after failed fundraiser
PINE GROVE MILLS, Pa. (WTAJ) — After months of fundraising, the effort to raise money to save Kepler Barn was unsuccessful.
Penn State initially planned to tear down the barn, but after community outcry, decided to delay the decision. The university gave the community until June 1 to raise $500,000, saying that would be the cost to maintain the barn.
A university spokesperson confirmed to WTAJ that the campaign was unsuccessful, saying the Historic Barn and Farm Foundation of PA was 'unable to meet the agreed upon fundraising target for stabilizing the barn.' With the deadline passed, the university will now begin 'exploring options for the barn's eventual removal.' The spokesperson notes the planning will include considerations for 'potential avenues to salvage and reuse materials from the original barn.'
In the statement, the spokesperson wrote that no date has been set for when the barn will come down. On the fundraiser's website, it says that if the campaign is unsuccessful, 'all donors will be contacted to determine their preference for the use of the money.'
The full statement from Penn State reads:
'While we greatly appreciate the fundraising efforts led by the Historic Barn and Farm Foundation of PA (HBFF), they have informed us that they were unable to meet the agreed upon fundraising target for stabilizing the barn.
Since the fundraising target was not met, we will now begin exploring options for the barn's eventual removal, but no specific dates have been set. Included in that planning will be considering potential avenues to salvage and reuse materials from the original barn.
Please note that Penn State, through the Pasto Agricultural Museum, has been working to preserve the legacy of the Kepler farm and the dozen other family farms that now make up the 2,220-acre Russell E. Larson Agricultural Research Center at Rock Springs. Museum staff and student interns are nearing completion of the first phase of the 'Land and Legacy of Rock Springs' initiative, which will launch at Ag Progress Days 2025 with an interactive exhibit, digital story map, and physical artifacts aimed to preserve local agricultural heritage. '
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Yahoo
Johnstown city council informs public of park renovation project
JOHNSTOWN, Pa. (WTAJ) — Members of the Johnstown City Council helped inform the public about the approved renovation project of Central Park. Councilman Taylor Clark set up a stand at the gazebo in the park to lay out the project plans, design and other features for the residents to learn about the upcoming park renovations that cost $8 million. Members of the public came to the stand to hear what the councilman had to say. 'We got a design for the park that's going to be not just something that's going to modernize it, but it's going to be something that will be more inclusive for everyone, especially people with disabilities,' Clark said. 'ADA compliance is a huge deal, and modernization is a huge deal, while remembering the history of the park itself.' Plans included a patio place for people to sit down at, a new pavilion for entertainment and a new water feature. The prominent feature, the water fountain in the center of the park, will move over to Sandyvale Park. 'When we put the park back together, there will be new sidewalks, there'll be new benches,' Clark added. 'There'll be a lot of new features of the park that will be more communal for everyone to be able to use.' However, the session did come with a counter protest across the way from the gazebo. Republican nominee for city mayor John DeBarcola and Republican nominee for city council Joe Tartano set up a table to share their perspective as to why the project should not happen. 'They've tried this before,' Tartano said. 'They told everybody when they reduce Main Street and Central Park, it's going to bring people downtown. It's not. It didn't before. It's history. Look into it. After the flood, they redid everything, and it hasn't.' Residents flocked to the park to hear from both sides of the issue. While some picked at bits and pieces of the design, others took strong stances on one side or the other. 'If you had a home, you'd redo your kitchen,' resident Sandy Grodziski said. 'You don't wait 60 years to remodel your house.' 'The park is a great place to meet people. The plans are just incredibly stupid,' resident Catherine-Anne McCluskey said. A main point for those who are against the park renovations is the amount of money going into it. At a price tag of $8 million, they feel the money could have gone elsewhere. 'The money could go to the public safety building,' DeBarcola said. 'The money can go into blight removal. They had so many options on how they could spend this money, and they failed to do that.' Clark has expressed his displeasure with the invoice for the renovations, also saying that the money granted to them by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) during the COVID-19 pandemic could have been allocated elsewhere. The deadline to move the money elsewhere passed in December 2024, which means that the city has to use it before giving it back to the federal government. 'Not only would that be an embarrassment for the city if we were able to do that, it would be very difficult then to move forward, trying to get targeted federal and state funding,' Clark said. 'They're living in the past, and I'm living in the future, so I keep moving up,' Grodziski added. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Pennsylvania parks officials learn tips for building; connecting trails
BELLEFONTE, Pa. (WTAJ) — Parks and recreation officials attended a learning seminar to help develop more trails in the state. The Trail Symposium, held at Brass 16823 on Axemann Road, drew over 75 people to a daylong session focused on creating efficient trails for running, biking, and equestrian use. Topics of discussion ranged from planning to fundraising, design and marketing. 'It's a very broad interest, but that's how the National Parks Service trails get on the ground,' Mary Monroe Brown, senior vice president of advocacy and engagement for the International Mountain Bicycling Association, said. 'It's a collaboration of all these groups and people understanding this vision of trails.' State grant awarded to Cambria County Historical Society to preserve century-old Buck House Attendees got a chance to network and share ideas in between sessions about their management of trails. These ideas were a way to take each piece of advice back to the home trails and create ways to connect each trail for a larger network of paths. With each connection, a new way to attract visitors and boost local commerce arises. 'The people that go hiking, camping and mountain biking, they spend a lot of money on their affinity and their recreation,' Phillip Millburn, the vice president of IMBA, said. 'The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania has this data to back this case up. The economic potential is significant.' Pennsylvania has 650 trails that span over 14,000 miles. The IMBA sees the potential in developing these connecting trails to create a statewide network. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Office of Open Records orders Cambria County to search again for 2024 election failure
CAMBRIA COUNTY, Pa. (WTAJ) — Cambria County officials have been ordered to conduct a new search for records related to a major voting system failure during the November 2024 election, following a successful appeal from State Rep. Frank Burns under Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Law. The state Office of Open Records ruled that the county's original reason for denying Burns' records request, citing a noncriminal investigation, was not valid, requiring the county to either provide the documents or legally attest that they do not exist. Burns requested any documentation explaining the nature of the voting machine malfunction that led to ballots going unscanned and unaccounted for, as well as a tally of how many ballots were successfully or unsuccessfully scanned on Election Day. The Nov. 5, 2024, issue reportedly involved voting machines that had passed pre-election testing but failed when used, prompting concerns from voters and lawmakers alike. Burns has continued to push for transparency surrounding the incident, stating that the public still has no clear explanation for what went wrong or how many ballots were impacted. In response to an inquiry from WTAJ, Cambria County's solicitor, Ronald Repak, provided a statement acknowledging the OOR ruling and outlining the four key parts of the decision. According to the county, the OOR deemed one of Burns' requests moot after the county turned over the logic and accuracy testing records. The OOR also denied Burns' request for a finding of bad faith, instead stating, 'The County has been timely, attentive, and professional in both its responses to the Requester and to the OOR and has made serious attempts to provide the Requester with the information he is seeking.' The county confirmed the OOR did grant Burns' request for the number of ballots that failed to scan, which officials say occurred because the ballots did not include TIS (timing) marks required by the tabulation system. The county said this issue affected all ballots when polls opened. Additionally, the OOR granted Burns' request for documentation explaining the nature of the problem. The county reiterated it has repeatedly said the mistake was due to a clerical error by a county worker who uploaded ballots to the system without the necessary marks. Officials said there was no malicious intent. 'The County has no issue with completing another search to answer questions which the County has already gone to great lengths in answering,' Repak stated. The OOR has given the county 30 days to provide Burns with the relevant records or a sworn statement that they do not exist. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
