[vasiliymeshko]

Ah, but the whole area is now nothing but rubble. Yet another eyesore bites the dust.
http://img73.imageshack.us/img73/7804/dscf0004pk5.jpg

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/3610/dscf0008kl8.jpg

[vasiliymeshko]

On Monday, Lou Barletta was in downtown for the grand opening of Wilkes-Barre campaign headquarters. It was very fun and pleasant gathering. I'll upload some photos soon.

[Ex-Ithacan]

Guess I should have checked here more often. Seems all the main characters (except for Vasiliy) have left the building. :shrug: :(

[vasiliymeshko]

I was wondering about that. Where is everybody?

[vasiliymeshko]

Well, I don't really follow baseball, as I find it quite boring, but kudos to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Yankees for finally bringing a title (the Governors Cup) to NEPA. I just saw on the news that they defeated Durham in Game 4 with a very competitive score of 20 to 2 :D

[PLYfreak]

Did anyone see that Merril Lynch is opening shop in Scranton? It had been talked about for a while but the deal is finally done. They will be at the Southern Union building and will be putting their sign on the building.

I don't think anything says that a city is growing more than a huge financial firm moving in. Who knows, maybe Scranton can get offices from all of the large firms and become a mini Wall Street. :shrug:

http://thetimes-tribune.com/articles/2008/09/13/news/sc_times_trib.20080913.a.pg1.tt13merrill_s1.1943379_top2.txt

[vasiliymeshko]

The promised photos from Barletta rally.

http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/8113/83483941hd1.jpg

http://img222.imageshack.us/img222/7499/51620793uo4.jpg

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/9531/25381040zp2.jpg

http://img201.imageshack.us/img201/8733/13422757jv6.jpg

http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/3698/90063785re1.jpg

http://img155.imageshack.us/img155/2368/62269355zq2.jpg

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/9280/15295754ev6.jpg

http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/5209/35925790kj6.jpg

VM for congress :D :D :D
http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/3767/10mk6.jpg

http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/3900/12ux0.jpg

[Ex-Ithacan]

^ Whoa, those cars are too cool.

[vasiliymeshko]

Round two from Coal Street Park (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showpost.php?p=3824413&postcount=21). Enjoy.

[Snakeyes]

Hellllllllllllooo?

[vasiliymeshko]

^^^ I'm still here

[bucks native]

THIS is what we've been waiting for....now we can accept students for the Fall 2009 class. "Preliminary" approval from the board that accredits med schools is standard procedure. The board does not confer full approval until the first class graduates.

Medical college takes a big step

BY SARAH HOFIUS HALL
STAFF WRITER
Published: Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Updated: Tuesday, October 7, 2008 4:18 AM EDT

Commonwealth Medical College became the nation’s newest medical school Monday.

In what officials called the most “significant milestone” in the school’s development, administrators have learned the school has received preliminary accreditation from the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, and can now start accepting applications for the fall 2009 semester.

“This is a gigantic step. This is so important and so meaningful,” said Robert D’Alessandri, M.D., Commonwealth’s dean. “It really is a momentous occasion.”

Dr. D’Alessandri said the news late Monday afternoon was met with “great joy” and “great happiness” among the school’s 70 full-time employees.

The economic and social impact of the college will now start to be realized, officials said.

State Sen. Robert Mellow, D- 22, who has worked to make the college a reality, said he was “elated.”

“It’s probably the largest development ever in the history of Northeast Pennsylvania and north-central Pennsylvania,” Mr. Mellow said.

Robert Wright, M.D., chair of the college’s board of directors, said he expects a growth of medical practices in the area, in part because preference for admissions will be given to students from this region.

“The impact of this is going to be astounding,” Dr. Wright said. “This is the right place, the right time, the right thing.”

Officials have already secured the $120 million necessary to build and equip the school’s Scranton headquarters. The school was given degree-granting authority from the Pennsylvania Department of Education in July, and was only waiting for the accreditation.

The school broke ground on its Medical Sciences Building on Pine Street in August, and is now located inside Lackawanna College.

Sixty students will be accepted in the doctor of medicine program in the first year, and 30 students will be accepted for the master in biomedical sciences. The admissions department will be able to start reviewing applications in three to seven days, Dr. Wright said.

The preliminary accreditation is the first step in overall accreditation, which certifies that an allopathic school’s doctor of medicine degree meets national standards and allows the school to begin operations.

Official accreditation can be granted during the fourth year of a school’s first medical class, and requires additional steps and a second visit from the accrediting agency.

Accreditation is required for schools to receive federal grants, and students must attend an accredited school to be eligible to take the United States Medical Licensing Examination.

Professors and administrators will now work on finalizing curriculum and securing equipment, Dr. D’Alessandri said.

“There’s really quite a lot to do,” he said, adding that the first medical students will arrive in 298 days.

Contact the writer: shofius@timesshamrock.com

[Evergrey]

http://www.citizensvoice.com/articles/2008/10/07/news/wb_voice.20081007.t.pg4.cv07cdmoodys_s1.1996549_top4.txt

Moody's: NEPA is in recession

BY JAMES HAGGERTY
STAFF WRITER
Published: Tuesday, October 7, 2008 8:46 AM EDT
The Scranton/Wilkes-Barre/Hazleton metro area is in an economic recession, a leading financial research and consulting firm concludes.

“It’s been on the edge of recession for several months. The recent industrial data and unemployment tipped it in,” said Ryan Sweet an economist who follows Pennsylvania for Moody’sEconomy.com, the West Chester-based division of Moody’s Corp., a financial services firm.

Moody’s analysis shows about two-thirds of the nation’s 381 metro area, including most in Pennsylvania, are in recession. Pittsburgh and Harrisburg were rated “at risk.”

It is the first analysis to declare much of the nation is in a recession. The report says 27 states are in a downturn.

“Mentally, everybody’s feeling as if we’re in a recession,” said Satyajit Ghosh, Ph.D., an economics professor at the University of Scranton.

The government defines a recession as two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth. The Commerce Department reported that gross domestic product — the value of goods and services — expanded at a 2.8 percent annual rate in the second quarter.

The local metro area is in recession based on its unemployment rate, industrial production decline and housing construction slowdown, Sweet said.

Unemployment in the metro area jumped to 6.7 percent in August, up seven-tenths of a point from July. State unemployment was 5.8 percent and the national rate was 6.1 percent in August.

