Executive Education Academy proposes 4,100‑seat stadium on deck; commission approves two‑year sidewalk postponement and seeks event management plan

Executive Education Academy presented plans for a 4,100‑seat athletic stadium to be built on a deck above existing parking at 555 Union Boulevard, prompting detailed staff and commission review of circulation, stormwater, lighting and the relationship with neighboring Coca‑Cola Park.

School and project representatives described the proposal as an above‑ground stadium of about 126,713 square feet with two opposing grandstands, new concession and restroom facilities and parking underneath the deck. The academy’s CEO, Bob Lysik, said the stadium would create recreational and game‑day space for students who currently “play most of their sports on asphalt,” and would also host athletic and school‑related cultural events.

Staff said the property is in the BIWD (Business Innovation Workforce Development) zoning district and that a stadium is permitted only as an accessory use supporting Executive Education Academy’s programs. The project proposes three access points — Dauphin Street (stop sign controlled), North American Parkway and Union Boulevard (signalized) — and staff asked for a traffic‑impact analysis showing the effects if events at the academy and Coca‑Cola Park ever coincided. Commissioners and staff discussed event coordination and recommended the applicants and Coca‑Cola Park formalize event scheduling and parking agreements.

Keystone Consulting’s Scott Pasterski explained the stadium is elevated on structural supports to preserve parking below and that pedestrian corridors and a primary accessible ramp would lead from the ground parking up to a mezzanine entry level attached to the school. He said the plan includes removing some impervious surfaces elsewhere on the campus and on a nearby parcel the academy owns to meet stormwater requirements.

Commissioners and staff focused on four main issues: (1) event management and traffic (staff asked for a special‑event management plan rather than a full traffic study if the parties formalize scheduling), (2) pedestrian access and the D&L (D&L Trail) future alignment, (3) stormwater treatment and impervious‑area offsets, and (4) lighting and landscaping to reduce heat‑island effects. Several commissioners recommended more interior parking islands with shade trees and clearer pedestrian routes to Coca‑Cola Park.

Joe Finley, managing partner of the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, told the commission the IronPigs and Executive Education Academy have reached agreement in principle on parking and that an amended, recorded easement will memorialize the operational relationship: “we’re very pro…we're looking forward to spending a lot of good years…with this…a really exciting project,” he said.

On a related procedural matter, the academy requested postponements of sidewalk construction on North Dauphin and North Bradford while the D&L trail alignment and spur into the site are finalized. The commission voted to grant a two‑year postponement on both North Dauphin and North Bradford sidewalks — until April 8, 2027 — and directed staff and the applicant to work out formal easements or agreements and a special‑event management plan that addresses how events will be scheduled and managed so they do not conflict with Coca‑Cola Park events.

Commissioners stressed that the stadium use must remain accessory to the school’s academic and athletic programs; staff noted that standalone stadium uses would not be permitted in the underlying BIWD zoning district and that any uses beyond school‑related activities could require separate approvals.

The project will return to staff and the commission with additional details on pedestrian and vehicular circulation, stormwater designs, lighting plans and a formalized parking/easement agreement with Coca‑Cola Park.