After 214 years, Pennsylvania is once again moving its capital city.
The announcement came earlier this week through the Pennsylvania Capitol Preservation Commission and the Department of General Services, which revealed that Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, was chosen as the new location for Pennsylvania’s seat of government.
Specifically, the campus of Elizabethtown College was chosen to be the meetingplace of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. In a press release, officials stated that Leffler Chapel is the intended new chamber of the state House of Representatives. The smaller state Senate, meanwhile, will move to the more intimate Tempest Theater in the Baugher Student Center.
The previous capitol building in Harrisburg was also home to the Superior and Supreme courts of Pennsylvania, as well as the offices of the Governor and Lt. Governor. These are also getting moved to Etown College.
The Superior Court will set up shop on the first floor of the High Library, in the Hess Archives, while the Supreme Court will situate in the Bucher Meeting House, which is adjacent to the Young Center. Gov. Josh Shapiro and Lt. Governor Austin Davis will take over the Alpha Hall offices of Etown College President Betty Rider and Provost Matthew Telleen, respectively.
Many in Pennsylvania are wondering, “why?”
A spokesperson from the Capitol Preservation Commission revealed that lawmakers had been complaining for years about working in a city with a population over 50,000. Politicians in the Keystone State, it seems, grew tired of having to interact with regular people.
The spokesperson went on to describe the numerous difficulties lawmakers face when they are forced to be accountable to the general public. Legislating from a small-town college campus, insulated from the rest of the world, lawmakers can remove themselves from the incessant demands of pesky constituents.
The Etown community appears to be supportive of this decision. “I’m honestly glad that they are moving the capital to such a wonderful location,” graduating legal studies major Emory Barton said. “We have many amenities and large buildings in Etown, like our Giant and Dollar Generals.”
The political science majors in particular are rejoicing in this development. One such student, sophomore Evan Kenny, anticipates a much easier time finding employment in the field. “If I can’t find an internship now, I’m probably going to have to change my major,” he said.
Questions still remain about how the college will operate with an entire state government sharing its campus. There have been rumors of the lawmakers commandeering office rooms in Nicarry, Wenger and Hoover. Additionally, committee hearings are likely to take place in classrooms like Hoover 212 and Steinman’s High Auditorium.
This will be the fourth time in Pennsylvania history that the state capital has moved locations. Philadelphia was the original state capital, before moving to Lancaster in 1799 and then to Harrisburg in 1812. The previous capitol building, the iconic green-domed complex constructed in 1906, will reportedly be turned into an IKEA. The gas station Rutter’s will also open up a property on the former capitol site in an attempt to assert its dominance over Wawa and Sheetz.
That Pennsylvania is playing musical chairs with its seat of government may well become a point of state pride for residents. Kae Kennedy, who hails from York, Pennsylvania, noted her own city’s stint as the former capital of the United States. “I mean, wasn’t York the capital back in the day? [We] gotta switch it up every now and then to keep things interesting,” Kennedy said. She emphasized the need to “keep Pennsylvanians on their toes.”
No one in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania expects this decision to backfire in the slightest. Residents of Elizabethtown Borough and the students, faculty, and staff of Etown College are advised to start preparing for the arrival of the lawmakers and their families.
