Upper Merion Area School Board Hires New Superintendent, Passes Budget

UPPER MERION TOWNSHIP, PA – Starting next school year the Upper Merion Area School District will not only be operating under new leadership, but also under a $89,641,840 million budget with a 3.27 percent tax increase following Monday night’s board meeting.

The board voted 8 to 1 to hire John Toleno, the current superintendent of Stroudsburg Area School District in Pennsylvania, beginning a three-year contract as the district’s new superintendent that starts July 20, 2015 and ends August 31, 2018.

Board member David Karen voted against hiring Toleno, saying he did not think that Toleno displayed the vision that he hoped to detect in the right candidate for the position.

“Personally during the interview process I was not able to detect in Dr. Toleno the overall educational and administrative vision that would take this district to its aspiration of continual improvement and inspiring excellence in every students every day,” Karen said, noting he was in the minority in his opinion, but that it was too important an issue to go along with the majority.

Read more: http://www.timesherald.com/general-news/20150601/upper-merion-area-school-board-hires-new-superintendent-passes-budget

King Of Prussia Rail: Where Will It Go?

As SEPTA moves further down the line in planning a rail extension to King of Prussia, there are a few things we know – and many more that we don’t.

Among the decisions so far: It will be a spur off the Norristown High-Speed Rail Line. The entire five-mile route will be on an elevated concrete track. It will stop at the King of Prussia Mall, end at the Valley Forge Casino and Convention Center, and include two to four stops along the way.

But transit planners, township officials, and business groups are still studying some of the most crucial details, including which of five proposed routes would get the most ridership, how much each route would cost, and how each would affect noise, traffic, and other environmental conditions.

With planning well underway and strong potential for federal funding, SEPTA says the line could be running by 2023.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/news/local/20150322_King_of_Prussia_rail__Where_will_it_go_.html#ADk7y2t3i7i1u2V0.99

PhillyDeals: Expansion Planned At King Of Prussia Plaza And Court

King of Prussia Mall (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Simon Property Group, the Indianapolis-based retail giant that owns 200-plus shopping malls nationwide, is sacrificing more than 400 parking spaces at its King of Prussia Plaza and Court to make room for at least 50 new stores and restaurants that it hopes will draw more wealthy shoppers to the region’s biggest retail complex.

At extra-large shopping centers such as King of Prussia, at least, “the mall business is good, contrary to some of the naysayers,” David Contis, president of Simon Malls and a corporate senior vice president, told me Monday.

His company bought out other investors to take control of the King of Prussia mall in 2011, in deals that valued the complex at over $1 billion.

Contis said he expected to attract luxury stores from outside the region and “the best of the Philadelphia eateries” to the new space, rather than shifting current tenants there.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/20141118_PhillyDeals__Expansion_planned_at_King_Of_Prussia_Plaza_and_Court.html#4mWT6geTQWCWiwR1.99

Public Meetings Set To Air SEPTA Rail Extension Of Norristown High-Speed Line To Upper Merion

Location of Upper Merion Township in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

UPPER MERION TOWNSHIP, PA – Residents in both Upper Merion and Norristown will be presented this week with four alternative routes to extend the Norristown high-speed rail line into Upper Merion in a proposed, $500 million, SEPTA rail project.

Both meetings will run from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday and Wednesday. The Upper Merion meeting on Monday will be held at the Radisson Hotel at Valley Forge, 1160 First Ave. and the Norristown meeting on Wednesday will be held at Norristown municipal hall, 235 E. Airy St.

Byron Comati, director of strategic planning and analysis for SEPTA, will present the four alternative routes winnowed down from 16 route variations. He will be joined by project manager and engineer Elizabeth Smith, an AECOM consulting engineer and Burt Cossaboon, a vice president of McCormick Taylor.

Read more:  http://www.timesherald.com/general-news/20141114/public-meetings-set-to-air-septa-rail-extension-of-norristown-high-speed-line-to-upper-merion

Largest Target On East Coast Set To Open In Upper Merion

Location of Upper Merion Township in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

UPPER MERION TOWNSHIP, PA — King of Prussia’s fire and police departments are prepared for action when the largest Target store on the East coast opens its doors in one of the busiest shopping areas in the Philadelphia area on Sunday.

Ever since the August 2013 announcement of the planned opening, township police and fire personnel have been working continuously with store officials to address all issues of safety and security.

The store, located at 160 West DeKalb Pike in the Valley Forge Shopping Center, will occupy approximately 165,000 square feet of floor area and will provide 800 parking spaces, half of which will be underground.

