Stewartstown officials vote on 80-bed home next month

Melissa Matthews is one of the locals.

Twenty years ago, she was the redhead in a pack of teenage girls walking north on College Avenue to the community center in Stewartstown for a teen dance. Back then, her hair was big, her hips were small and her leather pants were tight. They danced to AC/DC, KISS and Judas Priest; they flirted with guys and did things their parents still don’t know about.

Her life has changed a bit since then. She is 35, has a 12-year-old son and doesn’t wear leather pants. But Matthews applies memories of those days to decisions she makes now as a Stewartstown planning commissioner.

Supports revamp proposal: She is tired of sprawling housing developments and supports a proposal to revamp the Fypon manufacturing plant that closes today.

The urethane millwork production company also closed its former headquarters location in Seven Valleys and its distribution center in Hunt Valley, Md. Manufacturing and distribution operations have been consolidated into the former Style Solutions headquarters location in Archbold, Ohio. Style purchased Fypon last November.

While Matthews acknowledges the impact that closing has had on 366 people who lost their jobs, she’s pleased that Maryland-based developer Stanley Lloyd has taken an interest in the Stewartstown property, hoping to convert it to an 80-bed assisted living facility.

“The sketch of the building he presented was beautiful, landscaped,” she said. “If he didn’t do this, the building would sit there empty and eventually fall down like (Stewartstown Furniture).”

What isn’t wanted: The furniture manufacturer at Free and Mill streets closed years ago. Broken windows, a sagging tin roof and rusting water tower exemplify what Matthews doesn’t want.

Stewartstown officials are contemplating rezoning the Fypon property from commercial to residential but the project will have to gain approval of the planning commission and borough council before Lloyd can move forward with details.  He plans to keep the historic three-story brick building but isn’t sure whether newer cinderblock buildings will be demolished or renovated.

If Stewartstown’s council rezones the 8-acre Fypon property March 7, Lloyd will go forward with his plans, putting ADW Architectural Design Inc., of Towson, Md., to work on rendering detailed designs for the project. For now, though, he’s taking one step at a time.

“We’ve come about as far as we’re going to until we finalize zoning,” he said. “I’ve seen these things fall through too many times.”

Matthews doesn’t think that will happen.

She doesn’t speak for the town’s 1,752 residents but said the consensus about the remodeling is positive, so far. Residents she’s spoken with like the idea of renovating old buildings and keeping the small-town culture intact despite inevitable change.

These days, the community center on College Avenue no longer holds teen dances and downtown hangouts have closed or changed hands. And the grown-up redhead—who’s lightened up on the hairspray—wants to make sure the Fypon site doesn’t become just another vacant memory.

-- Reach Kathy Stevens at 505-5437 or kstevens@yorkdispatch.com.