Giving thanks to Hershey with ideas for improving it
Chocolate Town Square at the iconic intersection of Chocolate and Cocoa avenues in downtown Hershey
I’m a big fan of historic preservation, so the ongoing renovation of the former Hershey Community Building warms my heart.
But I can’t look at the construction site without lamenting that Hershey is missing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
The Hershey Trust Co. bought the building, at 14 E. Chocolate Ave., from the Hershey Co. in 2022. The plan is for it to be used for offices and meeting space for Milton Hershey School and its Catherine Hershey Schools for Early Learning.
Milton Hershey School is a local treasure, but offices aren’t the dynamic purpose to which the property should be put. Its highest and best use might be as a hotel, complete with restaurant and rentable community meeting space that downtown lacks. (The new plans allow that “there will be opportunities for community uses such as events and meetings,” but I suspect those will be highly restricted.)
What’s more, it would complement the adjacent Hershey Theatre (also being renovated) and Melt Spa across Chocolate Avenue. That combination would be a hospitality juggernaut.
The Community Building in its heyday was the heart of Hershey, a hub of activity. Offices won’t provide that kind of vitality.
But there’s no point in dwelling on what might have been in Hershey. We have other ideas for making The Chocolate Town just a little sweeter.
Make greater use of Chocolate Town Square
For seven summers, Stay has been a weekly vendor at Market on Chocolate in Chocolate Town Square, the public park at Chocolate and Cocoa avenues.
Even with the market, four summer concerts, Choctoberfest and the (two-hour) Christmas tree lighting, the park hosts events 20 days out of the year. How many nights I’ve driven home from our store to see it empty.
As the only public outdoor gathering spot in downtown, the park should be bustling with activities, communal and private alike. I’m voting for a community beer garden.
Build a pedestrian bridge across Chocolate
Market on Chocolate would draw more shoppers if there were a safer way to cross Chocolate Avenue on foot. Even with crosswalk signals, it’s an uneasy passage.
A pedestrian bridge, from roughly between the Hershey Story and Houlihan’s (soon to be Hershey Social Restaurant + Bar) to Chocolate Town Park would create a safer, more connected downtown.
For a sense of what one might look like, just turn your gaze a block to the north and the 140-foot clear-span pedestrian bridge across the Norfolk Southern railroad tracks. Or east toward Annville, and Fasick Bridge at Lebanon Valley College.
Another option would be a pedestrian tunnel similar to the ones near the Community Building on Chocolate Avenue and Zoo America on Park Avenue.
Plant many more trees
I dug in on this topic this summer, but it bears inclusion again here given the existential threat of climate change. And even if you are a climate skeptic, there’s no denying the benefits of having more shade and further beautifying streetscapes.
Paint murals
Hershey doesn’t have much of an art scene. Let’s create a visible one in the form of murals, which can brighten drab walls, tell stories and tie together disparate parts of town.
Consider the railroad underpass on Old Chocolate Avenue. A mural honoring this area, variously known as Swatara Station and Little Italy, and illuminated at night would better connect The Mill with downtown, beautify the area and increase safety.
Open High Point Mansion to the public full time
Milton Hershey’s mansion, High Point, should be a regular tourist stop given its history and beauty, not just limited to occasional tours. The Hershey Trust, the keeper of Mr. Hershey’s legacy, could relocate its offices from High Point so that the public can enjoy its beauty and gain a greater understanding of the town’s founder.
For all of Mr. Hershey’s wealth, High Point was “modest in size and furnishings” relative to other industrialists of his time, according to The Hershey Story. At the end of his life, Mr. Hershey lived in an apartment on the mansion’s second floor while the first floor was a clubhouse for the Hershey Country Club.
Fuel a power plant comeback
After closing its downtown factory in 2012, Hershey Co. rushed to tear down much of it, arguing that only after the razing would developers be interested. The company suggested that the site soon would become home to restaurants, retail and entertainment venues.
Instead, it is a paved parking lot. Those lofty plans of yore melted like a chocolate bar in the summertime.
Yet it’s not too late to save the former power plant, a majestic building in its own right that’s best known for its iconic twin “Hershey” smokestacks.
What adaptive reuse could the power plant generate? For inspiration, look south to Baltimore and the former Pratt Street Power Plant, now an entertainment venue drawing 10 million visitors per year.
Of course, I am providing no budget to execute these ideas, nor am I certain that they’re all feasible. That’s not the point. What’s important is to consider a wide swath of options for making Hershey an even better place.
Because when they’re limited, you end up with offices where a hotel should be or, worse, a parking lot where restaurants, retail and entertainment venues were supposed to go.