The Watt and Shand building in Lancaster city has long been a symbol of downtown commerce and community. The building’s presence is apparent in just about every photograph you’re likely to see of downtown Lancaster in the previous century. Whether draped in red, white, and blue for a wartime homecoming parade, or layered with lights for a Christmas celebration, it seems to have always stood there, always at the center of attention. So deep runs Lancastrians’ sentimentality towards the building, that the Bon-Ton, after purchasing Watt and Shand, didn’t dare to even remove the sign on top of the building, but, instead, did business with the old owner’s moniker above them.

Since Bon-Ton closed the building in the early nineties, its vacancy has caused several conflicts amongst various Lancaster entities, as everyone seemed to have an opinion about what should be done with the old landmark. First, Harrisburg Area Community College had plans to locate their Lancaster campus at the site, a prospect that met with little resistance at first. But, being that the project was to be paid for with taxpayers’ money, several people, most notably downtown merchant Steve Murray (Zap & Co., DMZ, BBC Records), began to ask the city council some questions. They found out that not only did the plans include turning over one of the city’s four parking garages to HACC, thereby taking a large chunk of revenue away from the city, but also, 40% of the interior of the nationally registered historic site was to be gutted or destroyed. Unable to make much progress through negotiations, Murray began suing people. He sued the city, the county, the parking authority, Wohlsen Construction, and just about anyone else involved."I sued everybody," he says. "I can’t even remember who all I sued."

Steve Murray’s legal promulgation worked. The project was tied up in court for two years until a new mayor and city council was elected, and the HACC project was subsequently dropped by the new office. Murray had no particular problem with HACC, he simply did not see enough upside for the city of Lancaster. "If somebody were developing the project with private money, I would have nothing to say, they could have put a giant waterslide in there if they wanted to," he says. "but since it was being financed with public money, it gave me the opportunity to raise some points about whether this project was beneficial to the city or not."

By then, Bon-Ton was prepared to sell the building to anyone that wanted it, even if their plans included tearing it down. Many people, Steve Murray included, breathed sighs of relief when High Associates, Fulton Financial, and Lancaster Newspapers decided to step in and purchase the property. There was talk of a museum, an interactive learning facility, or an IMAX theater being incorporated into the building. But when the PA stadium legislation was passed, and $15,000,000 was made available to the county, a convention center was chosen over the other options, and, despite several objections, plans for the project went underway immediately and have moved swiftly since.

Some shady politics have been involved in the rapid progression of the project. A commonwealth law was on the books stating that a convention center could not be built with state money in a county where one already existed that measured 50,000 square feet or more, a designation that includes The Lancaster Host Resort, and the facility at Franklin and Marshall College. An amendment to that law was quickly passed that excluded third-class counties, including Lancaster County. But the action that has caused the biggest furor is the imposition of a 5% excise tax on every hotel and motel room in the county. In response, 37 hoteliers, many located in the vital tourist dollar area of Amish country, filed a lawsuit in March against the city, the county and the convention center authority.

Authority spokesperson Jim Pickard, in a press release, stated that he was "greatly disappointed" in the lawsuit and feels that the tax, and the resulting convention center and privately funded luxury hotel adjacent to it, are "in the best interest of Lancaster". Steve Murray believes the hoteliers’ lawsuit has merit. "They have a right to protest this tax," he says. $391,342 has been collected through the tax in the first quarter of 2000 alone.

Even with the protests and the very visible lawsuit, things seem to be going the authority’s way. They have been successful in acquiring several pieces of real estate adjacent to the site, including the April purchase of the Oblender’s Furniture building on South Queen, and the operator of the luxury hotel is expected to be chosen this summer. Most recently, in June, Judge Lois J. Farina threw out 3 of the 8 allegations mentioned in the hoteliers’ lawsuit in order to expedite the proceedings.

Downtown opinion varies on the subject. The restaurant industry has much to gain from the proposed project, and Brett Stabley, manager of Mcfly’s Pub and Avenues Restaurant, is hoping that the convention center and hotel become a reality. "A lot of things need to click into place for it to succeed," he says, "but if it does, it’s going to be a very positive thing for the city." Stabley would expect a sharp increase in business upon completion of the project, which is a one block walk from Mcfly’s/Avenues. "We feel we have a lot of things that will appeal to the type of person that will be at the convention center."

So, once again, the Watt and Shand building is at the center of attention, this time amidst lawsuits and excise taxes instead of banners and lights. Meanwhile, Steve Murray, who has become a fixture himself on North Queen Street for the past 26 years, is scaling back his operations. He sold BBC three years ago and is closing DMZ imminently. Zap & Co. remains, but Murray is going to focus on internet sales, with Zap going online in September. "It’s just gotten to difficult to compete with the big chains," he says. Murray doesn’t feel that the convention center will help downtown businesses like his, but, rather, sees it as big business for big business’ sake. "It’s not that the convention center is the worst idea for downtown, it’s just not the best, and I think that we deserve to have the best," he says. "Sometimes people have more money than imagination."