UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State’s Board of Trustees Friday (Sept. 9) approved the sale of a .254-acre plot of undeveloped land to the Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The land, located in State College borough along Whitehall Road near the University Park campus, is part of the 1,100-acres of undeveloped land the University purchased in 1999 from the Mellon Family Trust and the Richard King Mellon Foundation.
The property is a small parcel adjacent to the church. It is being sold for $25,000. Penn State has a history of selling or leasing property for the public benefit:
-- In 2011, the University’s Board of Trustees agreed to sell a 25-acre parcel of undeveloped property to Ferguson Township and the Centre Region Council of Governments for the purposes of developing a regional community park.
-- In 2008, the University sold a 59-acre parcel of the Mellon Property to the State College Borough Water Authority for purposes of conservation.
-- In 2007 the University agreed to sell 165.3 acres of undeveloped Potter Township land, also part of the former Mellon Properties, to Centre Hall Borough and Gregg and Potter townships for public purposes.
-- In 2004, the Board of Trustees approved the sale of 75.5 acres in College Township for use as community playfields.
-- In 2001, the University entered a $1-per-year lease of 4 acres to Alpha Community Ambulance Service, now known as Centre LifeLink EMS.
-- In 1996 the University began a yearly $1 lease of 63.2 acres to Centre Region Recreation Authority to develop Millbrook Marsh Nature Center. In 2007, that lease was extended through 2042.