Four large, venerable buildings sit at George Street and Springettsbury Avenue in York.

A high-ranking official at Manor Township-based Armstrong
World Industries Inc. today announced his intention to retire April 1.

Mortgage foreclosures spiked significantly in Lancaster and
York counties last year compared to 2007, but the rest of the midstate was
shielded from the swath of foreclosures that blanketed the country.

York County’s G.A. & F.C. Wagman Inc. announced today
it is part of a partnership that won an approximately $560 million highway
construction contract in Maryland.

Tomorrow local dignitaries and Harrisburg University of
Science and Technology officials will help dedicate the university’s $73
million 16-story academic center in downtown Harrisburg.

Changes are afoot at the Lebanon VA Medical Center.

REAL ESTATE NEWS: openings, contracts, transactions, relocations

Cumberland County-based Harsco Corp. recently landed four
contracts worth $2 million total for rental scaffolding and related services at
energy plants around the U.S.

The Hershey Harrisburg Regional Visitors Bureau is calling
for a three-year moratorium on the construction of hotels that don’t have
in-house food and beverage services in Dauphin County.

Harsco Infrastructure, a division of Wormleysburg-based
Harsco Corp., today received three
contracts worth a total of $1.5 million to provide concrete formwork for
construction projects in France,
Peru and Romania, according to the company.

Lancaster County-based Armstrong World Industries Inc.
recently signed a four-year partnership deal with Michigan-based Steelcase Inc.
to produce sound-reduction ceiling panels and canopies for offices.

A New Jersey-based development group is spending more than
$10 million to revitalize the former Freshwater apartments complex that starts
in the 2600 block of Green Street
in Harrisburg.

Officials cut the ribbon for the first fully accessible,
low-income housing development in central Pennsylvania on Feb. 4.

While members of the Pennsylvania Builders Association and
National Association of Home Builders claim that smoke detectors are adequate
(see "Sprinkler law doesn't jibe with builders," Oct. 24 issue), that's simply
not true.

S. Dale High, chairman of Lancaster County's
The High Companies, has been appointed to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce board of
directors for 2009.