About a third of manufacturers in Pennsylvania surveyed by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia reported declines in August orders, and new housing permits for the month dropped 3.6 percent statewide, the agency reported.

The omens convert some skeptics who thought a slump could be avoided.

“We’ve probably gone over to the dark side and I’m saying we’ll probably be in a recession,” said Anthony Liuzzo, Ph.D., a professor of business and economics at Wilkes University who had resisted the designation earlier. “Whether we’re there officially or not, things aren’t good.”

The formal determination of a recession can be relative, though, because some areas already have lingering trouble.

“It’s not that all regions go into a recession at the same time or all regions come out of a recession at the same time,” Ghosh said.

Moody’s analysis goes beyond the strict government definition, Liuzzo said.

“They are using a more flexible way of defining recession,” he said. “One crystal ball is as good as another.”

The categorization, though, was not accepted universally.

“I wouldn’t say that we are in recession,” said Teri Ooms, director of the Joint Urban Studies Center, a university-backed Wilkes-Barre think tank. “I think we’re better prepared than a number of other regions to deal with these things.”

The area no longer relies on an industrial cluster, such as coal, and “having that diversity makes us more recession-proof,” Ooms said.

jhaggerty@timesshamrock.com

[bucks native]

from here: http://www.wnep.com/Global/story.asp?S=9208492


New School of Architecture to Open at Marywood University

Posted: Oct 20, 2008 04:36 PM EST

Last Updated: Oct 20, 2008 04:57 PM EST

By Peggy Lee

Marywood University leaders have announced the opening of a new school on their campus in Lackawanna County. The new school of architecture is the first of its kind in the region. The school is planned for the former health and physical education building at Mary wood University in Scranton and Dunmore.

"We are now standing on what's going to be the newly renovated lobby of the school," said Gregory Hunt of Marywood University at an afternoon news conference Monday. Marywood will have the first architecture program to offer bachelors and masters degrees in the region.

"Looking ahead to the next few decades of 21st century the need for architects is increasing, even beyond for today's heavy demand for these skilled professionals. at a time when all of us are called to take greater care for our environment, this challenge is especially relevant," said Marywood President Sister Anne Munley.

Caring for the environment will be one of the school's main focus, Marywood University is a member of the U-S Green Building Council and keeping with that teaching, the architecture program will aim students towards "green building" practices.

"These future professionals will assume major responsibility for the thoughtful creation of greener spaces where we will live," added Sister Munley.

Marywood hopes to open its new school of archetecture in the fall of 2009.

[bucks native]

The med school has only been accepting student applications for three weeks. It already has over 3,000 applications for 60 slots.

NOTE: The school has planned NO student housing. Great investment opportunity -> convert some of the fine, old, solid brick warehouses along Penn Ave. into lofts.

[PLYfreak]

NOTE: The school has planned NO student housing. Great investment opportunity -> convert some of the fine, old, solid brick warehouses along Penn Ave. into lofts.

Without a doubt this is going to transform the downtown. This is exactly the type of thing that Scranton needs. Now, if the train to NYC could finally get done Scranton would become an awesome place to live and work.

Does anyone have any pictures of the construction? I couldn't find any on the website.

[vasiliymeshko]

Some updates from the Intermodal Center construction. Last month's pictures which I was too lazy to post up all this time:

1:
http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/9004/38598758tl4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/38598758tl4.jpg/1/w1024.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img110/38598758tl4.jpg/1/)

2: I should note that the third elevator shaft is all but finished, as I'm posting these.
http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/8430/47711784ap4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/47711784ap4.jpg/1/w1024.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img518/47711784ap4.jpg/1/)

3:
http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/3359/93963780ra1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img110.imageshack.us/img110/93963780ra1.jpg/1/w1024.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img110/93963780ra1.jpg/1/)

4:
http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/7397/43430430hz5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/43430430hz5.jpg/1/w1024.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img241/43430430hz5.jpg/1/)

5:
http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/7558/71163044ni9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/71163044ni9.jpg/1/w1024.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img518/71163044ni9.jpg/1/)

6:
http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/9430/76708850wx8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/76708850wx8.jpg/1/w1024.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img518/76708850wx8.jpg/1/)

[vasiliymeshko]

Very cool shots, Vasiliy. Will have to get up to Laurel Run someday. Today is clear. Would be a beautiful view, I bet.

OK. You can check the Wilkes-Barre Skyline thread (http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?p=3854263#post3854263)

EDIT: Whoops. Sorry for the bad link. Fixed.

[bucks native]

Without a doubt this is going to transform the downtown. This is exactly the type of thing that Scranton needs. Now, if the train to NYC could finally get done Scranton would become an awesome place to live and work.

Does anyone have any pictures of the construction? I couldn't find any on the website.

PLY: No construction yet. The site is fenced, the construction company (Quandel [spelling?] which is the same company that built the handsome new student center at UofS) has its banner on the fencing, ground has been "broken," the sewer dept. has dug some holes, stakes were planted yesterday and the ground near the stakes has been spray-painted.

[vasiliymeshko]

PLY: No construction yet. The site is fenced, the construction company (Quandel [spelling?] which is the same company that built the handsome new student center at UofS) has its banner on the fencing, ground has been "broken," the sewer dept. has dug some holes, stakes were planted yesterday and the ground near the stakes has been spray-painted.

Any chance of some images from the site?

[bucks native]

Where's ACE reporter and all-round totally excellent commentator: Dony?

Anyone know if he's ok?

[bucks native]

Vasiliy: There's nothing to see other than grass with some stakes in it at the med school's site for its first buildings. Plus, I don't have a camera.

[bucks native]

From here with image: http://www.timesleader.com/news/Intermodal_project_to_accelerate_11-07-2008.html

http://media.theweekender.com/images/Imodal_11-08-2008_2194F50.jpg

Intermodal project to accelerate
WILKES-BARRE – The city announced Friday that construction will move into high gear next week on the $25 million Intermodal Transportation Center, causing traffic delays and congestion on surrounding streets for months.

[bucks native]

Looks great! Image from Colonnade website: www.thecolonnade401.com

http://www.thecolonnade401.com/joomla/images/401housepictures/401%20night%205x7.jpg

From here: http://www.scrantontimes.com/articles/2008/11/02/lifestyles/sc_times_trib.20081102.g.pg1.tt02colonnade_s1.2051944_fea.txt

Landmark Reborn Historic mansion latest flower of revitalization efforts

BY JOSH MCAULIFFE
STAFF WRITER
Published: Sunday, November 02, 2008

For years, the stately yet progressively deteriorating white-columned behemoth at 401 Jefferson Ave. provoked no shortage of “What’s the story with that place” comments from passersby.

