Schuylkill Riverfront Academic
and Heritage Center Overview
Montgomery County Community College (the College), in partnership with the Schuylkill River National and State Heritage Area (SRHA), proposes an innovative collaboration that will enable the College to assist in the extension of the goals and strategies of theSchuylkill River National and State Heritage Area’s management plan. This partnership enhances the ability of the Schuylkill River Center in Pottstown to serve as an anchor for the community’s revitalization by bringing the river, and its many assets, closer to the down-town community through the extension of the College’s West Campus and through the connection of the project with the Borough of Pottstown’s downtown development plan. The partnership also enhances the Schuylkill River Center in supporting the SRHA goals along the entire 128 mile route of the river, from Pottsville to Philadelphia. The College will create the Schuylkill Riverfront Academic and Heritage Center through the partnership with the SRHA, and with the support of the Borough of Pottstown and the County of Montgomery. The Center will be co-located with the SRHA at the former PECO site on College Drive in Pottstown. The facility is located across the street from the College’s current West Campus facility, a campus that serves close to 2,000 credit students and 1,500 non-credit students, most of whom reside within a ten mile radius of the Borough’s downtown. |
 |
This partnership project is also consistent with findings from the 2003 Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy study, “Back to Prosperity: A Competitive Agenda for Renewing Pennsylvania,” that call for the reinvestment in Pennsylvania’s boroughs as the highest priority for ensuring the continuing economic competitiveness of the Commonwealth. The project’s land reclamation goals are consistent with the report’s priorities; a reclamation effort that is essential for the redevelopment of the Borough.
The development of the Schuylkill Riverfront Academic and Heritage Centercompletes the transformation of this site that was started by the Borough of Pottstown, Montgomery County and SRHA, once one of blight, into a hub for culture, recreation, conservation and education and is consistent with the Borough of Pottstown revitalization plans, as described in the “Western Riverfront District Redevelopment Plan.” The site renovations will include the development of four classrooms, an Interpretive Center, parking and landscaping including connecting with the Borough’s promenade effort, and the development of an outdoor amphitheater to support cultural opportunities and outdoor classroom lectures.
