Where Downtown Media Goes After the Last Street-Dining Wednesday
October 8, 2026
October 8, 2026
From May 6 through the last Wednesday in September, Dining Under the Stars closed State Street between Jackson and Orange every Wednesday night and filled the road with tables. That season ended Sept. 30. No other weekly street closure takes its place this fall. Downtown activity now runs through a few fixed places and a short list of dated events. Plum Street Plaza is the one place built to host people every day without closing a street, and this is its first fall since the rebuild.
That plaza had to wait more than a decade for its rebuild, and its fixed shade and seating are what keep it usable after the street tables are packed away.
Plum Street Plaza has been closed to cars since 1988. Media Borough's own account says it lost appeal over time, as people asked for more green space and shade in a crowded borough. A survey for the 2015 Comprehensive Plan, plus the need to deal with stormwater, led to a steering committee and a master plan. The planning and construction, with many rounds of public input, took more than a decade.
The borough held the grand reopening on Wednesday, May 20. It also said the work had been finished for some time before then, and the event was timed for when the plantings were in bloom. DePaul and Company built it, from designs by NV5 and Lighthouse Engineering. The money came from the PA Governor's Office of the Budget, the PA Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, and Delaware County.
The new plaza has:
The borough also says sidewalk chalk often turns up for drawing on the plaza's brick walls. Local musicians regularly play pop-up sets there, and community groups hold fundraising sales.
On Aug. 24, the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Planning Association named Plum Street Plaza a 2026 Great Public Space. Only eight places in the state earned a Great Places designation this year, and just four of them were in the Public Spaces category. The other three were Armstrong Great Lawn in Butler County, Centre Square in Northampton County and Sweet Arrow Lake County Park in Schuylkill County. The program has named 72 places since it began in 2014.
The award matters less for this fall than the design itself. The canopy, fixed umbrellas and fountain all stay put after September. The tables on State Street did not.
The weekly Wednesday night out now has an indoor home at the other end of the block. Martinique Deux, a 21-and-over music and nightlife room in the Phoenix Building at 115 W. State St., has bands Wednesday through Saturday and karaoke on Sundays. Its posted hours run 5 p.m. to midnight Wednesday through Friday and noon to midnight on weekends. It is closed Monday and Tuesday. Happy hour is 5 to 7 p.m. on weeknights it's open and noon to 2 p.m. on weekends.
The venue celebrates its first year this month. An Inquirer preview in October 2025 listed a grand opening on Oct. 23 of that year. Its October calendar includes:
The venue updates its schedule monthly and posts changes on Instagram, so the November listings will probably grow.
Daytime State Street is changing a few doors at a time. Media Mercantile, which calls itself an "outdoor lifestyle store," opened in mid-September at 21 E. State St. The space was Homesewn's until earlier this year, when Homesewn moved about a block away. Media kept both shops, and Homesewn just changed addresses.
Around the corner, The Hungry Hub is taking over the former Rivalry Cafe at 11 S. Orange St. The reported plan is breakfast and lunch every day: eggs, pancakes, breakfast burritos, chicken salad, clubs and wraps. Thursday through Saturday it adds a late-night menu of bar snacks. Oct. 1 was the target opening date, and the most recent local coverage, from Sept. 10, still called it a target. Check the door before planning a breakfast there.
At 6 W. State St., Peking Media closed after a kitchen fire in June. The Delco Times reported heavy fire in the kitchen and an investigation by the borough fire marshal. As of the Inquirer's June 18 update, no reopening date had been announced. The restaurant's website still shows hours and online ordering, but it has no dated reopening notice. Calling ahead is the safest way to confirm.
The Media Theatre fills the evenings that once belonged to outdoor tables. Its fall dates overlap, so a family can have two shows going in the same week:
The holiday show opens on Thanksgiving weekend, two days before the Santa Parade. The weekend after Thanksgiving is the busiest stretch on the fall calendar.
The State Street Fall Festival runs today, Sunday, Oct. 4, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. It has more than 170 vendors, two music stages and a children's zone. After today, the borough calendar spreads its gatherings across the next eight weeks:
The Media Farmers Market keeps its Sunday hours, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., on North Edgmont Street between Media Elementary and Barrall Field, through the end of its 2026 season in November. The posted schedule doesn't list winter dates, so Thanksgiving weekend may be the last market weekend of the year.
The Halloween Parade and PumpkinPalooza fall on back-to-back days, and mid-November stacks the Veterans Day Parade, the tree planting and the luncheon into a single week.
Construction will affect trips out of town more than the festivals will. Starting the week of Oct. 6, Aqua Pennsylvania is replacing about 2,300 feet of water main in two stretches:
Work generally runs on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and access may change while crews are working. Aqua expects final road restoration in spring 2027. Because the schedule is weekdays only, the Saturday Halloween Parade and Sunday market mornings fall outside work hours. Weekday errands toward Providence Road will likely meet the crews through the end of the season.
If you own near State Street or Plum Street and are thinking about what a busier downtown means for your home or your timing, Robin M Anderson is glad to talk it through over coffee on the plaza. Let's Connect.
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