Easton To Get More Apartments After Two Projects Turn To Office Space, Mayor Says

As Downtown Easton began its resurgence in recent years, first came nighttime foot traffic from people going to restaurants.

After the Pomeroy’s Lofts opened in the 300 block of Northampton Street, that added to the evening surge on the city’s sidewalks and into the city’s bars.

The Crayola Experience on Centre Square has for years provided a daytime tourist presence, and new retail locations and the farmers market have put some feet on the streets during daylight.

When Pomeroy’s developer Mark Mulligan bought the Wolf Building on North Second Street for conversion to apartments after Northampton County moved its human services operation to Bethlehem Township, the daytime/nighttime equation seemed to slide further out of balance.

Read more:

http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/easton/index.ssf/2015/05/easton_to_get_more_apartments.html

Easton Business Owners Excited About Parking, Patrons From Intermodal Center

The photographer was snapping, the baby was smiling and the mother was beaming. Everything was running smoothly at Time Photo Studios in Easton’s Centre Square until the mother brought the shoot to an abrupt halt.

“She had to run down to Second Street to feed the meter,” said studio co-owner Tara Hawthorne.

Customers won’t have to worry so much about parking when the new intermodal center opens at 123 S. Third St. The 350-space parking deck is blocks away from businesses like Hawthorne’s, and the business community says its customers and employees will appreciate new parking options.

“People can go Downtown and not worry about getting a parking ticket,” agreed Pasquale Crisci, owner of Antonio’s Pizzeria across South Third Street from the new intermodal center.

Read more: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/easton/index.ssf/2014/12/easton_business_owners_excited.html

Garlic Fans Push Easton Garlic Fest To Record Attendance

English: Skyline of Easton, PA from Lafayette College (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Easton Garlic Fest chairwoman Jo Moranville learned one thing about garlic lovers this weekend.

“We’ve clearly reached the point where garlic-crazy people don’t care if they get wet,” Moranville says.

Despite a rainy start to the 14th annual festival on Saturday, Easton Garlic Fest saw its biggest crowd – ever – for the two-day festival.

More than 20,000 visitors flocked to Centre Square to “eat, drink and stink,” according to festival and police reports.

Read more: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/food/index.ssf/2014/10/easton_garlic_fest_breaks_atte.html

Easton Garlic Fest 2014

Sat & Sun, Oct 4th & 5th
10am – pm, rain or shine

Centre Square, downtown Easton

Check out their website for all the information you need: http://www.eastongarlicfest.com/index.php

Group Forms To Raise Money For Easton Ambassadors Program In Downtown Area

English: Skyline of Easton, PA from Lafayette College (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Easton Ambassadors are looking for a little help from their friends to generate needed money to sustain and expand the program.

The red-shirted Ambassadors clean Downtown streets, assist visitors with local tourism questions and provide police with an extra set of eyes to spot potential trouble.

But officials say reduced funding has limited their ability to perform their duties. Their patrol shrank in 2012 to cover primarily Centre Square and nearby Third and Northampton streets.

The group’s budget is about $230,000 this year but if it can raise its revenues by at least $50,000 to previous years’ totals, it may be able to expand its reach to Pine and Fifth streets, as it had done in the past, officials said.

Read more: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/easton/index.ssf/2014/08/group_forms_to_raise_money_for.html

Easton’s Northampton Street To Become Classic Car Cruising Strip On Designated Summer Nights

English: Skyline of Easton, PA from Lafayette College (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As Easton Mayor Sal Panto Jr. recalls, Northampton Street at one point was the most popular cruising strip in the Lehigh Valley, but that changed in the 1980s when the city banned the practice.

Nearly 30 years later, Panto says it’s time to bring back cruising, albeit on a limited basis.

Easton will be hosting cruise nights on one Saturday per month between May and August this summer, Panto announced this afternoon at a news conference.

Classic car owners are invited to drive the strip from 6 to 9 p.m. on the designated nights. The Mayor’s Office of Special Events is teaming with WGPA Sunny 1100, which will broadcast cruising music during the nights — think the Beach Boys, The Four Seasons and Motown groups — over the AM airwaves.

Read more: http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/easton/index.ssf/2014/04/cruise_nights_to_hit_city_of_e.html

Easton Reviewing Bids For Sale Of Alpha Building

English: Skyline of Easton, PA from Lafayette College (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Easton‘s iconic brick and stone skyscraper is on target to be in new hands by the end of the year.

Mayor Sal Panto Jr. confirmed that the city is talking to a pair of finalists who want to buy the 91/2 -story city-owned Alpha Building, which anchors the southwest corner of Centre Square.  The city agreed earlier this year to list the building for sale and solicit proposals from developers.

Officials declined to name the two finalists, or to say how many proposals were received — although Panto did say it was more than two.

“We are working more with one (developer) because they offered more,” Panto said of the ongoing negotiations.

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/breaking/mc-easton-alpha-building-sale-close-20130802,0,7783825.story#ixzz2aqcrj1xa
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Easton Pays McDonald’s $300,000 To Vacate Two Rivers Landing

English: The official logo. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

There will be no more Egg McMuffins, Golden Arches or Happy Meals in Centre Square.

Easton City Council agreed Wednesday night to pay McDonald’s $300,000 over three years to terminate the remainder of the burger chain’s lease at Two Rivers Landing.  The deal paved the way for a 10-year commitment from Crayola to lease the entire facility, putting the building back on tax rolls and effectively paying off the mortgage.

Mayor Sal Panto Jr. laid out the major terms of the two pacts, highlighting a $2.2 million boost in revenue over the next decade before the payments to McDonald’s.  Crayola, which will invest millions to revamp its Crayola Experience attraction, plans to generate much larger crowds, reconfigure its store and pump more money into the downtown, Panto said.

“The amount of dollars we are investing,” Panto said of the McDonald’s buyout, “will be returned many, many times.”

Read more: http://www.mcall.com/news/local/easton/mc-easton-two-rivers-landing-lease-resolved-20120822,0,5083955.story