With the completion of the floodwall along Spring Creek from High Street to Lamb Street, it is believed that now is the time to implement a visionary development plan for the Bellefonte Waterfront. Spring Creek is a popular outdoor recreation destination for kayaking, hiking, and fly fishing. Spring Creek is renowned as a high quality popular fly fishing destination for trout. The stream is well-known for Fisherman's Paradise, a 1.12 mile section owned and managed by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission. The majority of Spring Creek is managed under Catch and Release.

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Following is a summary of what the proposed development plan includes. There will be a promenade along Spring Creek from High Street to Lamb Street that will serve as a pedestrian walkway and gathering space. There will be a nationally branded boutique hotel that will have 93 guest rooms, along with some meeting rooms, a Farm-ToTable restaurant, and a rooftop lounge with indoor and outdoor seating. The hotel will be constructed at the corner of High Street and Dunlop Street. There will be outstanding views of Spring Creek and Talleyrand Park from many of the guestrooms. All the proposed buildings will be designed to complement the historic character of Bellefonte and will be constructed using high quality materials and will be very energy efficient. 

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The location of the Bellefonte Waterfront is a short walk to downtown Bellefonte, the Centre County Courthouse, Talleyrand Park, Krauss Park, and the American Philatelic Building. In addition, the Bellefonte Waterfront is a short drive to the Titan Energy Park and Expo Center which is currently under development. Dunlop Street will be reconstructed adjacent to the existing Bellefonte mill race that fed water to the historic Gamble Mill which now is home to a restaurant, hotel suites and commercial space. The water from the mill race cascades down a series of steps near the Gamble Mill and is then piped to Spring Creek. Dunlop Street is a two-way street and will connect High Street to Lamb Street. Next to Lamb Street is Krauss Park. People can fish, launch canoes and kayaks from this area of Spring Creek.

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The main hotel entrance will be from Dunlop Street where guests will check in. This entrance will also serve as the primary entrance to the Farm-To-Table restaurant, rooftop lounge, meeting rooms, and food and beverage service. In addition, there will be an upscale pedestrian entrance from High Street and from the promenade. The front of the hotel will be professionally landscaped and will look toward Talleyrand Park.

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The first floor of the hotel will feature registration/check in, lobby, and the Farm to Table restaurant as well as “back of the house” necessities such as kitchen, sitting/gathering area, retail space and offices. The restaurant will face the Spring Creek waterfront. Outdoor café-style seating is under a roof and adjacent to the promenade which will allow guests to experience the ambiance of the area and Spring Creek. Guests will enjoy the elevated vistas toward the two distinctive views: Talleyrand Park and the Spring Creek Waterfront. The restaurant will provide guests with a Farm-to-Table dining experience using locally sourced agricultural products along with locally crafted beers, wines, spirits, and ciders. One of the main goals of the project is to support local agricultural related businesses and downtown businesses. A rooftop lounge on the 6th floor will be a WOW factor in the hotel. It will provide panoramic views of Bellefonte and its surrounds. This lounge will seat approximately 75 people indoors and an additional 75 people outdoors. This lounge will be able to be reserved for special occasions. 

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The upper floors of the hotel will feature appropriately sized guestrooms with all the up-to-date amenities befitting a business or leisure guest and will complement the historic charm of Bellefonte. Some rooms will have windows facing the spectacular views of Spring Creek and the surrounding area which will be enhanced by opening a Juliet-style balcony that will protrude from the plane of the building.

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Next to the hotel there will be a parking structure that will provide parking for the hotel guests, visitors to the waterfront area, and for residential condominium owners. There will be 265 parking spaces provided on floors 1, 2 and 3 of the parking garage and an additional 79 parking spaces adjacent to Dunlop Street. The latest in modern design and technology will be used in the garage. In addition, there will be approximately 35,000 square feet of commercial and retail space on the first floor of the parking structure. The Big Springs Spirits Distillery is very interested in locating adjacent to the hotel in a commercial space. Other interested tenants include a jewelry store, and a small grocery store. Above the parking floors of the parking garage on floors 4-6 will be residential condominiums. Each floor will have sixteen (16) condominiums. Residents of the condominiums will have reserved parking spaces on floor 3 of the garage. There will be a private elevator for condominium owners that will take owners to the 3rd floor parking area and to the promenade. EV charging stations will be located outside the garage next to Dunlop Street. The hotel, parking garage and condominium units will be sprinklered.

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The condominium units will be open to all age groups and will vary in size from approximately 1600 sf square feet for a two (2) bedroom unit to 2200 sf for a three (3) bedroom unit with a den. All of the condominium units will be built to a high-quality standard and will be very energy efficient which will result in a maintenance-free lifestyle. Owners will be able to customize their unit and will be able to choose their flooring, lighting, appliances, plumbing fixtures, paint colors, etc. All the condominium units will have a covered outdoor patio. The condominium units will be all electric with individual HVAC controls and will be separately metered.

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Our vision will also include an educational component. We will feature pictures throughout the hotel of Bellefonte’s great history. We will work with local historians, artists, and community members to get their input on how we can educate people about the history of Bellefonte and Centre County. We want the development of the Bellefonte Waterfront to be a community effort which will encourage other entrepreneurs to continue redeveloping Bellefonte. 

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We believe that our vision for the Bellefonte Waterfront development will be the catalyst to enhance Bellefonte’s vibrant and active community, where people will want to visit and live, while supporting other businesses in the downtown area of Bellefonte and the surrounding area. The brick promenade along the waterfront will provide a gathering place for people and will provide a venue for outdoor events such as craft fairs and art exhibits. A group of citizens is currently developing plans for a Band Shell in Talleyrand Park.