Monday, October 8, 2012
Eight volunteers from the Millbrook Society are conducting an inventory of historic resources in Hatboro.
In the end, the hope is to create a historic district throughout downtown Hatboro. But, for now, the Millbrook Society is poring over maps from 1887 and 1915 in an attempt to catalogue all of the borough’s historically significant properties in the first of what could be a multi-faceted historic resource inventory. “This is possible,” Hatboro historian David Shannon said. “What we have to do is we all have to look at thinking outside the box and utilizing resources.” Shannon, who is working with the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission to head up the effort, said the borough provided Millbrook with 200 numbers for potential historic properties. “There are historical buildings in Hatboro that date to the colonial period,” Shannon …
Monday, September 24, 2012
The Millbrook Society is in discussion with borough officials about the possible purchase of a circa 1715 home.
A Hatboro historical preservation organization is eyeing the nearly 300-year-old Miller homestead as a fitting location for a museum and archive. The 2.98-acre property, which sits adjacent to the borough-owned Miller Meadow, could expand Hatboro’s park system with walking trails and a nature center. The largest obstacle in putting the Millbrook Society’s idea to action, however, is the $698,000 price tag. “We’re in no way able to raise this kind of money. We just can’t do that,” Millbrook Society President Lin Magaha told Patch, of the nonprofit group's $5,000 to $6,000 annual budget. “Millbrook would be willing to be a partner with the borough in managing the buildings.” Doing so would mean Hatboro would need to purchase the property, …
Monday, July 23, 2012
The Hatboro Residents' Association presented Hatboro Borough Council with a list of signatures from 850 opposed to the convenience store eyed for Horsham and York roads.
All has been quiet since February's meeting which drew throngs of Hatboro residents adamantly opposed to the idea of a Wawa bulldozing historic buildings in favor of modern-day convenience. Since that meeting at Pennypack Elementary School, Wawa officials have remained mum on if - and when - plans would be submitted for the 5,102-sqaure-foot Wawa with six gas pumps. While the future of that development is yet to be determined, the newly formed Hatboro Residents' Association, a civic group started in the wake of Wawa's proposal, has been busy collecting signatures from borough residents and "friends" of Hatboro who do not want to see the former White Billet nursing home, or the building which houses Spa Escape destroyed and traffic and …
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Share your opinion on what the shuttered and flood-ravished Old Mill Inn should house.
The Old Mill Inn has sat vacant for some time. Following the previous owner's foreclosure, the former restaurant and 18th century grist mill has been owned by TD Bank. It has been listed for sale since July. Since last year, the nearly 300-year-old building has endured the brunt of two major back-to-back floods, making the structure's first floor practically unusable, according to officials who have toured the property. To date, the only tangible potential purchase made public involves the prospect of Wawa purchasing the Old Mill and several adjacent buildings, preserving the Old Mill "as is" and building a 5,102-sqaure-foot Wawa with six gas pumpsat the site of the current Spa Escape. While plans have not yet been submitted to the …
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
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Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Thursday, March 15, 2012
The Millbrook Society hopes to enlist help as it considers purchasing a pair of 300-year-old buildings.
Although historical preservation comprises the first portion of Hatboro-based Millbrook Society’s mission statement, it’s an effort that, without practice, has left the nonprofit group a bit rusty. The focus for the last 15 years of the 30-year-old group’s existence, according to Millbrook Vice President and Hatboro historian David Shannon, has revolved around archaeological work and education. “Now we’re realizing we’ve got to shift gears because there’s a very pressing need,” Shannon said. That pressing need involves Wawa’s plans to purchase several centuries old buildings at the corner of Horsham and York roads – tearing down all but the shuttered Old Mill Inn – to make way for a 5,102-square-foot convenience store with six gas pumps. …
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
A crowd filled Pennypack Elementary School Tuesday night to challenge plans to build a new convenience store at Horsham and York roads.
A petition nearly 1,000 signatures strong could stop the Wawa proposed for Horsham and York roads in Hatboro before plans formally get underway. That was the sentiment shared with a standing-room-only crowd of nearly 200 Hatboro residents opposed to the potential demolition of centuries old buildings to make way for a 5,102-square-foot convenience store with six gas pumps. Leslie Jones, in addressing Wawa representatives on hand Tuesday night at Pennypack Elementary School, said the campaign of the newly formed Hatboro Residents’ Association has so far collected 978 signatures against the plan. “And the drive is still in full force,” Jones said. “Will this knowledge affect your decision to purchase the property? Yes or no.” After briefly …
Thursday, February 23, 2012
Following the cancellation of First Friday; Wawa’s plans to demolish historic buildings to construct a new store; and a pending sale of the Big Marty’s property, locals are at odds over the reality of Hatboro’s downtown and what it could or should be.
When you envision a “vibrant downtown” are tattoo parlors, cash for gold stores and tobacco shops part of the landscape? For Hatboro Borough Councilman Bill Tompkins, the answer is a firm no. “I would like to see something different,” Tompkins said. “(But), a business has to survive. If there’s no market for the business, it won’t survive and it won’t stay there.” Taking in the view of shuttered businesses, for sale signs and recent additions that dot the York Road landscape, Tompkins’ sentiment seems to ring true. Zoning fix? Doing something to tweak that business reality, well, that could be trickier according to Tompkins, who heads up the borough’s zoning, planning and historic preservation committee. As the borough, realtors, landlords…
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Some Hatboro residents are up in arms over the possibility of trading this historic southern gateway into the borough for a new Wawa at Horsham and York roads. Patch took a tour of the 18th century Millers House, home to Spa Escape Salon and Day Spa.
The corner at Horsham and York roads has been the subject of debate recently among Hatboro residents and business owners. Wawa has announced plans for a new Super Wawa, complete with an island of six gas station pumps. If that plan moves to fruition, the building currently housing Spa Escape would be demolished.
Monday, February 6, 2012
The yet-to-be-incorporated Hatboro Residents' Association is meeting monthly and is in the process of registering as a nonprofit group.
It may have been jumpstarted by plans to build a second Wawa in Hatboro, but April Fox-Regan said it won’t end there. Fox-Regan, who almost singlehandedly drummed up enough support for a yet-to-be-incorporated Hatboro Residents’ Association, has big plans for the nonprofit group she hopes to have registered within the coming months. “We have everything in place for a good town except a residents’ association,” she said. “It’s like a missing piece.” And, with the addition of that last piece of the puzzle, Fox-Regan said she hopes to “survive the turmoil around the Wawa situation” and continue to branch out to help her town with historic preservation efforts, town beautification, cultural and artistic events, quality of life concerns and …
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