High I Timeline

Scenic downtown Carlisle
by MaryAlice Bitts-Jackson

1999: Establishment of Office of College and Community Development 

1999-2003: President Durden appoints College-Community Task Force; task force reports findings. The College-Community Connections Committee is created.

2003: Planning meetings and fundraising. Governor Rendell’s Keystone Innovation Zone grant provides planning funds.

2004-06: CivicVisions, planning grant for $30k with $30k community match. (Dickinson is involved in efforts to keep Penn State Dickinson School of Law and Carlisle Barracks in Carlisle, and participates in the Army Community Heritage Project, a parallel partnership between the Barracks and Carlisle.)

2006: Formation of High I Partnership. College and Community Development Office moves to 8 W. High. ($100,000 investment by Dickinson matched by $95,000 by community partners)

2007: Hiring of Retail Coordinator through Downtown Carlisle Association. (Salary, expenses, and marketing materials paid with $95k HIP community match). 

2007-08: Downtown Improvement District planning. 25-27 W. High opens with 48 student volunteers committed to serving the community.

2008: Traffic study proposed. (Clean Air Board takes the lead; Dickinson provides $50k lead gift, Borough ultimately invests $20k, and CAB gets $4k from CAHWF). Study approved by PennDOT in February 2009

2008: College funds Carlisle Theatre feasibility study and funds the extension of hanging-flower baskets onto the second block of West High. Works in the Windows program begins, in cooperation with the Downtown Carlisle Association and Carlisle Arts Learning Center. History on High launched.

2010: Cumberland Valley Visitors Bureau launches a Visitors’ Center on High Street and the Cumberland Valley Trails Partnership is founded, based on a High I proposal.

2011: Road Diet completed. Eight new businesses open in downtown Carlisle.

2012-13: Work on the Carlisle Borough Bike and Pedestrian Trail continues; it is slated for completion in spring 2013.

Published April 11, 2013