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By WENDY STIVER
LOCK HAVEN – A large sign in white letters has appeared on the side of the Salvation Army Citadel at 119 E. Church St. The sign went up Tuesday, and since then, a number of the church members and donors have expressed their dismay.
That lead to an emergency meeting of the local Salvation Army Advisory Board’s Executive Committee on Friday to discuss the situation and make a recommendation that the sign come down.
“The people are spiritually destroyed,” said Joseph “Satch” Sanders, vice chair of the local board.
Steve Poorman, local businessman and entrepreneur, oversaw the sign project. He said he would have the lettering covered up immediately when told on Friday of the general reaction to the sign. He said he retained a contractor Friday afternoon who will cover the sign starting this morning.
He also said, “I’ll be happy to meet with the board and do whatever I can to address their concerns.”
The letters spell out: “Community Center supported by Poorman family.” They sit under a new light that is also attached to the west side of the building and that illuminates the sign as well as that section of the parking lot at night.
The sign is part of a gift agreement signed Jan. 16 by Stephen P. Poorman and Pamela A. Fisher Poorman and signed on Jan. 19 by Michael J. Southwick, secretary of the Salvation Army Board of Trustees (which is above the local Salvation Army Advisory Board.)
The Poormans agreed to a gift of more than half a million dollars in three phases, and the sign is a recognition of the gift.
The first phase was a $1,200 effort to fund new collection boxes, which took place in 2015.
The second phase was $25,000 to establish a “Hometown Named Endowment Fund” with the Salvation Army to benefit the Lock Haven Salvation Army. The $25,000 check was reportedly sent in January of this year.
The third phase is a residual estate pledge for the Salvation Army at Lock Haven of $471,553, described as “five percent of residual estate not including life insurance, spouse estate, income or growth. As of July 31, 2015; estimated in two years at $650,000.”
The agreement states that the sign will say something a little different than what was installed. According to the agreement, the letters are supposed to spell out: “Community Services, Enduring Support Funded by… Poorman Family 2016.”
The agreement also states the signage is to be on the west side of the building facing oncoming traffic, “to ensure greater visibility than on the front of the building.”
The Poormans are funding the sign and the light, estimated at $5,950. Barzona Brothers Construction installed them.
The agreement goes on to say “it is proposed” that the Salvation Army itself will install an enclosure for the propane tank and trash container, replace the side entrance door to the community room and install a new awning above that entrance. Poorman said these measures and the new sign are all to designate the community room entrance as separate from the front entrance.
Most people use the front entrance to reach the sanctuary on Sunday.
A plaque also has been installed inside one of the doors to the community center. On the plaque, the Salvation Army shield is at the top. Under that are the words “Community Services Center / Enduring Support / Graciously Funded by…/ Poorman Family/ 2016.”
The gift agreement states, “All the above shall comply with the local building codes and TSA (The Salvation Army) standards and protocols as may be in effect from time to time.”
The Salvation Army does not name its citadels for donors. But some who have seen the new sign believe that this is exactly what the letters are doing.
Six members of the local executive committee met Friday and voted unanimously to recommend that the sign be taken down, due to the fact that it does not follow the written, signed agreement. Lana Muthler, chair of the local advisory board, made the motion, and Pete Smeltz seconded it. The recommendation is to be sent to Salvation Army headquarters which is already aware of the local reaction. Headquarters also is asked to act quickly on the recommendation to remove, not just cover up, the sign.
Major Sharon Cupp, local Salvation Army officer, said an architect measured the sign after it was installed and declared it conforms to the 30 square feet listed on the permit for it that was issued by the city.
However, Muthler said the local advisory board never saw any drawings for the sign. The board voted in December to accept the endowment with some type of recognition for the Poormans, but there were no follow-up votes regarding a sign, according to Muthler and minutes from past meetings.
Poorman said the drawings were approved by Major Marie Harris who retired at the end of June as a local Salvation Army officer.
“I thought it was exactly what Marie wanted. She was intimately involved in that. We had meetings here and showed layouts. If it’s not what is wanted, I will take it down,” Poorman said.
Smeltz said this may be a miscommunication between the local board and the Salvation Army headquarters. The local board is under Divisional Headquarters which is in Philadelphia and both are under Territorial Headquarters in New York City. Decisions about buildings are made by Territorial Headquarters.
Sanders said the local Salvation Army’s overall financial and mission pictures are good. “We’ve worked hard, the board has worked hard, the people have worked very hard, and things are great.”
He also said people who have watched their parents strive over the years to be able to put a dollar in the collection plate each week, and have gone on to do the same themselves, are dismayed to see one person’s name on the side of the building where they worship.
The city permit for the sign was approved in June but was waiting for the $20 permit fee. Poorman did not pay the $20 permit fee, suggesting that non-profits should not have to pay it. The Salvation Army went ahead and paid the fee this Monday. On Tuesday the sign went up. The permit arrived at the Salvation Army office on Wednesday.
Cyndi Walker, city code and zoning enforcement officer, said the Salvation Army is in the central business district which has the most relaxed regulations as far as signs are concerned. There was no basis to say deny the permit, she said, and there apparently is no basis now to say the sign violates the permit. A permit cannot be denied on the basis of the content of the sign, as long as it does not contain vulgarities, she said.
Barzona Brothers Construction, under Poorman’s orders, had a Salvation Army staff member sign off on a drawing Tuesday that showed the dimensions of the sign and what the lettering now spells out, before the company installed the letters.
Poorman said, “If there is a problem (with the sign), I would appreciate it if someone tells me what it is. I will send the contractor over and tell them to take down the problem and put up the correct wording, and I’ll pay for the entire cost… I’ll contact the (lettering) company in Florida and I’ll have them change the letters.”
“This is a thing with signage that I’ve seen before. People look at it on paper and say, ‘OK that’s fine.’ Then when it goes up, it’s not what they’d envisioned from the paper drawing,” he said. “I make sure they sign off first.”
He added, “It is not unusual that some people would view it differently once it is up, even if they see a drawing. That’s kind of a signage problem that even sign companies will complain about. They get something approved, they put it up, and the business owner says, ‘I didn’t think it was going to look like that.'”
The Salvation Army wanted the sign on the side because that’s where the community center is, he said. “They wanted the community center to have its own look, its own entrance. I followed their directives,” he said.
He said, “The Salvation Army has a strong influence and control over everything they do. They had an attorney review everything. They came to Lock Haven and we met in my office with two officials from the national Salvation Army. They told me what they wanted. I did exactly what they requested. They had very specific instructions.”
Normally, he said, a Hometown Endowment Fund begins with $5,000. The Salvation Army asked him if he would consider giving $25,000, and he said yes.
Poorman also said he believes the problem is miscommunication between the local people and the people who wrote the documents.
“I did everything they wanted, every single change. I went overboard,” he said.
When the contractor was working on the signs, he said, “there was rotting wood, metal that needs repaired and replaced, things that just need attention. My thought was. ‘I’ll just do some of that while I have people there.’ And I did.”
The Salvation Army “designed this whole thing. I followed their lead,” he added.
“Local Salvation Army authorities – Harris and some other people – stood in the parking lot with me to see where (the sign) would be. I shipped everything to (headquarters in) Philadelphia too,” he said.
The Poormans have chosen 14 organizations to donate to, and Steve said six of those have been funded so far.