Paul Blackledge and Joshua Mast certainly asked themselves that question on a number of occasions. But, unlike everyone else, they decided to investigate one of downtown Scranton’s most widely known eyesores for themselves.

And now, because of it, another downtown landmark has been restored to its original luster.

On Nov. 14 at 2 p.m., Mr. Blackledge and Mr. Mast, owners of Posh Life LLC, will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony marking the official rebirth of the 9,000-square-foot neoclassical mansion as The Colonnade, an elegant catering facility/boutique hotel.

Since purchasing the building two years ago for $225,000, the partners have invested $1.5 million in a full-scale facelift that brought it into the 21st century yet kept its historic character intact.

The first floor, which can accommodate as many as 200 people, is now complete and already booking a full schedule of private parties and wedding receptions, including one slated for New Year’s Eve. Meanwhile, the six hotel suites on the second and third floors aren’t expected to be completed until Memorial Day weekend.

“It’s the 135th anniversary of the home, and now it’s coming back again,” Mr. Mast said.

Humble beginnings

The home was built in 1873 by Col. Austin Blair, son of local railroad and banking magnate James Blair. For its first 37 years, it was a relatively modest two-story. Then, in 1910, Col. Blair’s son, James Blair Jr., added the third-story ballroom and trademark columns as an ostentatious flourish.

Most recently, the home was owned and occupied by Irene Munchak, aunt of Lackawanna County Commissioner A.J. Munchak. For years, she held off on selling the building for fear that the new owners would raze it.

Enter Mr. Blackledge, a Green Ridge native and Scranton Preparatory School graduate, and Mr. Mast, who is originally from Michigan. The two longtime New York fashion industry professionals — Mr. Mast is vice president of retail development for Phat Fashions, while Mr. Blackledge formerly worked as a senior technical designer for Ralph Lauren and Rebecca Taylor — had purchased a second home at Moosic Lake a few years back, and were looking for a downtown spot to start their own party planning business, an idea that sprung from them doing the decorations for events like the Sant’ Andrea Society’s annual ball.

Back to life

The interior’s focus was on restoring much of the many remaining original touches, including the mouldings, once-gas-powered chandeliers, parquet floors, brass door knobs, pocket doors, tiled fireplaces, even the Steinway baby grand piano that was left behind. The electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling systems were all updated, while the walls were given tasteful color schemes, from adobe dust in the parlor to passion blue in the music room to a yellowish taupe in the grand ballroom.

When completed, the six spacious hotel suites will pair classic looks with ultra-modern amenities like flat-screen televisions and individual heating and cooling systems. Mr. Mast described the intended effect as the Ritz Carlton meets the W boutique hotel franchise.

“It’s classic,” Mr. Mast said, “but with a little bit of a twist.”

And, should all go to plan, it’ll serve as yet another piece in the puzzle that is downtown Scranton’s ongoing resurgence.

“The downtown is going to be a place ... it might not be what it once was, but it’s going to be a destination,” Mr. Mast said.

“I’ve seen the good and the bad of the city. I was growing up when there was nothing going on downtown,” Mr. Blackledge added. “People like us are creating a reason to be downtown.”

Contact the writer: jmcauliffe@timesshamrock.comFor more information on The Colonnade, call 342-6114 or visit www.thecolonnade401.com.

[bucks native]

If posted previously, I apologize. I was in a shop today and saw a paper with front page news on the Lackawanna Ave renovations. I don't think it was the Scranton paper. I've been searching online for a copy but all I could find is below and it's not recent. Also, recently read that Coney Island will be renovated but can't find that, either.

From here with photo: http://www.scrantontimes.com/articles/2008/09/29/news/sc_times_trib.20080929.a.pg3.tt29lackawanna_s1.1975437_top2.txt


A ‘Renaissance’ revival in Scranton

BY JEREMY G. BURTON
STAFF WRITER
Published: Monday, September 29, 2008
Updated: Monday, September 29, 2008 2:11 PM EDT

Considering how long it often takes in Scranton for big-ticket projects to get going, it’s easy to forget how fast construction crews can work once they have a green light.

Years in the making, the $28 million overhaul of the 500 block of Lackawanna Avenue is sailing toward completion. The heart of the renovations will wrap up in the next eight weeks, and tenants are slated to move in before spring.

Crews today will also begin a streetscape aspect of the project, which will add a median and sidewalk aesthetics — and surely snarl traffic.

But “Renaissance at 500,” as it was dubbed, continues to advance without Tom Moran and Giovanni Piccolino, owners of two businesses that bookend the development.

Mr. Piccolino’s Buona Pizza awaits its fate in court as the city pursues seizing the property through eminent domain.

Mr. Moran’s Coney Island Texas Lunch is rebuilding after an arson in April. He said he’s negotiating for a share of the federal funding but wants to control his own development.

To Mayor Chris Doherty and developer Donald Rinaldi, who bought out some owners and entered agreements with others to stay, the pizzeria and restaurant are a pair of holdouts.

From the outside, it doesn’t look like Mr. Rinaldi has made a lot of headway. But the century-old buildings’ insides are undergoing a transformation.

When it’s done, “Renaissance at 500” will house condos, commercial space, stores and boutiques. Behind it will be a pedestrian alleyway and an acre of urban park space on an old elevated rail line.

Contractors have been busy repointing brick, installing new structural steel and prepping to rebuild storefronts dating from the 1870s.

“That in itself is a challenge, to take buildings from that era and bring them back to life,” Mr. Rinaldi said.

Mr. Rinaldi lauded Mr. Doherty’s role in landing grants for the project. It’s been a long road to get this far, but the commitment is paying off, Mr. Rinaldi said.

“That’s what makes it work,” he said.

Contact the writer: jburton@timesshamrock.com

[bucks native]

here's the website with plans: http://www.500block.com/

[Lost Island]

whatever happened to old donny-brix ??

it's almost time for the "Christmas Putz" lol

...god is this whole section dead...

