University Increases Size Of Land Lease To
Alpha Community Ambulance Service

January 17, 2003
University Park, Pa.--The Penn State Board of Trustees today (Jan. 17) approved the addition of 0.91 acres of land to the 4 acres that are being leased at $1 per year to Alpha Community Ambulance Service.

            A 50-year lease arrangement that was approved in Nov. 2001 will enable the service to build a new facility to better serve the Centre Region, State College and the University Park campus. The additional acreage approved by the board will accommodate the University's desire to include the potential of a through road on the leased land.

Alpha Community Ambulance Service will relocate its corporate headquarters, currently located along South Atherton Street, to the 4.91-acre parcel of University land along College Avenue on the east side of campus in College Township. The service, which offers 24-hour emergency and non-emergency transportation with advanced and basic life support, as well as wheel chair vans, has initiated a fund-raising campaign in order to build the new facility.

The parcel is a strategic location because of its proximity to College Avenue, which borders the site to the south, Route 322 to the east, and the Centre Community Hospital.

When the lease ends, all building and site improvements provided by Alpha Community Ambulance Service will revert back to the University.

Other good neighbor initiatives launched by the University for the betterment of the community over the years include:

*          In 1966, Penn State contributed a 29-acre tract of land situated on University property to the Centre County Hospital, then based in Bellefonte, for an additional facility that eventually became the stand-alone Centre Community Hospital.

*          In 1996, Penn State initiated a $1-per-year land lease for at least 35 years to support the creation of the Millbrook Marsh nature center by the Centre Region Recreation Authority on 63.2 acres along Puddintown Road in College Township.

*          Also in 1996, the University arranged a $1-per-year land lease for at least 35 years for the expansion of historical exhibits by the Centre County Historical Society on 4.8 acres adjacent to the Centre Furnace Mansion property at Porter Road and East College Avenue.

**gwc**

Contact:  Gary Cramer (814) 865-7517 or gwc104@psu.edu