Point of interest

Plans are taking shape for a 310-acre tourism destination along Interstate 81 in East Hanover Township, Lebanon County.

Agrarian Country will showcase Pennsylvania agriculture through museums, an equine breeding center, a full-blown dairy cattle operation, event venues and more.

One of the first pieces to unfold will be a $5 million arts center, which will include a 400-seat dinner theater, a 400-seat restaurant, a school offering youth theater and arts programs, and a 200-seat theater for youth productions. Construction is scheduled to begin in the spring with a tentative opening set for fall 2010.

The center will be led by Jim Moyer, a self-employed local actor. Moyer previously announced plans to purchase land in East Hanover Township, Dauphin County, and create Broadway Classics Dinner Theater. Instead, he recently decided to merge those operations with Agrarian County, he said.

Agrarian's location is a better choice for the theater because of its proximity to I-81 and because of how comprehensive the final Agrarian Country product will be, Moyer said. The project is close to other major midstate tourism destinations, including the various Hershey-area attractions and the Hollywood Casino at Penn National Race Course.

The arts center could create close to 200 jobs, Moyer said.

"It will be an absolutely spectacular operation," he said.

The centerpiece of the project will be the Star Barn, which will be moved from Lower Swatara Township, Dauphin County, said Robert Barr, president and chief executive officer of Agrarian Country. Barr purchased the historic barn, which dates to 1872, a couple years ago. He hired a company that this winter will begin to dismantle the structure, a process that will take about nine months, he said.

The barn will be reassembled at Agrarian Country. It will be transformed into an educational center that also will be available as a venue for concerts, meetings and other events. Plans are in the works for a 10-day barn-raising festival to celebrate the reopening of the barn, which Barr said could happen before the end of 2010.

"It's a very sophisticated process," Barr said. "(It's) moving forward more slowly than anticipated because of the economy, but it's still happening."

Agrarian Country is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. Many major contributions have been made to the effort in the form of historical machinery, barns, covered bridges and chapels, he said. The group plans to launch a major fundraising initiative at the beginning of 2010, he said.

In the end, Barr envisions a botanical garden, a number of museums, a lake, various outdoor venues for events and more. The entire project could take between five and 10 years to be completed, depending on how it evolves, and could cost about $10 million, Barr said.

"A big part of what I planned at Agrarian Country was to capture the story about our rural heritage," Barr said. "The emphasis will be the rural culture that we are proud of and that people enjoy."

Dennis Grumbine, chief executive officer of the Lebanon Valley Expo Corp. and the Lebanon County Tourism Promotion Agency, said Barr's efforts to build Agrarian Country are admirable. The project will be an asset for the entire midstate, he said.

"It's a huge undertaking. I don't think people understand the magnitude of what he's attempting to do," Grumbine said. "He's a great guy and it surely would be a great legacy to him and a tremendous asset to southeastern Pennsylvania."