President Waldron (votes for the temporary closure)
Above, courtesy of YouTube’s choice, is Lehigh administrator Brent Stringfellow
not President Waldron
- This is an opportunity where we can see how it will shake out.
- My concern is how are those data used after we do receive them.
- How is it disseminated to the community and the stakeholders . . . what mechanisms for feedback will there be to communicate concerns.
- If this were the full-time street vacation I would not be supporting it, however I am in support of the temporary closure.
- I really have to agree with Mr. Reynolds, Dr. Van Wirt about some of that conversation how the community is drawn up to Packer Ave. and feels a little bit more welcome on the campus.
- I’ve spent some time just walking around Lehigh’s campus and it’s tremendous, a wonderful asset to our City, and I think to expose that to other people is only a good thing for Lehigh and the community.
- I would like to see more in the conversation about how you bring the community up to that space.
- And if Packer Ave. is eventually vacated . . . I would hope for a kind of all-in approach from Lehigh, some thoughts especially from Dr. Van Wirt about how we can make that space feel more inviting — is there a playground there, is there a community space . . . community programing?
- That should be a major consideration in a potential vacation of the street.
- Ultimately, this has to be a partnership between Lehigh, the City, and the community as well.
In conversation with Lehigh and City administrators, President Waldron asked about why the dates were picked, consideration of other traffic calming measures, who owns Packer Ave. if it is vacated, whether Lehigh could build on that space, what about utilities under that road, the financial value of the land, and loss of parking revenue.
All good president-type questions.