BETHLEHEM – Mayor John Callahan and ESU officials announced the Fall 2012 opening of East Stroudsburg University’s Lehigh Valley Center, Accelerated Degree Program Completion which will be located in the heart of Historic Bethlehem at 60 W. Broad Street. The announcement was held today at the front plaza of 60 W. Broad Street, where the new facility will call home.

Mayor Callahan was joined by key decision makers for ESU’s newest location---Dr. Robert J. Dillman, President of East Stroudsburg University Dr. Marilyn J. Wells, Vice Provost & Graduate Dean, and Ms. Jennifer Serowick, the University’s Director of Extended Learning who has been shepherding the opening of the new Bethlehem center. Ryan Dunn, and Andy Twiggar of Dunn Twiggar Company, LLC and property owners of 60 W. Broad St, were also at the announcement and served as the key advocates for ESU’s new downtown Bethlehem location since August of 2011, and ultimately championed ESU’s decision to move to the urban core.

“Our institutions of higher learning have always played an integral role in the City of Bethlehem, and today, still continues to serve as an economic driver. Occupying space in a commercial building in the downtown ensures dynamic growth, increased town-gown relations, while keeping properties on the tax roles.” said Mayor Callahan. “We look forward to a long and continued relationship.”

It is anticipated that ESU Lehigh Valley Center will bring in approximately 800 – 1,000 student trips to the downtown on a monthly basis, and between 7,800 to nearly 11,000 students annually, adding more foot traffic to an already vibrant area.