[bucks native]

Here's a rendering of the first buildings that will go up. Image from the school's website. You're looking at them from Pine St. To your right, east, is Jefferson. To your left, west, is Washington. Through the center, would be Adams, but it becomes a walkway between Olive and Gibson. It will remain a walkway, through the center of campus, which will stretch from Lackawanna College (former Central High) to Tech High, which is behind the building on the left in the rendering - same block.

http://thecommonwealthmedical.com/images/Upload/bldg2.jpg

[Evergrey]

whatever happened to old donny-brix ??

it's almost time for the "Christmas Putz" lol

...god is this whole section dead...

I haven't seen him since Hillary lost the nomination... very strange :sly:

Anyways... donybrx would be happy about this:'

http://thetimes-tribune.com/articles/2008/11/09/news/sc_times_trib.20081109.a.pg1.tt09washington_s1.2073197_top3.txt

Biden, Casey give Scranton nice seat at power banquet

BY BORYS KRAWCZENIUK
STAFF WRITER
Published: Sunday, November 09, 2008
Updated: Sunday, November 9, 2008 4:19 AM EST

Name the American city with these characteristics:

■ It’s home to a U.S. senator who is good friends with the president-elect of the United States, who invited the senator to play basketball on Election Day and mentioned the city by name in his first speech after he was elected.

■ It’s the childhood home of the vice president-elect, who revels in his roots every chance he gets.

■ Its congressman is the second-most senior Democrat on a powerful congressional committee and is headed to a Washington fully controlled by Democrats.

■ The neighboring congressman is well known by the president-elect’s chief of staff and part of a coalition of fiscally conservative Democrats who could be key to accomplishing the new president’s economic agenda.

Yes, it’s Scranton, the Electric City, the symbol of working-class, blue-collar America in the presidential campaign and about to step into the halls of power in Washington in a way no one could have imagined a year ago.

With all its personal connections, the city could gain an edge in securing federal money for projects and will certainly have the ear of the nation’s top leaders when seeking beneficial policy changes, many observers said.

“I think it means that Northeast and Central Pennsylvania is going to be one of the political power centers of America for the next few years,” said U.S. Rep. Chris Carney, the neighboring second-term congressman whose 2006 election was aided by Rep. Rahm Emanuel, Mr. Obama’s choice for chief of staff. “It’s a pretty good thing when you have the chief of staff’s personal cell (phone number) programmed into your Blackberry.”

And Mr. Carney, a member of the fiscally conservative “Blue Dog” Democrats, is the low rung on the local power ladder.

The U.S. senator who played basketball with President-elect Obama on Election Day in Chicago is Bob Casey of Scranton; the vice president-elect is Sen. Joe Biden, a Scranton native; the powerful congressman is Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski, who represents the city and is chairman of the subcommittee that will help oversee the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street and future regulation of the banking system.

“We have a president and vice president who actually know where we’re from and know some of us,” said Lackawanna County Commissioner Mike Washo, an early backer of Mr. Obama. “At least it gives us a level of entry that we might not otherwise have.”

Mr. Kanjorski campaigned on his seniority, and said all the local ties are huge pluses.

“That doesn’t mean you are going to get everything you want. We’ll have to be measured,” he said. “But if somebody tries to cut us out, internally or in the Senate or House, we can go over their heads. We have friendships other people don’t have.”

Don’t forget New York Sen. Hillary Clinton and her Scranton ties, said Larry Ceisler, a Philadelphia public relations consultant who tracks state politics.

Mr. Ceisler said Mr. Casey’s endorsement of Mr. Obama in March proved “shrewd.”

“Bobby was being criticized for getting his sea legs a little later in the Senate,” Mr. Ceisler said. “If he was slow in the beginning, then he’s gone to super lightning speed.”

Mr. Casey, who ranked second among all freshman members of Congress last year in obtaining federal earmark money for the state, acknowledged the relationship with Mr. Obama and Mr. Biden helps, though he said there’s much more to the connection.

“They’re also people who have an appreciation for what Scranton and towns like it are struggling with,” Mr. Casey said. “I want to do everything possible in the next several years to bring as much help back to Pennsylvania (as possible), but also to work on issues that have national reach and national importance, and also would have a substantial impact on Pennsylvania.”

Mr. Casey said he would make passage of his funding bill for preschool education a priority.

Under his bill, $5 billion in federal money would be distributed to states that fund preschools the first year with $1 billion more each year through 2012. Mr. Obama spoke favorably about the idea while campaigning.

During the Pennsylvania primary campaign, Mr. Obama said he would support expanded use of passenger trains similar to one being planned between Scranton and metropolitan New York City. The federal New Starts program, which provides money for train projects, usually has applications for more money than is available.

Mr. Casey said he expects a boost in funding for such mass transit is likely to be part of Mr. Obama’s energy strategy to reduce the nation’s dependence on foreign oil.

Scranton Mayor Chris Doherty said Mr. Biden’s connection and Mr. Casey’s closeness to Mr. Obama “only helps.”

“It doesn’t give us an inside track somehow, but life is about relationships and knowing people,” Mr. Doherty said. “He (Mr. Biden) got to the point that everybody thought he was living in Scranton.”

The key will be having Democrats in charge in Washington, Mr. Doherty said.

“I really believe we as a nation have to invest back in our cities. The United States built our infrastructure with federal dollars and we need them to be rebuilt,” he said.

Mr. Obama comes from a big city, Chicago, and one of his top advisers is Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, one of the leading advocates for investing in cities, Mr. Doherty said.

“They’re Democrats,” he said.

G. Terry Madonna, Ph.D., director of the Franklin & Marshall College Center for Politics and Public Affairs, isn’t sure the ties will mean any more federal money than Mr. Casey, Mr. Kanjorski and Mr. Carney could have delivered on their own.

“That doesn’t mean there won’t be little things they can’t be helpful with at the margins,” Dr. Madonna said.

But Scranton School Director Brian Jeffers said the region will benefit because of the Scranton connections.

“You’ll get high-profile visits and maybe even bigger projects,” Mr. Jeffers said.

Local city, county and school district governments “would be stupid not to try to tap into” the connections, he said.

With a place at the center of the political universe, Scranton will perhaps also be a symbol of an Obama administration’s progress in improving the economy, Dr. Madonna and Mr. Ceisler said.

“People are going to look at Scranton to see how it does over the next four years,” Mr. Ceisler said. “I think it is in the best interests of this administration and Congress that Scranton gets what it needs to prosper and survive.”

Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com

[Snakeyes]

Here's a rendering of the first buildings that will go up. Image from the school's website. You're looking at them from Pine St. To your right, east, is Jefferson. To your left, west, is Washington. Through the center, would be Adams, but it becomes a walkway between Olive and Gibson. It will remain a walkway, through the center of campus, which will stretch from Lackawanna College (former Central High) to Tech High, which is behind the building on the left in the rendering - same block.

http://thecommonwealthmedical.com/images/Upload/bldg2.jpg

The Med school will give the city such a shot in the arm! Can't wait!:jester:

[vasiliymeshko]

Some good news from W-B. If anyone noticed, the PNC Tower is getting a new sign upgrade.

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/9173/82646171jz4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/82646171jz4.jpg/1/w1072.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img143/82646171jz4.jpg/1/)

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/4098/92363168fn4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/92363168fn4.jpg/1/w1072.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img227/92363168fn4.jpg/1/)

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/8051/12fn5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/12fn5.jpg/1/w1072.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img221/12fn5.jpg/1/)

Some competition never hurts ;)
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/6301/19hj8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/19hj8.jpg/1/w1072.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img221/19hj8.jpg/1/)

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/9236/22hb4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/22hb4.jpg/1/w1072.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img143/22hb4.jpg/1/)

Work continues on the other side:
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/2262/55zb5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/55zb5.jpg/1/w1072.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img143/55zb5.jpg/1/)

http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/9246/59rf6.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img143.imageshack.us/img143/59rf6.jpg/1/w1072.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img143/59rf6.jpg/1/)

Now here is the really good news. Booth sides of the sign will be lighted (the old one wasn't)

Here is the old sign for comparison:
http://img34.picoodle.com/img/img34/4/7/7/f_00028am_bf4684e.jpg

http://img217.imageshack.us/img217/559/16ql8.jpg

[Ex-Ithacan]

Nice shots vasiliy. I like the comparison pic (next to last) the best. Thanks.

[vasiliymeshko]

As an added bonus here are the photos from that day's edition of Times Leader:

http://img221.imageshack.us/img221/9648/scankr4.jpg

[vasiliymeshko]

Intermodal Center progress. (Also pictures from last week)
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/1599/33125003mc4.jpg

An interesting view of downtown. Time will tell if it will be totally blocked out, or made even better from the parking deck:
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/622/90662459ae2.jpg

Heck of a huge crawlers:
http://img246.imageshack.us/img246/151/29699770xp2.jpg

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/8089/35753152fm6.jpg

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/5817/87662557kc3.jpg

http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/3811/93654175vy7.jpg

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/7306/52222987bn0.jpg

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/4700/79927674om6.jpg

http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/5180/10xh6.jpg

http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/2686/63ol9.jpg

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/6466/64ak0.jpg

[bucks native]

from here: http://www.scrantontimes.com/articles/2008/11/30/news/sc_times_trib.20081130.a.pg5.tt30downtown_s1.2128252_loc.txt


New life breathed into downtown Wilkes-Barre


BY BOB KALINOWSKI AND HEIDI RUCKNO
STAFF WRITERS

Updated: Sunday, November 30, 2008 4:17 AM EST

WILKES-BARRE — It’s Friday evening, and nearly every table is full at Cafe Toscana and Thai Thai.

Happy hour is in full swing, as college students and the after-work crowd pour into Rodano’s pizza shop on Public Square and Bart & Urby’s on South Main Street. Hundreds line up for tickets at Wilkes-Barre Movies 14, many waiting for the new James Bond movie.

Scantily-clad servers dance on the bartop of the overflowing Hardware Bar, while across South Main Street, a Christian rock band entertains a crowd at the Barnes & Noble bookstore and cafe.

The downtown’s revival is taking shape with restaurants and entertainment venues leading the charge.

Just two years ago, none of this was here.

When downtown’s 14,000 workers left for the day, the area was deserted and dark, except for events at the F.M. Kirby Center for the Performing Arts.

Now, crowds are coming back. On many weekend nights, city officials estimate up to 7,500 people visit downtown.

One of the people enjoying the downtown on this night is Steve Barrouk, who was chief executive of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry for 18 years before retiring in July 2006.

The bar, restaurant and entertainment scene has long been the vision for kick-starting downtown rebirth, according to Mr. Barrouk.

“I’m a cheerleader and a participant now,” he says.

Mr. Barrouk remembers how bleak it was not long ago. Businesses left. Storefronts sat vacant. Aging street lights toppled during wind gusts. The downtown was left dark.

“My office window was right on Public Square. I would just watch the dirt and litter blow across the sidewalks. The lights were collapsing and not being replaced. You had all these problems,” Mr. Barrouk said.

A $31 million movie theater complex and a $7.3 million street lighting project later, and a dream began to materialize.

When Bart & Urby’s owner Brian Urbanas, 29, bought his South Main Street building in 2002, many friends and family members told him he was crazy. He sat on the building and opened the bar and bistro soon after the theater launched in 2006. Now, his business has gained a loyal following and is thriving.

“I was here six years ago and the difference between now and then was like night and day. I would sit on top of the roof and there was nothing. Now you look out and it’s packed,” Mr. Urbanas said.

Downtown development has had its growing pains, though. At least four highly touted businesses that offered late-night entertainment opportunities have folded: Nono’s Restaurant and Bar on North Main Street, Campus Square Billiards on Public Square, Fuse Martini Bar in Midtown Village and Club Mardi Gras on South Main Street. But city officials and current business owners say the momentum has swung and downtown is coming alive for good. Three of the four places that closed didn’t remain empty for long. Rodano’s replaced the pool hall, the Hardware Bar opened where Mardi Gras closed and there’s another lounge, Luna, readying its launch in Fuse’s place.

Todd Vonderheid, former Luzerne County commissioner and current president of the chamber, pictures an eclectic mix of unique, local retailers filling in the gaps between the bars, clubs and restaurants to create a district that appeals to a range of visitors for up to 18 hours a day.

Retailers, however, are wary of expanding in the weak economic climate, and some are in danger of closing.

The economic turmoil placed Boscov’s, the downtown’s retail anchor since 1981, in jeopardy of closing. The department store chain with 39 locations filed for bankruptcy in August and came close to being sold off piece by piece.

But then retired CEO Al Boscov amassed more than $300 million in personal, private and public funding to reclaim the family business. The state pitched in $35 million, Luzerne County and the city gave $3 million each in loans.

