The first phase of the Northwest Gateway Project will be officially dedicated Friday, Oct. 9, marking an important milestone in the transformation of the former Armstrong World Industries' Liberty Street flooring plant site.

A partnership between Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster General Health and EDC Finance Corp., it's the most ambitious enterprise of its kind in the history of Lancaster city.

In the first phase, hundreds of buildings on the 47-acre industrial tract were demolished, and the land cleaned up. The property, which will be divided between F&M and Lancaster General, includes sports fields for the college, and may become the site of a new nursing school. A football stadium and baseball field are planned as well.

The project's 30-acre second phase — involving relocation of the Norfolk Southern rail line behind F&M's North Campus — is already under way, too.

While the demolition was going on, said Keith Orris, Franklin & Marshall's vice president for administrative services, it was the biggest in the country.

Brandenburg, one of the nation's largest demolition companies, was brought in from Chicago to handle it, Orris said.

The ongoing work was even featured in a segment on the History Channel program "Boneyard," he said.

Two hundred buildings with 2 million total square feet were torn down, Orris said. The total equaled the weight of four aircraft carriers.

The contaminated ground in the urban brownfield site also was thoroughly cleaned, bringing it up to residential standards, he said.

In addition, trees have been planted, and sidewalks, curbs, streets and underground utilities put in, Orris said.

The 47 acres are now bisected by Thomas M. Armstrong Boulevard, named for the founder of Armstrong.

There have been some residential improvements as well, Orris said, such as upgrading of the streetscape along Lincoln and Water streets.

Grading and paving on the northern end of the site is all that remains to be done, he said.

The first phase wasn't supposed to be finished until later this year, but "things went a little smoother than expected," Orris said.

He credited Brandenburg and the other contractors — including ARM Group Inc. of Hershey and Abel Construction Co. Inc. of Mountville — with making this happen.

Medical-educational corridor
The F&M section, about 27 of the 47 acres, now houses two multipurpose playing fields — one for practice and one for competition. It will eventually host a baseball field and football stadium, replacing Sponaugle-Williamson Field.

The practice and competition fields won't open until next school year, Orris said, because the natural turf on the surfaces needs to settle.

The plans for Lancaster General's roughly 20 acres are less firm. It's been reported that the health care provider might move its College of Nursing & Health Sciences there.

But in an e-mail, Lancaster General said no final decision has been made.

"We are actively engaged in a detailed master plan process that will assist us in determining the preferred uses of the land," the statement read.

"As we have noted before, the expansion of our [nursing] college is one of the ideas being seriously considered for this location," the statement continued.

The statement concluded by saying that neighborhood input will be sought when the master plan is more fully developed.

Armstrong still operates on 19 acres next to the Northwest Gateway Project at its "roto island" residential flooring plant.

The revitalized 47-acre parcel also will feature a link to the past. The utility building F&M has constructed there — exhibiting elements of Georgian Revival architecture typical of the college's main campus — will showcase archival photos of Armstrong's century-long history in Lancaster. Fittingly, the pictures will be mounted on Armstrong linoleum tiles.

It's a way to permanently commemorate "that on this site stood the world's largest linoleum plant," Orris said.

The building, at Armstrong Boulevard and Lincoln Street, was designed by Wendy Tippetts of Tippetts/Weaver Architects, he said.

It's also the site of Friday's dedication ceremony.

More in the works
The $46-million second phase of the Northwest Gateway Project entails relocation of the Norfolk Southern rail line, giving F&M and Lancaster General 30 acres owned by the freight carrier that border the Armstrong site.

Franklin & Marshall will use 20 acres of that to connect its North Campus with the Armstrong tract, Orris said, while Lancaster General will receive 10 acres. F&M and Lancaster General are expected to get ownership of the land by 2012, he said.

Also, Liberty Street and College Avenue will be connected, and Charlotte Street may be extended, Orris said.

The project will build a new rail yard on a municipal dump in Manheim Township, which has been cleaned up, and remodel the existing Norfolk Southern rail yard behind Burnham Hydronics and the Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority, he said.

The plans have encountered opposition from residents in Barrcrest and other neighborhoods close to the new rail yard, and they've appealed to the state Department of Environmental Protection to overturn its approval of the dump cleanup.

A case study
F&M President John Fry credited Orris with helping to bring the Northwest Gateway Project to fruition, and praised Armstrong CEO Michael Lockhart for his role.

"Mike was very forward-thinking," Fry said. "This is one of the great corporate acts in Lancaster business history."

Initially expected to cost around $33.5 million, the first phase came in under budget, at about $27 million, Orris said.

Armstrong, F&M and Lancaster General put up $18 million of that, he said, with the rest coming from government sources.

Armstrong sold the 47 acres to EDC Finance Corp., which has overseen the demolition and cleanup. Pending a second and final approval from DEP on the cleanup, the land will be subdivided and then conveyed to F&M and Lancaster General, Orris said.

By any measure, the magnitude of the Northwest Gateway Project is huge, said EDC Finance President Dave Nikoloff.

And it's groundbreaking in more ways than one. "To take the largest piece of land in an American city and redo it as we've done" is pretty incredible, Nikoloff said.

Orris agreed, calling it a case study on how to convert an urban brownfield. "This is transformational for the city of Lancaster," he said.

Nikoloff said the Lancaster General portion of the site could create hundreds of jobs and is projected to pump tens of millions of dollars into the local economy.

Lancaster Mayor Rick Gray said he attended a meeting on the project four years ago when he was first running for office. With so many other proposals falling by the wayside, it's great to see one actually being realized, he said.

And the Armstrong phase "is only the beginning," said Gray, who noted the important roles Gov. Ed Rendell, state Rep. Mike Sturla and former state Sen. Gibson Armstrong played in making the Northwest Gateway Project a reality.

"The economic boon to this city will just have huge ramifications," he said.

Nikoloff emphasized that about two-thirds of the funding for the 47-acre phase — the $18 million from Armstrong, F&M and Lancaster General — is private money, and that Lancaster General will make payments in lieu of taxes on the property.

Franklin & Marshall also has a tax agreement with the city, Orris said.

Fry sees the revitalization of the old Armstrong site meshing with other nearby development, including Clipper Magazine Stadium, the Lancaster Arts Hotel, the new YMCA and the soon-to-be-renovated Amtrak station.

The Northwest Gateway Project "is one large piece of the jigsaw puzzle," Fry said.

"There are going to be a lot of good things that come out of this."