Family wants 1,500-acre Penn’s Cave property to become state park, not development
The Schleiden family, owners of the 1,500-acre Penn’s Cave and Wildlife Park, is proposing to transfer the property to the state of Pennsylvania to ensure its preservation. The move aims to prevent future commercial development and secure the site's status as a state park.
Why it matters
The proposal highlights the tension between private land ownership and the desire for long-term environmental and cultural conservation.
Long before tourists arrived by boat, Penn’s Cave was simply a dark opening in the Pennsylvania countryside. In 1795, an Irish pastor descended into the hole and found a vast underground world of stalactites, stalagmites and icy water. More than two centuries later, the cave remains much as nature made it. Visitors now enter through a gift shop before boarding boats for a journey along the cold subterranean waters of Penns Creek, states an online report by The Philadelphia Inquirer. Above ground, the surrounding wildlife park stretches across hundreds of acres and is home to bison, wolves, elk and a particularly imposing black bear, adds the report. Today, the attraction draws thousands of visitors each year from its location just east of State College in Centre County. Now, however, its future may take an unexpected turn. Wondering why?
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