As you read today's edition of the Erie Times-News, you'd think northwestern Pennsylvania is experiencing a building boom. In some important ways it is.

In downtown Erie, for instance, near Presque Isle Bay, which flows into Lake Erie, an impressive new bayfront convention center is preparing to open its doors. Nearby, a 200-room, 8-story Sheraton hotel, which will serve users of the convention center, stands about halfway finished. The hotel's progress is profiled in a page 1 story by veteran Times-News reporter Kevin Flowers.

The headline "Rooms with a view" captures the flavor of the hotel, which will offer spectacular vistas of water on three sides, and of Erie's interesting skyline on the remaining side. It's not an eye-popping skyline you'd find in New York, San Francisco or other big cities. But you can see many interesting architectural gems, some dating back to the late 19th century. Russian-style, onion-domed Orthodox churches are located near modern hospital complexes, not far from leafy parks and ornate government buildings. Neighborhoods of working people's homes stand in the shadows of ballparks, churches, college campuses, taverns and social clubs.

Inside today's newspaper, Sharla Bardin, a recent addition to the Times-News Features Department, writes a building story with a different twist. Sharla's report, headlined "Home Stretch," tells the story of a young local family that saved every penny to build its dream house. It's not a palace, but the brand-new, inner-city home will feel like one to this couple in their late 20s and their two sons, ages 7 and 4.

Bardin relates how the mother, who waits tables at a popular downtown tavern, and the father, who drives a beer truck, managed to save $2,000 on a joint annual income of $24,000. Clearly, it's no easy feat to save any money as you're paying your bills, putting food on the table and raising your kids.

The mom sounds like an accomplished motivator, as she convinced her boys to go without trips to McDonald's and elaborate Christmas presents. The kids went along because they bought into the family's dream of owning a new home, where they will share a roomy bedroom.

Working with numerous local service agencies, the family parlayed their meager savings into enough of a downpayment on a very nice home. The new structure will brighten up an inner-city neighborhood that can use another jolt of sunshine. Other new homes are already transforming the area, which had grown quite dilapidated.

Bardin tells this story in a matter-of-fact way that invites readers in to share the frustration of trying to scrape pennies together, as well as the joy of successfully accomplishing an almost impossible goal.

These two "building" stories provide readers with a better understanding of what's happening today in this community. You put down the newspaper and think: Sometimes you can accomplish great things one brick at a time.

-- Kevin Cuneo

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