Saucon Valley Karate Academy owner Phil Geiter won the approval of the Hellertown Borough Planning Commission to use borough funds to help pay for exterior improvements to his building, which is located at 46 W. Water Street. The improvements include a new exterior paint job, a commercial-grade front door and a variety of other accent renovations.
Saucon Valley Karate Academy, located at 46 W. Water Street in Hellertown, is going to look a little different this fall thanks to the borough’s Facade Improvement Funding program.
The academy’s owner, Phil Geiter, presented his plans for a variety of exterior improvements to the Hellertown Planning Commission at its Sept. 9 meeting. The renovations include new black awnings, gooseneck light fixtures, a commercial-grade front door, painted hard-board siding and window trim. Geiter also submitted plans to repaint the building’s exterior a dark gray.
The Planning Commission was happy with Geiter’s plans, and they motioned to award him $7,900, the maximum amount for his renovations. Hellertown Borough Council will vote to finalize the reimbursement at their next meeting.
Geiter said he and the building’s owner agreed that the building needed an upgraded look.
The COVID-19 pandemic closed the school until the beginning of July. Geiter began reaching out to Hellertown borough officials and contractors shortly after reopening.
Geiter had already installed a similar, commercial-grade door at his back entrance. The academy can have up to 80 people entering the facility some days, so a new front door is a necessary improvement.
“A door like that is meant to be opened and closed and used. It makes a huge difference,” Geiter said. “It puts a professional touch on the building.”
The new exterior paint job will not just give the building a sleek look. The dark gray and red color scheme also pays homage to Geiter’s training and martial arts mastery.
“I’m a certified fifth degree master, so I have a belt that is black with a red stripe through it,” he said. “For a student, that’s a pretty awesome goal to get to that level, and it looks neat.”
The new paint on the front of the building will unify it with the alley (Harris Street) side, which was repainted over the summer.
The alley side is visible as one walks west along Water Street from Main Street.
“For a while that was–I wouldn’t say an eyesore–but it just didn’t grab anyone’s attention,” Geiter said. “That’s kind of what we’re trying to do here with the new look.”
Geiter and his landlord agreed that the building in its current state (pictured) could use some revamping. He began making renovation plans in late July 2020.
The planning commission’s decision was a victory for Geiter, who said the biggest challenge in terms of meeting the facade improvement program’s requirements was getting multiple contractor estimates in a timely manner.
“Once the estimates came in I knew everything else was pretty easy,” he said.
Geiter is now working on organizing all of the work yet to be done, and will soon be scheduling contractors to perform the renovations.
The exterior painting will likely take the longest of the renovations. Geiter said the other jobs could probably be done in a day once they are scheduled.
“Once they’re ready, those guys will probably come in and bang those out in a timely manner,” he said. “I would hope that we could be pretty much done by the end of October.”
Geiter is looking forward to the academy’s new look, which he hopes will not only be a talking point in town, but will also help increase enrollment.
“We’re always trying to have new students start and give it a try and see how they like it,” Geiter said.
Another nearby business–a restaurant that is planned for the former JCL Automotive garage at Front and Water streets–also received a sizeable grant from the facade improvement program as part of this latest round of funding.