Penn State’s Altoona Campus Finds Big Savings Downtown

Altoona, Pa., probably won’t be on anyone’s short list of best downtowns anytime soon. The old railroad city’s paper, the Altoona Mirror, says politely that the downtown “has struggled for decades with blight,” although the casual visitor might incline toward descriptions like “desolate.” So how come Pennsylvania State University’s Altoona campus is adding space downtown instead of on its campus in the city’s leafier Ivyside neighborhood, some three miles away?

For one thing, says an article in the Mirror, the Ivyside campus is fairly full, and for another, the university is committed to helping the city battle the blight. But cost is a big factor too: A nearly finished renovation of a five-story, 83-year-old building downtown that added classrooms, offices, and a cafe has set the university back only $3.5-million — significantly less than new construction would cost on the Ivyside campus, according to the project’s manager and its architect. The renovated building is alongside another facility that has housed the university’s continuing-education programs for the past decade.

The university will move its communications offices to the renovated structure, along with some classes. It is currently renovating another building nearby to house its alumni and development offices, and it has acquired a former church that will become studio space for visual-arts programs. Banners and architectural touches help give the downtown buildings a unified, universitylike feel. Bus service links them to the Ivyside campus.

‘‘Penn State is a huge player in our downtown redevelopment,’‘ said Altoona’s mayor, Wayne Hippo. ‘‘It’s pretty easy to say they’re our No. 1.’‘