“When any retail establishment opens in Upper Merion Township, we set up a working relationship with them,” said Lt. Michael Martin, Upper Merion Police Department’s investigation division commander. “We have meetings with the management team and store employees so our officers become familiar with store security, how they operate and what our responsibilities are when a crime arises”

Read more: http://www.timesherald.com/general-news/20140721/target-set-to-open-in-upper-merion-police-fire-departments-prepared

Business Booming At Montgomery County Hotels Due To Power Outages

Location of Upper Merion Township in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

UPPER MERION TOWNSHIP, PA — If area residents who were without power may have felt like the losers in Wednesday’s icy winter weather games, the winners were the area’s hotels, where “no vacancy” seemed to be a recurring theme.

Then again, depending on where they chose to spend Wednesday night, some of those displaced “losers” may have felt as if their luck was about to change for the better.

“Where else would you want to be but at a casino on a night like tonight, right?” said Michael Bowman, CEO and president of Valley Forge Casino Resort.

With every one of the resort’s 485 rooms due to be snapped up within the hour, Bowman said the lobby was buzzing with folks who had closed up their dark and unheated homes in search of plush lodgings on First Avenue in King of Prussia.

Read more:  http://www.timesherald.com/business/20140205/business-booming-at-montgomery-county-hotels-due-to-power-outages

Former Norristown Cop Sentenced To 17 Years In Drug Case

Location of Norristown in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

MONTGOMERY COUNTY COURTHOUSE — A Montgomery County judge sentenced a retired Norristown police officer to 17 to 50 years behind bars Friday for selling methamphetamine and prescription pills and using his old police badge and license plate as clout to do it.

In July, a jury found Jack Pennington, 68, of Upper Merion, guilty of 16 out of 21 drug-related felonies stemming from a wiretap investigation spearheaded by Montgomery County Detectives and their Narcotics Enforcement Team (NET).

In June 2012, undercover operatives arrested Pennington at the Plymouth Meeting Mall as he was about to meet his supplier.

“His criminal conduct has had a significant negative impact on the community, and this type of criminal activity merits a significant sentence,” said Common Pleas Judge William R. Carpenter. “A lesser sentence would depreciate the seriousness of this kind of crime.”

Read more: http://www.timesherald.com/general-news/20131011/former-norristown-cop-sentenced-to-17-years-in-drug-case

Regional Task Force Helps Upper Merion Police Cut Down On Car Theft

Location of Upper Merion Township in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

UPPER MERION TOWNSHIP, PA— In the first week of August the Upper Merion Police Department announced six cars were stolen in July, making the total for the years to date 16, one less than this time in 2012.

Two of the vehicles were recovered, police said, but no arrests have been made.

Many stolen cars are taken out for joy rides are later recovered, but some are sold for parts or all over the globe to be sold.

“There is a more organized element to it, though not like an organized crime mafia like you may think of,” said Detective Robert Pilcicki of the Upper Merion Police Department and the Pennsylvania State Auto Theft Task Force.

Read more: http://www.timesherald.com/article/20130824/NEWS01/130829810/regional-task-force-helps-upper-merion-police-cut-down-on-car-theft#full_story

SEPTA Mulls Rail Service To King Of Prussia, Valley Forge

SEPTA logo with text (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Editor’s note:  This only makes sense. There are a tremendous number of jobs in King of Prussia/Valley Forge.  Rail service would encourage people to use mass transit who otherwise drive and don’t currently view the Norristown R6 or the High Speed Line as an option.  It could also be a precursor to extending service further west toward Pottstown.

WILL THOUSANDS OF workers finally be able to ride high-speed rail to King of Prussia and Valley Forge instead of a bus that relies on the Jekyll/Hyde, highway to heaven/hell, Russian-roulette insanity of I-76 traffic?

SEPTA will reveal plans for long-awaited rail service to King of Prussia Mall and Valley Forge at a four-hour public meeting tomorrow.

Several alternative extensions of the Norristown High Speed Line to King of Prussia and Valley Forge will be presented.  Public comment is invited.

This “scoping meeting” at the Radisson Hotel Valley Forge – open house at 4 p.m.; presentation at 6 p.m. – is an early stage of the federal process for new-start rail service.

Read more at http://www.philly.com/philly/business/transportation/20130715_SEPTA_mulls_rail_service_to_King_of_Prussia__Valley_Forge.html#ZJcEo1i9KeQpPV41.99

Burger King To Unveil A New Restaurant In King Of Prussia This Fall

Location of Upper Merion Township in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

UPPER MERION — The king is getting some new digs, and it’s going to be a whopper of a castle.

Just two months shy of its 50th anniversary, the Burger King on DeKalb Pike in King of Prussia was demolished Wednesday to make way for a stone and stucco beauty featuring a drive-through and a Wired Your Way Café — amenities fitting the king’s royally updated new image.

