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Planning department launches interactive story map and updates major redevelopment projects
Summary
Norristown planning staff previewed an ArcGIS-based story map of economic development projects and provided status updates on key developments including Norristown State Hospital sale, Arch Street Greenway, Lafayette Street extension, Justice Center improvements, Arbor Place and housing projects.
Norristown's planning department demonstrated a new ArcGIS story map to council on May 6 that lets the public see completed, under-construction and planned economic-development projects across the borough, and staff provided project-by-project status updates.
Senior planner Nouth Geiser and junior planner Steven Shehu showed the interactive tool's categories — mixed-use, public infrastructure, commercial, residential, recreation and government/medical — and demonstrated map pop-ups, photos and project-status tiles. Staff said the story map will go live on the municipal website (planning/economic-development page) and that maintenance and updates will be handled by the planning team, with Stevens (junior planner) responsible for day-to-day updates.
Project updates provided to council included: a signed agreement of sale for the Norristown State Hospital redevelopment (agreement of sale signed Feb. 24, 2025); an HARB certificate of appropriateness for the Arch Street Greenway project; Lafayette Street Extension phase 4 under design by the Pennsylvania Turnpike and anticipated construction in 2027; progress at 14 West Main Street (signage ordered and expected installation in May 2025); the Justice Center exterior and interior work; Arbor Place garden-apartment construction; Isaac Court home sales; Montgomery Park senior housing under construction; several housing rehab projects funded by CDBG and DCED; Elmwood Park Zoo master-plan conditional-use approval and a draft master plan provided to the borough; and Trail Junction Center rebid with bids due May 30 and anticipated construction in July 2025.
Staff said the story map will be hosted on ArcGIS (Esri) and that some base-map labels (e.g., school names) reflect source map data and may require adjustments; staff asked council to notify planning staff if content appears outdated.
Ending: The planning department said the story map should be published to the municipal website imminently and that staff will continue updating it as projects progress.