The preservation of Boscov’s means the downtown remains a player in the retail market and maintains Wilkes-Barre’s unique status as one of the few downtowns in Pennsylvania with a free-standing department store, Mayor Tom Leighton said.

On a recent walk around Public Square, Mr. Leighton pointed out a large crane rising above the construction site of a multimillion-dollar transportation center, which will add hundreds of needed parking spots downtown. A city growing in a tough economic climate is one with a positive future, the mayor said.

“Wilkes-Barre’s one of those towns. For the first few years, people didn’t think Wilkes-Barre would rebuild itself,” Mr. Leighton said. “Now, we’re on that rebuilding process. The foundation has been built. Things are going up.”

NICK SOHR, staff writer, contributed to this report.

Contact the writers: bkalinowski@citizensvoice.com, hruckno@citizensvoice.com

[bucks native]

And look who's on board, with Scranton roots:
Senator Hillary Clinton
Senator Bob Casey
Vice President Joe Biden

and by proxy:
Senator Charles Schumer
Senator Arlen Spector

And for its economic benefits - and because the money to be alloted to ease the economic crisis is especially intended for infrastructure and will have a "green" component - not to mention the fact that he plays basketball with Casey: President Obama.

Go to Wikipedia and find "Lackawanna Cut Off," some good readin' there.

Here's more:

Schumer presses for rail link to NYC
December 5, 2008

from here: http://www.pressconnects.com/article/20081205/NEWS01/81205002

U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer Thursday urged Amtrak President Joseph Boardman, a former Broome County official, to study expanding rail service from Scranton, Pa., to Binghamton.

The extension would provide a link between Binghamton and New York City and aid economic development across the region, Schumer said in a letter to Boardman.

Earlier this year, Schumer announced that the state Department of Transportation and Amtrak had agreed to conduct a feasibility study for rail service along the I-81 rail corridor.

Boardman formerly served as Broome County’s transit commissioner. He received a master’s degree in management science from Binghamton University.

— Vanessa Ebbeling


I think that 2012 is a conservative estimate, after all, it's only 28 mile of track that's missing. What's between the existing line and Wilkes-Barre? Is there track or right-of-way there? This project MUST include Wilkes-Barre.

from here: http://www.scrantontimes.com/articles/2008/12/03/news/sc_times_trib.20081203.a.pg3.tt03railroad_s1.2133390_top4.txt

Passenger rail plans on track

BY BORYS KRAWCZENIUK
STAFF WRITER
Published: Wednesday, December 03, 2008
Updated: Wednesday, December 3, 2008 4:19 AM EST

The proposed passenger train line between here and metropolitan New York City could be running on part of the proposed route by 2012, but only in New Jersey, a project official said.

When the train will run all the way to Scranton remains unclear, but New Jersey Transit officials are actively working toward the first restoration of tracks on about a quarter of the Lackawanna Cutoff, a critical piece of the entire project.

The 28-mile cutoff is a massive, relatively straight section of former railroad right-of-way in New Jersey whose tracks were uprooted before it was sold off when service to New York ended more than three decades ago. New Jersey Transit bought it back from a developer in 2001 for $21 million.

New Jersey Transit officials are engineering and designing plans for the construction of a 7.3-mile stretch of the cutoff, which is part of the long-planned, $550 million revival of passenger rail service to Scranton.

“It’s the start of the project. It definitely is,” said attorney Larry Malski, chief operating officer of the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Rail Authority. “You can forget about Scranton or Pennsylvania without the 28 miles all back. We’ve got to get the 28 miles back.”

Except for the cutoff, the rest of the 88-mile route between Scranton and Port Morris has track, although much will need upgrading so passenger trains can run at speeds fast enough to ensure the service’s viability.

The engineering work on the 7.3 miles cleared a significant hurdle in September when the Federal Transit Administration issued a finding of no significant environmental impact for the section, planned for between Port Morris and Andover, N.J., New Jersey Transit spokesman Joe Dee said Tuesday.

New Jersey Transit’s existing tracks end in Port Morris.

Mr. Dee said engineering and construction on the estimated $36.6 million project could take several years, but the train could be operational by 2012. The project includes the construction of a new station and related parking in Andover, he said. The FTA is paying about $18 million, he said.

The development might seem minor to local residents, but getting rails on the cutoff is significant, Mr. Malski said.

“Getting that 28 miles back has been the target from day one,” he said. “The battle’s been the cutoff.”

Planning for the service began two decades ago with Lackawanna County providing a lot of the early impetus with a study of what it would take to happen. Since then, Mr. Malski and other project officials have set numerous dates for the complete restoration only to be disappointed.

They no longer estimate its completion, though U.S. Sen. Bob Casey has said the train could be operating in six to eight years.

“We just need to persevere with it,” Mr. Malski said. “If I give you a date, it would be such conjecture.”

By any measure, a passenger train from Scranton to Hoboken, N.J., which is across the Hudson River from Manhattan, is years away.

Two months ago, New Jersey Transit officials submitted additional information supplementing a consultant’s findings on the entire project’s environmental impact. The consultant found no significant impact, and FTA officials are reviewing the new information.

Mr. Malski said project officials are hoping FTA agrees early next year so New Jersey and Pennsylania can begin to seriously discuss how they’ll split the construction and operating costs.

He credited a June meeting between FTA, New Jersey Transit, Mr. Casey and U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter with producing the progress.

Mr. Malski said he’s hoping President-elect Barack Obama’s plans to boost the economy through increased federal spending on infrastructure projects such as highways, bridges and railroads produces additional funding for the proposed passenger railroad.

Contact the writer: bkrawczeniuk@timesshamrock.com

[bucks native]

The rendering for Wilkes Barre's Intermodal Transportation Center looks kinda' cool.

I've been searching for a rendering of Scranton's proposed center but haven't been able to find one. Anyone have a rendering to share with us?

[Snakeyes]

Is Scranton a go for the train? I thought they only confirmed through Jersey...

[Snakeyes]

Intermodal center hits new snag


Share This Story:
Yahoo! Buzz
BY GRETCHEN M. WINTERMANTEL
STAFF WRITER
Published: Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Updated: Tuesday, December 9, 2008 4:13 AM EST
The latest delay facing the downtown Intermodal Center — a transportation project in the works for 11 years — is a dispute between the county’s transit authority and the architectural firm that designed the building.

The transit authority has copies of plans designed by Highland Associates but cannot move forward with the project without permission from the firm, according to executive director Bob Fiume and authority chairman Tom Moran.

