Montgomery County Community College has partnered with the Schuylkill River Heritage Area and the Borough of Pottstown to develop a Riverfront Academic and Heritage Center on the unutilized portion of the site at 140 College Drive, in a former PECO building now owned by the Pottstown Borough. A portion of the building, located across the street from the College’s West Campus, currently houses the headquarters of the Schuylkill River Heritage Area, but another 5,000-square-foot section is unutilized.
The center will provide space for four college classrooms, a science lab and an Interpretive Center with educational, historic and tourist information about the Schuylkill River Heritage Area.
The Riverfront Center will also allow for joint programming between the College and the SRHA, with non-credit courses that promote awareness of the river as a historical, cultural and natural resource. Such courses will run the gamut from historical perspectives of the region, to lessons in kayaking and bicycle maintenance.
The College’s credit curriculum will be expanded in the areas of environmental science, museum studies and education. Cultural arts programming and an annual academic symposium will also be held at the new center, and an outdoor amphitheatre will support cultural events and live performances.
The building, which is currently owned by the Borough, will eventually be transferred to the College. It will become the third building on the West Campus in Pottstown, including buildings at 101 College Drive and 16 High Street.<./p>
Schuylkill River Heritage Area
With the 128-mile Schuylkill River as its spine, the Schuylkill River National and State Heritage Area is alive with a remarkable diversity of historic, recreational and cultural attractions. The river flows through five counties (Berks, Chester, Montgomery, Philadelphia, and Schuylkill) and communities such as Pottsville, Reading, Phoenixville, Norristown and Philadelphia. For generations, the people of Southeastern Pennsylvania have viewed the Schuylkill River as integral to their way of life.
In 1995, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania designated the Schuylkill River and its major tributaries as a Heritage Corridor under the Pennsylvania Heritage Parks Program. In 2000, the United States Congress acknowledged the River’s national significance by designating the Schuylkill River National Heritage Area.
The Schuylkill River Heritage Area is committed to assisting communities, organizations and citizens of the Schuylkill River region to preserve and sustain their cultural heritage and natural environment for future generations. The Schuylkill River Heritage Area, managed by the non-profit Schuylkill River Greenway Association, provides regional coordination, funding and technical assistance to communities and organizations within the Heritage Area through a series of programs designed to foster local appreciation and stewardship of our cultural and natural heritage.
