Bucks County Playhouse Hoping Old Flood Map Doesn't Delay Expansion Plan
By Brad Segall
NEW HOPE, Pa. (CBS) -- The Bucks County Playhouse has plans to expand, creating a waterfront promenade for visitors to New Hope.
But there's one obstacle right now, and it's the federal government.
A Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) map that dates back nearly 15 years puts the playhouse and its highly anticipated expansion in a high-risk flood zone.
They've been working on a revision, but that's not expected until 2015, so the playhouse applied for a letter of modification to move the process along more quickly.
So far that hasn't happened.
Mandee Kuenzle, spokeswoman for the Bucks County playhouse, says the project includes a hotel, a restaurant, and retail, along with a glass-enclosed promenade.
"This is just going to really expand the commerce and the draw to coming to New Hope," she tells KYW Newsradio. "New Hope is already a destination place, but this is really going to open it up."
Kuenzle says they're hoping to get FEMA to sign off on their request this coming spring. She says it's always a risk when you develop along the Delaware River, but they have emergency plans in place.