“We need permission to use the documents we hired them to do,” Mr. Moran said.

The County of Lackawanna Transit System authority is finalizing a request for proposals for a construction manager for the project. The RFP allows the construction manager to bring in its own architect, which may not be Highland.

Highland was the architect on the preliminary design phase of the Intermodal Center in 2001. COLTS kept Highland on as the architect for the final design phase in 2005 without bidding the project — violating federal law in doing so. As a result, COLTS owed the federal government nearly $907,645 to reimburse grant funding. So far, the authority has paid $250,000 of that.

COLTS is now seeking permission from Highland Associates to use the prints and specifications. The authority’s 2005 contract with Highland says the architect retains ownership of the plans — a common arrangement in the industry, according to an official with the American Institute of Architects.

COLTS needs a license “to use the documents to construct, use, maintain, alter or add to the specific projects,” said Ken Cobleigh, interim managing director of AIA contract documents.

Mr. Fiume said Monday he expects “something to be worked out in the next few days.”

Asked if Highland is cooperating with COLTS, Mr. Fiume said the authority’s attorneys are negotiating with the firm.

It is unclear whether Highland is seeking additional compensation. Highland already has been paid $1.2 million for the preliminary and final design phases of the project.

Based in Clarks Summit, Highland Associates is one of the area’s largest architectural and engineering firms. The company has worked on projects for the county, school district and city, including the county courthouse renovation project, the new 911 Center and the party deck and clubhouse at PNC Field.

The firm also is the lead designer of the $60 million Scranton School District construction project encompassing three elementary schools.

Multiple attempts to reach representatives of Highland Associates were unsuccessful.

The Intermodal Center, which will provide access to bus, taxicab and eventually train transportation, will be located in the 100 block of Lackawanna Avenue next to the General Services Administration building where GSA employees currently park.

Mr. Fiume said Monday he expects the land transfer between Martz Trailways and GSA, which also has held up the project, to be completed soon.

Contact the writer: gwintermantel@timesshamrock.com

[vasiliymeshko]

W-B's Intermodal Center is, meanwhile, slowly taking more and more shape. I ought to do another photo update soon.

[Wheelingman04]

What is Wilkes-Barre/Scranton like?

[bucks native]

What is Wilkes-Barre/Scranton like?

I don't know W-B and have only been in Scranton for two years. I sense that they each have good bones. Scranton was fortunate to not have knocked everything down in the name of urban renewal when most other cities did in the fifties and sixties. Some great architecture. Great potential but it's tempered by high taxes.

[bucks native]

Just need to lay track on the "cut-off" and it's track all the way to Hoboken, then into NYC.

from here: http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081219/NEWS/812190353/-1/NEWS01

Rail authority to buy 10 miles of track

By Beth Brelje
Pocono Record Writer
December 19, 2008

The Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority is working to bring more jobs to Monroe County. The authority, which is also working to bring the long-awaited commuter train to the Poconos, will purchase 10.6 miles of mainline railroad track owned by Norfolk Southern including a section between East Stroudsburg and the Delaware Water Gap, which could result in more area jobs.

Trains have been using that track for years. This portion of the former Erie-Lackawanna mainline is now leased by the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority as a part of its Pocono Mainline between Scranton and its freight interchange yard with the Norfolk Southern at Slateford Pennsylvania.

The advantage to owning track instead of leasing is access to land next to the track.

More industries are inquiring about rail-accessible land sites located along the authority's rail infrastructure, according to Lawrence Malski, president of the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority. This purchase includes rail-adjacent land ripe for development. Industries that need rail to be competitive include lumber, plastic manufacturers and distribution centers.

Local companies already located on the acquired track include Excel Storage Products, Royal Chemical and National Electrical Carbon Product, all of East Stroudsburg, plus Rock-Tenn, a maker of corrugated boxes in Delaware Water Gap.

This track purchase will also ensure the continuation of the Steamtown passenger trains which use this track for excursions from Scranton to the Delaware Water Gap and Dansbury Depot in East Stroudsburg, bringing up to 500 passengers into the area at a time.

The purchase price of this section of track will be $4.5 million.

The authority will pay for the track using its own cash plus state and federal grants and loans. In the past three years the rail authority has assisted Excel Storage Products of East Stroudsburg and Monadnock Non-Wovens of Mount Pocono in obtaining PennDOT grants for building new track into their facilities. Shipping directly in and out of facilities lowers transportation costs.

"This acquisition constitutes a critical link in our 100-mile regional rail freight system in northeast Pennsylvania and will allow our contract rail operator, the Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad, to provide more efficient rail freight service to our existing rail freight dependent industries," Malski said.

The PNRRA regional rail system serves more than 25 rail-dependent industries that employ thousands of workers in northeast Pennsylvania.

"This acquisition will also allow the PNRRA to work closely with the local economic development agencies and chambers of commerce to attract new rail-dependent industries and jobs to our regional rail system to the economic benefit of all of northeast Pennsylvania," said Bob Hay, Chairman of the Pennsylvania Northeast Regional Railroad Authority.

[bucks native]

From here re Connell Bldg, it's a statement from the mayor: http://www.scrantontimes.com/articles/2008/12/21/news/sc_times_trib.20081221.a.pg1.tt21mayor_s1.2175968_top2.txt


Downtown, the renovation of the Connell Building into a center for commerce and housing is under way, he said.

[bucks native]

from here: http://www.scrantontimes.com/articles/2008/12/21/editorial/sc_times_trib.20081221.d.pg3.tt21edit1_s1.2174496_edi.txt

NEPA priorities for new stimulus

Published: Sunday, December 21, 2008
Updated: Sunday, December 21, 2008 4:15 AM EST

President-elect Barack Obama and congressional Democrats already are working on a two-year, $850 billion economic stimulus package that they plan to pass during the first two weeks of the new administration. Its focus will be infrastructure development and repair — much of which is needed regardless of the economic crisis.

Northeast Pennsylvania is well-positioned for such a program, politically and in terms of legitimate need. Government leaders from throughout the region should work closely and quickly with Reps. Paul Kanjorski and Chris Carney and, especially, Sen. Bob Casey — who is close to fellow Scranton native and Vice President-elect Joe Biden and Mr. Obama — to establish a viable priority list.

Many of the projects that could benefit Northeast Pennsylvania also would meet multiple objectives already embraced by the administration.

