York, Lancaster cooperate on tourism

The Susquehanna River, long considered a barrier between York and Lancaster counties, may become the center of a new heritage tourism area.

Tourism and local government organizations in York and Lancaster are cooperating to turn rarely visited areas in both counties into regional heritage tourism

If they succeed, the Lower Susquehanna Heritage Area, which includes both counties, would be eligible for state money. Businesses back the idea, which could mean more visits from "heritage tourists," who stay longer and spend more money than the average.

"I think it's exciting, because previously, we looked at the river as a barrier, but now it's bringing us together," said Scott Standish, Lancaster County Planning Commission's deputy director for long-range planning, and project coordinator for Lower Susquehanna Heritage Area.

The project has received financial backing from both state and local economic development sources, Standish said. The feasibility study cost $40,000, of which the state provided $30,000. York and Lancaster counties put in $2,000 each, and the counties' visitors bureaus contributed $3,000 each, he said.

The Lower Susquehanna project began in February 1999 with a feasibility study designed to take an inventory of historical landmarks in both counties.

The team is currently developing a management action plan, designed to figure out how to showcase the places pinpointed in the feasibility study.

Standish said the management action plan cost $287,000. Of that, $215,000 comes from a state grant. Lancaster and York counties each contributed $28,500 to the plan. Pennsylvania Dutch Convention and Visitors Bureau, York County Convention and Visitors Bureau and York County Chamber of Commerce each contributed $5,000.

The plan is expected to be completed by April 2001, Standish said.

After the plan is completed, the state Heritage Parks Program will review its findings and then would decide whether to designate it as a heritage area, one of 10 in the state.

Heritage areas are eligible for grants and technical assistance from the states. Among the other advantages, according to a newsletter produced by the backers of the Lower Susquehanna Heritage Area: developing community pride, ensuring that tourism development efforts are compatible with community interests, and providing a platform for cooperation between the counties.

Both counties have supported the program, according to Felicia Dell, director of the York County Planning Commission and a Lower Susquehanna steering committee member.

"I think the state's been really good, too," said Dell. "We have a good agricultural heritage story to tell, and we should be able to tell it." She said the region's history has a lot of agricultural-related businesses, too, such as farmers' markets, the former cigar factories in Red Lion, York County, and CNH Global NV, formerly New Holland North America, a manufacturer of farm machinery.

No one is sure exactly how the heritage area will be organized, or what spots will be emphasized.

"It's going to be interesting to see how it all melds together," Dell said.

Chapters of history

One of the sites pinpointed by the feasibility study was the First National Bank Museum in Columbia, Lancaster County. The sites in Lancaster and York counties, include about 90 to 100 historical places, 50 to 60 historical events, such as local and county fairs, and about 50 factories, such as the HarleyDavidson plant in York County, even towns and they were selected by an independent consultant. Dell said she couldn't pinpoint which sites were in which counties.

Columbia, and its counterpart across the Susquehanna River, Wrightsville, York County, would be at the center the Lower Susquehanna Heritage Area.

For the past three years, Nora Stark has run the museum from two rooms in her Federal-style town house in Columbia, Lancaster County.

The private museum, which was also a public library at one time, was started by her parents, Lloyd and Jean Motter, in 1958. Historical bank items are displayed in two front rooms, and the Starks live in the rest of the house.

"There's probably unlimited potential, economically, socially and culturally," said Stark, who with her husband, Michael, runs the museum. The Starks' museum hosts about two or three busloads of visitors a month, along with individual tourists.

"Visitors to Pennsylvania are seeking authentic heritage experiences and know that every chapter of American history has had a few pages written in Pennsylvania," said Brent D. Glass, executive director of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.

The National Tour Association found that heritage tourism increased 33 percent between 1998 and 1999, and Better Homes and Gardens/Meredith Magazines found that family interest in heritage tourism has steadily increased since 1994. In a survey conducted by TravelScope, heritage tourism was listed as the second most popular activity - behind shopping for people older than 55.

Various regions in Pennsylvania have developed heritage areas, and other regions, such as York and Lancaster counties, are developing them.

Nationally, heritage tourism has been growing, according to Gloria M. Schleicher, director of the Pennsylvania Heritage Tourism Initiative. The statewide initiative began in 1994. People from state and local government organizations and historic tourist stops have been working together on a regional basis so that heritage tourism can be used as an economic development tool.