On Saturday Pennsburg officials welcomed the public to the ribbon-cutting for the newly renovated Pennsburg Municipal Building.  Elected officials gave remarks and thanks for the support in funding the project and for a job well done.

Pennsburg officials gathered with elected national and state elected officials, employees, and friends for the official Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on June 6 for the newly renovated Penns- burg Civic Building.  The ceremony also noted recent upgrades to the maintenance garage and the Seip Park playground and outdoor space.  Seip Park is named after Larry Seip who served as Fire Police Captain for the Pennsburg Fire Company for 50 years.  Former Pennsburg Fire Chief Scott Seip and Mayor Charles Shagg are holding the scissors.

            The upgrades present a modern image of a building with a storied past.  I wanted to share a bit of that history.

            Well into the 1940s, Pennsburg High School students had to travel two blocks north on Main Street to the Pennsburg firehouse to participate in gym classes or other indoor athletic activities.  At the time the firehouse was owned by the borough and was home to the municipal offices, meeting room, borough lock-up, and the firehouse.  I mentioned in the past that there were no locker room or shower facilities there, so many times students and athletes changed in the meeting room.

Construction began on the Pennsburg Civic Building in 1950 and it opened in January 1953.  But its usage was quickly replaced after the Upper Perkiomen School District merger was completed and a new school district gymnasium was built at the site of the newly joined Upper Perkiomen High School in East Greenville.

            Just thinking about it conjures up a vision of a janitor's nightmare.  A Saturday night fund-raising dinner for the fire company, followed by a Sunday filled with basketball games, ending with a Monday night borough council meeting.

            Pennsburg school officials recognized the need for better facilities for their students.  However funding such an endeavor would take more than a minor tax increase.  What it needed was a huge jump-start.

            The volunteers of the Pennsburg Fire Company voted to provide the seed money to try and get the project out of the starting gate.  Around 1947, they donated $25,000 to the Pennsburg School District with the stipulation that the money only be used towards the construction of a new gymnasium facility for the high school.  But that wasn't enough to get the first brick laid on a project that would run well in to six-figures.

            At the same time, the fire company itself was feeling some growing pains.  The current firehouse, built in 1925 on the site of the original structure, was running out of room. By 1948 insurance regulations, rules of safety (public and firefighter), public laws, and common sense made the trucks larger and heavier.  The volunteer firefighters had their eye on finding the space they so desperately needed, in the borough meeting room that was directly behind their existing truck bay. 

            Back then Pennsburg, like many of her neighbors, was a small close-knit

The renovations to the Pennsburg Civic Building consisted of a new roof, new windows, exterior lighting, and a modern and watertight exterior refinishing.

community.  Everybody seemed to know everybody.  Volunteer fire company members attended borough council meetings and vice versa.  Many of the same people sat at the both tables.  There were no secrets; everyone knew who needed help and where that help could come from.

            On March 23, 1948, Fire Company President Paul Campbell appointed a committee to appear before the Pennsburg Borough Council and solicit an offer from them to sell the company's headquarters to the volunteers.  Council agreed to consider the matter and report back at a later date. 

            A month later, fire company member Clarence Mensch proposed a motion to offer borough council $45,000 (almost $600,000 today) for the building, provided that the money be used to construct a community center in the borough of Pennsburg.  The company's offer was relayed to Council President Howard Haring.  Haring reported that borough officials already had plans in progress towards building a community center and that he would take the latest proposal under consideration.

            Well, it didn't take long for school district, borough, and fire company officials to recognize the opportunity to combine all of their resources to build a community center for the borough, complete with a gymnasium for the school district, and sell the existing town hall and firehouse to the Pennsburg Fire Company. 

            With the deal made and all groups in agreement, the fire company withdrew its $25,000 donation to the school district and added that amount to their purchase offer to the borough.  Later that year the Pennsburg Fire Company bought their home for $70,000.  Along with another $30,000 donated by local residents and Pennsburg High School Alumni, ground could now be broken. 

            Construction began in 1950, and the cost was estimated to climb to $175,000 before the building was completed.  Borough officials issued a bond for the funds still needed.  The borough enacted a one-mill occupation tax and increased general property taxes one mill ($5.70 at the time) to finance the bond. 

            One of the officials was quoted as saying, "From this it can be seen that every citizen has a real stake in the project and ample reason to be concerned over what ultimately becomes of the building."  

            In the summer of 1950, the Pennsburg Auditorium Development Association was formed to manage the construction.  Upon completion the borough would own the building and lease it to the Pennsburg School District for auditorium, gymnasium, and classroom use for students of the Pennsburg High School.  However that plan was short-lived.

            When construction began in 1950 there was no talk of merging school districts.  In fact as late as February 1952, only East Greenville and Red Hill were studying such a formal option.  Upper Hanover Township officials joined the talks in March.  By August the Green Lane, Marlborough, Sumneytown, and Pennsburg school districts were involved as well.  Hereford would join the talks a short time later.

            To give you an example of how quickly this merger swept the area, a headline in the March 28, 1952 Town & Country announced, "Upper Hanover May Join with East Greenville and Red Hill."  A headline in the September 5, 1952 edition proclaimed, "Directors of Seven Districts Unanimously Adopt Jointure Resolution – Opening Sept. 15."  What a difference five months make.

            Among other things, the merger agreement called for the construction of a new gymnasium and classrooms at the site of the existing East Greenville High School.  With the new Pennsburg Civic Building almost complete, borough officials were left holding the cement bag.  The agreement passed with the following clause: "No secondary school buildings can be constructed in the seven-district area until a gymnasium and classrooms have been built to the East Greenville High School and until pupil enrollment reaches a point where joined Junior-Senior high school operation is not feasible."

            That pretty much sounded the death knell for the future of the new Pennsburg Civic Building and its place as a regular venue for high school sports.

            The Civic Building opened in January 1953.  With the merger in place and operating, seventh and eighth-grade students from Pennsburg School were bused twice a week to East Greenville, while the additional classrooms and new gymnasium were being built there.  By February, Upper Perkiomen School officials agreed to lease the new civic building from Pennsburg for one dollar a month until the new facilities were complete – and provided the building passed the certification from the State Department of Public Instruction.

            Over the years the gymnasium of the Pennsburg Civic building hosted performances by the Janus Players and other organizations as well as an exhibit venue for the annual Upper Perkiomen Community Fair.  But, it remained a popular spot for local basketball groups and tournaments.  In fact, in 1955, a 7-foot, 1-inch, recent Overbrook High School graduate, and future NBA Hall of Fame member, Wilt Chamberlain played in several tournaments there for the Quakertown Fays.  He scored 30 points in his first game on the Pennsburg court.

            The Pennsburg Civic Building served the community well over the years and with its new upgrades will continue to serve well into the future.