{"id":1193,"date":"2026-01-23T08:20:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T08:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/2026\/01\/23\/2026-01-23-downtown-plan-in-progress\/"},"modified":"2026-10-06T23:09:20","modified_gmt":"2026-10-06T23:09:20","slug":"2026-01-23-downtown-plan-in-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/2026\/01\/23\/2026-01-23-downtown-plan-in-progress\/","title":{"rendered":"Downtown plan in\u00a0progress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Olivia Massucci<\/a> · Staff Writer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"U.S.Sen.
U.S.Sen. McCormick visited the college on Dec. 15 to discuss revitalization in downtown Grove City. \u2014 GCC<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

U.S. Sen. David McCormick, R-Pa., visited Grove City College on Dec. 15 to meet with college officials and civic and political leaders to discuss revitalization efforts in Mercer County.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

McCormick said he wanted to “talk a little and listen a lot” to learn how his work can benefit Western Pennsylvania. Regional leaders advised him on the area’s challenges and opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Grove City College received a $179,500 grant in May from the Richard King Mellon Foundation to fund a community revitalization plan for downtown Grove City. According to Grove City\u2019s senior director of development, Brian Powell, the meeting provided an opportunity to update McCormick on the latest developments in Mercer County, including the downtown Grove City plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor revitalization to succeed long term, it\u2019s crucial to start with local private support,\u201d Powell said. \u201cWe also keep our state and federal officials informed, as their involvement and resources can benefit the project\u2019s future progress.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Powell said that briefing McCormick does not alter the project\u2019s trajectory but helps raise awareness and generate momentum among public officials and stakeholders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn the past six months, our community has actively collaborated to create a sustainable plan for downtown revitalization,\u201d Powell said. \u201cThe next steps involve sharing this vision with local stakeholders, building a team to execute the plan and applying for a grant to build capacity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The five-year revitalization plan is expected to begin in 2026 and aims to encourage students to visit downtown Grove City and support local businesses. Assistant Borough Manager Taylor Pokrant said the borough hopes to strengthen connections between the college and the downtown area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe want to see that connection and that the students don\u2019t just stay on the campus, that they come and visit our local merchants and infuse capital into those merchants,\u201d Pokrant said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The specifics of the plan are still being refined, and both Powell and Pokrant are looking for feedback from the Grove City community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Powell encouraged community members who missed earlier focus groups or public open houses to contact him with feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur aim is to transform downtown into a magnet for entrepreneurship, growth and investment, making it an appealing place for students to choose to stay after graduation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pokrant said he is \u201cthankful to have a partner in Grove City College.\u201d Much of the campus borders the downtown study area, and borough officials are seeking guidance from the college community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe really would like to see input from the college, whether directly from students or through members of the college staff on the committee, on what types of entities downtown would bring students off campus and into the downtown,\u201d Pokrant said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

U.S. Sen. David McCormick, R-Pa., visited Grove City College on Dec. 15 to meet with college officials and civic and political leaders to discuss revitalization efforts in Mercer County. McCormick said he<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":586,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[185],"tags":[14,41,79],"class_list":["post-1193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-borough","tag-front-page","tag-issue-2026-01-23","tag-olivia-massucci"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-01-23-04-downtown-plan-in-progress-1.jpg",891,1280,false],"thumbnail":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-01-23-04-downtown-plan-in-progress-1.jpg",104,150,false],"medium":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-01-23-04-downtown-plan-in-progress-1.jpg",209,300,false],"medium_large":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-01-23-04-downtown-plan-in-progress-1.jpg",768,1103,false],"large":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-01-23-04-downtown-plan-in-progress-1.jpg",713,1024,false],"1536x1536":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-01-23-04-downtown-plan-in-progress-1.jpg",891,1280,false],"2048x2048":["\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2026\/09\/2026-01-23-04-downtown-plan-in-progress-1.jpg",891,1280,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"Ian Schartner","author_link":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/author\/schartnerij23\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"U.S. Sen. David McCormick, R-Pa., visited Grove City College on Dec. 15 to meet with college officials and civic and political leaders to discuss revitalization efforts in Mercer County. McCormick said he","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1193"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1193\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1832,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1193\/revisions\/1832"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stuorgs2.gcc.edu\/thecollegian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}