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Waterfront site no stranger to lost projects By Kevin Flowers kevin.flowers@timesnews.com The Sassafras Street pier was considered the future home for a bayfront convention center/hotel complex in the early 1990s. Other businessmen, anticipating riverboat gambling legislation that never passed, eyed the pier for a casino landing zone and hotel. And in 1993, a $30 million aquarium was proposed for the site. None of those projects ever reached fruition, and now it appears the Lansdowne project — a $5 million floating restaurant proposed by California developers — won't happen at the pier, either. But Raymond Schreckengost, executive director of the Erie-Western Pennsylvania Port Authority, said he's confident that, once the Lansdowne is gone, "we won't have any problems attracting interest from developers.'' "It's a prime piece of property,'' Schreckengost said. "We've had interest before for several things. We'll get calls again.'' The Port Authority is preparing to cancel its lease with the Lansdowne's developers, Specialty Restaurants Corp., because the company has not moved quickly enough to finish its restaurant. "Ultimately it will be the (Port Authority) board's decision as to what they want to see there,'' Schreckengost said. "We wanted the Lansdowne project to work, because it was pitched as a unique, different and exciting venue. I'm a little disappointed that it's not going to happen.'' The Sassafras Street pier also was once home for the Viking I, a former rail car ferry that was moved earlier this year to make way for the Lansdowne. The Viking I's move cost the Port Authority $1,000 in monthly rent revenue. KEVIN FLOWERS can be reached at 870-1693 or by e-mail. Pier plans sinking fast Port Authority expects to cut Lansdowne loose from lease By Kevin Flowers kevin.flowers@timesnews.com Erie's port authority is ready to sink its deal with developers of a proposed $5 million floating restaurant. The Erie-Western Pennsylvania Port Authority plans to officially cancel its lease with Specialty Restaurants Corp. of Anaheim, Calif., for the proposed restaurant on the Sassafras Street pier. The move would reopen a prime piece of waterfront property to other developers. Specialty signed a lease with the Port Authority in July 2001. The company had said it wanted to turn the Lansdowne, a 118-year-old former barge currently sitting in Presque Isle Bay, into a floating restaurant and banquet hall. The restaurant would be permanently moored at the pier. But the often-delayed project is not moving forward as quickly as Specialty's lease stipulates it should, said Raymond Schreckengost, the Port Authority's executive director. That is why the authority's board, short of "some fabulous new proposal that blows us away,'' is expected to cancel the lease at its next regular meeting on March 28, Schreckengost said. "They're in significant default of the lease, and I don't see where they have the ability to fix it,'' Schreckengost said. Specialty, which operates more than 50 restaurants nationwide, has had similar problems in other cities. Within the past two years, officials in Buffalo, N.Y., and Pinellas County, Fla., have canceled land-use deals with Specialty Restaurants because the company did not move quickly enough with plans to develop restaurants in those areas. But one Specialty official said Friday the company wants to try salvaging its deal with the Port Authority. "Our plans are still to open up in Erie, Pennsylvania,'' said Bob Canaan, Specialty's eastern operations director. When asked how the company plans to do that, Canaan said: "People in California are working on it right now ... At this point, I'm not handling that,'' Canaan said. He declined further comment. The authority's board discussed the Lansdowne lease Friday. The board reviewed a March 6 letter sent to Specialty's chief executive officer, David Tallichet, by Port Authority Solicitor Tim Sennett. Specialty is current on its $2,000 monthly rent payments for the Lansdowne, Schreckengost said. But Sennett's letter states Specialty's lease with the Port Authority includes a construction timetable — a list of work and the dates for its completion. Workers have stripped the Lansdowne down to its iron shell. But some of the work that has not been completed on time, according to a schedule Sennett attached to the default notice, includes installing a roof, plumbing, sprinklers, drywall, alarms, stairs and railings, and an elevator system. Specialty has violated its lease with the Port Authority, Sennett's letter states, because construction work on the project has "not been initiated nor completed in accordance with the schedule.'' The letter states that Specialty has until April 6 to comply with the lease and complete the work. But