Debuting on Aug. 13, 1963 as store number 113 under the future fast food empire’s brief ownership of partners James McLamore and David Edgerton, the intriguing fresh concept in fast casual dining that specialized in Whopper and Whaler (fish) sandwiches, French fries and milk shakes kicked off in King of Prussia the same year as The Plaza, another icon that’s gone through a radical transformation over the years.

The 568 W. DeKalb Pike store was the first Home of the Whopper — an enduring trademark that will figure prominently into the signage of the new design — to stake its claim in the area, ahead of Trooper (store number 179) and Blue Bell (363).

Read more:  http://www.timesherald.com/article/20130605/FINANCE01/130609835/burger-king-to-unveil-a-new-restaurant-in-king-of-prussia-this-fall#full_story

King Of Prussia Mall Announces New Retailers

King of Prussia Mall (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

KING OF PRUSSIA — Simon Property Group, Inc. (NYSE:SPG), the world’s leading retail real estate company, announced the addition of six new merchants, along with three retailer expansions, to King of Prussia Mall.

The center continues to add stores to its more than 400 retail and dining options.

Tommy Bahama opened its first stand-alone store in Pennsylvania in July.

Athleta is set open by the end of the summer.  Designed and tested by women athletes, Athleta offers women’s swimwear and athletic clothing for yoga, running, golf and tennis. Both stores will be located on the upper level of the Plaza.

Read more:  http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20120831/FINANCE01/120839902/king-of-prussia-mall-announces-new-retailers?nstrack=sid:48949|met:300|cat:0|order:4#full_story

Sheraton Valley Forge Takes It Up A Notch

English: Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

UPPER MERION TOWNSHIP, PA — The building that has known incarnations such as Sheraton Park Ridge Hotel & Conference Center, Park Ridge Hotel and, briefly, Clarion Hotel, was demolished to bare bones more than a year ago and reinvented as the Sheraton Valley Forge.

The $30 million-plus facility at 480 N. Gulph Road ups the ante — even by King of Prussia’s emerging platinum standards.

“We gutted the entire property,” said Eric Davies, COO of the hotel’s owner and operator Wurzak Hotel Group, standing near a dramatic, high-ceilinged entrance way shimmering with reflective daylight.  “Everything is pretty much 100 percent new.  We raised the bar area to lobby level and opened up a two-story entrance to have natural light coming through and into the lounge seating area.”

Philadelphia-based Wurzak purchased the 9-acre property in 2009 and continued operating it as a Clarion Hotel such for a time prior to franchising the Sheraton brand from Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc., through a deal that was closed by HREC Investments Advisors.

Read more: http://www.pottsmerc.com/article/20121019/FINANCE01/121019353/sheraton-valley-forge-takes-it-up-a-notch&pager=full_story

King Of Prussia Wegmans To Open Its Doors Sunday

Location of Upper Merion Township in Montgomery County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

UPPER MERION TOWNSHIP, PA – “Didn’t there used to be a golf course here?”

There was a gleam in Danny Wegman‘s eye as he cracked a joke, standing on the spot where he and a lot of other folks literally made the earth move – after 16 years of hitches and hurdles.

At a sneak peak of the freshly constructed Wegmans market at 1 Village Drive on Thursday, the company’s amiable CEO said he could hardly believe that his namesake 80th store was three days away from opening in King of Prussia.

The Rochester, N.Y. native recalled how excited his dad, Robert Wegman, was when he first got a glimpse of the North Gulph Road property – then the home of Valley Forge Golf Club – all those years ago.

Read more: http://business-news.thestreet.com/the-times-herald/story/king-prussia-wegmans-open-its-doors-sunday/1

Target Eyes Valley Forge Shopping Center For Possible New Store

Image via Wikipedia

UPPER MERION — A new development at the Valley Forge Shopping Center goes before the planning commission next week. If approved, a new Target department store and Starbucks Coffee could come to the township in a few months.

The Valley Forge Center Associate are planning to redevelop the eastern portion of the Valley Forge Shopping Center, to include a Target department store, a Starbucks and an inline commercial building.

Read more: http://www.timesherald.com/article/20120203/NEWS01/120209817

Slots Approved For Valley Forge Convention Center

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Potts Vegas never materialized but it appears slot machines will be making their way into the Valley Forge Convention Center after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court approved their casino license.

Six-hundred slot machines and fifty gaming tables are planned for the convention center.  Upper Merion Township supervisors have already approved this plan.  No date for the completion of the project was announced but officials are looking to get this up and running ASAP.  

The addition of gambling will give the Valley Forge Convention Center another means to attract customers and make the convention center more of a destination.

Limerick Township turned down a casino but Upper Merion Township is certainly embracing it.