Schreckengost said, "There's no way they can salvage the lease in a reasonable way. They couldn't complete all that work in that amount of time. "We've been patient with them, but being patient is one thing. This situation has gone beyond patience.'' Port Authority board member Bob Spaulding agreed. "For whatever reason, they're not going forward with their plans,'' Spaulding said of Specialty. "That's making a statement.'' Neither David Tallichet nor his son, Specialty President John Tallichet could be reached at the company's Anaheim offices Friday. The lease termination also means Specialty would be required to move the Lansdowne "within a timely manner,'' Schreckengost said. KEVIN FLOWERS can be reached at 870-1693 or by e-mail. Design firm given award for engineering excellence The Erie-based designers of the Erie-Western Pennsylvania Port Authority's new cruise boat terminal will receive an award from the American Institute of Steel Construction for engineering excellence. Steele Structural Engineering, 3711 W. 12th St., is one of four companies nationally to win the award, which will be presented in April at the North American Steel Construction Conference in Baltimore. "It's a feather in Erie's cap to get this kind of recognition," said Dave Steele of Steele Structural Engineering. Steele's recent projects include the Splash Lagoon Indoor Water Park and the First Alliance Church Sanctuary. Record gasoline prices predicted for April Gasoline prices are expected to continue their upward climb and reach a record national average of $1.76 a gallon in April, according to an Energy Department forecast. It predicted gas prices will average about $1.70 a gallon for regular brands through the summer driving season. Gasoline prices have soared during the past month because of high crude oil costs, heavy demand for heating oil and tight inventories of crude as well as most petroleum products. Gasoline prices increased to an average of $1.68 a gallon nationally this week, a hike of nearly 3 cents from last week and 54 cents higher than a year ago. In northwestern Pennsylvania, prices averaged $1.698 a gallon for regular unleaded on Friday — down slightly from the record $1.702 that was set March 4. National jobless rate rises to 5.8 percent in February The nation's unemployment rate increased to 5.8 percent in February and companies across the economy slashed 308,000 jobs — the steepest one-month slide since hiring hit a slump in the wake of the 2001 terrorist attacks. With the country now on the verge of war with Iraq, the overall civilian jobless rate climbed a tenth of a percentage point from the 5.7 percent figure recorded in January, the Labor Department reported Friday. Economists had predicted the modest rise, but they did not expect the hemorrhaging of jobs that wiped out large hiring gains the month before. Analysts had forecast job gains of 20,000. Instead, employers last month shed the most jobs since November 2001, when they purged 327,000 from their payrolls following the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Marketing seminar planned in Erie A marketing and advertising skills workshop titled "Marketing ... What Works, What Doesn't, and Why?" will be held March 25 at the Ambassador Banquet and Conference Center, 7792 Peach St. The three-hour seminar will be led by Dennis Creps. It begins at 9 a.m. and costs $35 For more information about the program, which is sponsored by National City Bank, Lee Printing & Mailing, the Erie Advertising Club and the Erie Times-News, call Joanne Kilgallon at 870-1647. — from staff and wire reports Global reach extends beyond GE When 12 of GE Transportation Systems Inc.'s AC 4400 freight locomotives were loaded onto boats in the Port of Erie for transport to Quebec on July 4, 2002, it was not just a victory for the locomotive maker. As many as 100 other local companies could also bask in the Independence Day feat — because their component parts were included in the shipment. GE Transportation Systems is the region's largest exporter by far, accounting for more than 60 percent of Erie County's exports in 1999. But the company's $325 million in exports that year also meant business for the dozens of smaller manufacturers who supply GE's Lawrence Park locomotive plant. Indirectly, each of those suppliers is benefiting from global trade. Likewise, GE Transportation Systems' export totals don't include component parts the company makes for massive, 150-ton mining trucks at its Lawrence Park factory. GE Transportation Systems makes drive systems for U.S. mining-truck manufacturing companies. Of the 115 systems GE produced in 2002, 108 ended up in trucks that were ultimately shipped overseas, according to the company. — Peter Panepento |
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