A key candidate for inclusion should be restoration of passenger rail service from Scranton to the New York City area, with operations conducted by New Jersey Transit or Amtrak. That project also could result in service being restored all the way to Syracuse, N.Y.

The project not only would generate substantial economic activity, but reduce traffic congestion, fight air pollution and global warming, conserve fuel and help re-establish an effective national rail passenger system.

Establishment of the region as Wall Street West, the secure back-up for New York-based financial markets, has been hindered by infrastructure and technical issues. Use of the stimulus for that project itself would help to boost confidence in the markets by ensuring their security.

Pennsylvania, generally, has the nation’s highest percentage of highway bridges that need urgent repair, and the state also lags in widely accessible broadband Internet.

[bucks native]

from here : http://www.timesleader.com/news/GRAND_DESIGN_01-04-2009.html


GRAND DESIGN
Architects laud program at Marywood
By Andrew M. Seder aseder@timesleader.com
04 JAN 2009


Local architects hope a new degree program at Marywood University will produce graduates who can enrich practices that already have won notice in the region, across the nation and around the world.

Instead of worrying about competition, local architects are looking forward to offering whatever help they can to get the region’s first school of architecture up and running and churning out future stewards of the skilled art.

Peter Bohlin, of the firm Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, with offices in Wilkes-Barre, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Seattle and San Francisco, said there’s “quite a gap” between the number of students earning architecture degrees and the number of positions available for them.

“There’s a greater need in the country for architects than there are architects coming out of school,” Bohlin, 71, of Waverly, said.

Patrick Endler, with the Borton-Lawson firm in Wilkes-Barre, said “fewer and fewer students are entering the profession.”

“Fewer are coming out of school, and fewer still are taking and passing their professional exams. It’s a bit of a crisis,” Endler said.

Bohlin sketched a similar picture of the disparity between the number of available jobs and lesser number of available architects.

“I’m not talking about 10 percent. More like 20 to 30 percent,” Bohlin said while sitting in his 12th floor office at the Citizens Bank Building on West Market Street. There may be more architects graduating today than in years past but there are also more positions and more opportunities outside of the field that lure them, he said.

“Computers have changed architecture to a great degree,” Bohlin said, allowing architecture graduates to find jobs, sometimes much-better-paying ones, as animators or computer graphic artists on films or even computer or video games.

That leaves fewer architects to design new schools, hospitals, libraries, bridges and homes.

Marywood University thinks the time is right to strike to help fill that gap.

Gregory Hunt, a former dean of the School of Architecture and Planning at The Catholic University of America, was brought in as a special consultant and will help to get the Marywood program up and running. When the announcement was made in October, Hunt said it “was clear to him” after meeting with local educators and architects “that from the outset the architecture community embraced, has embraced and continues to embrace this particular enterprise with great enthusiasm.”

Avery Gretton is among them.

“It will provide great opportunities for high school students who might never have considered that pathway in the past,” said Gretton, an architect at Highland Associates in Clarks Summit and president of the Northeast Pennsylvania chapter of the American Institute of Architects. He said the number of architects locally is just right for the area, although he believes population growth and the ability to work long distance via computers and teleconferencing could spur opportunities.

That’s where Marywood University steps in.

The university’s School of Architecture is planned for a fall opening with a first class of about 25.

Gretton said architects “will continue to be in demand and Marywood University will help to satisfy that demand.”

While there are no hard numbers on this, Gretton said he believes a majority of locally employed architects were born and raised in Northeastern Pennsylvania. He is among the minority – non-natives who moved here to take an architectural job.

He said the high number of natives who came back home to work in the field speaks volumes for the region, considering that every local architect would have had to leave the region to attend college since no local schools offer an architectural degree.

Count Bohlin among those who came here and fell in love with the region and its offerings. The world-renowned architect founded his firm with partner Richard Powell in Wilkes-Barre in 1965. The firm has now grown to include 150 employees in five offices.

Bohlin came to Pennsylvania while in his 20s, three years out of school. The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute graduate came to design a home in Bear Creek for his parents and wound up leaving New York City for the Diamond City to ply his trade and make a name for himself.

“I felt we could get a faster start here and it turned out to be true,” Bohlin said.

He said that while many architecture degree holders leave college with the goal of working in New York or Chicago, the truth is they usually go where the jobs are and where they can establish a name for themselves.

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton area offers that opportunity.

“We’re not that far from the major cities,” Bohlin said, and there are plenty of projects to be had.

Not all fly the coop to the big cities. Some venture out from local firms by starting more local firms.

Among them are Margaret Bakker and Robert Lewis, who left Bohlin Cywinski Jackson to establish their Shavertown firm in 1988. The two, like Bohlin, are graduates of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Others choose to stay on with the region’s larger practices and even turn down transfers to what might be considered more prestigious surroundings.

Bill Loose, a partner at Bohlin’s firm, was born in Reading, graduated from Penn State and took a job in Wilkes-Barre eight months later. He said he was given the opportunity to transfer to the Seattle office when the firm was hired to design the private residence of Bill and Melinda Gates in the 1990s but opted to stay here in Kingston.

Bohlin said the Marywood endeavor is badly needed.

“It’s an opportunity to bring new life to the region,” Bohlin said. He said anything that encourages local students to get into the field is a plus and local architects are offering to help any way they can, from guest lectures, to taking interns to teaching classes in an adjunct capacity.

Endler, of Kingston, said he can not see a downside to the Marywood plan.

“Having that resource more readily available here can only enhance the profession,” he said.

Patrick Endler, with the Borton-Lawson firm in Wilkes-Barre, said “fewer and fewer students are entering the profession.”


Andrew M. Seder, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 570-829-7269.

[bucks native]

Would rather see a Philadelphia-type Ritz downtown that shows the new releases that are not shown at the cineplexes. But this is a start, I suppose.

from here: http://www.scrantontimes.com/articles/2009/01/09/lifestyles/sc_times_trib.20090109.c.pg1.tt09vintagetheater_s1.2215935_fea1.txt


Classic cinema: Vintage Theater opens in downtown Scranton with slate of old films and new live acts


BY STACY BROWN
STAFF WRITER
Published: Friday, January 09, 2009
Updated: Friday, January 9, 2009 6:48 AM EST
Scranton Times


When Alfred Hitchcock’s “The 39 Steps” was a hit in movie theaters, Conor O’Brien wasn’t even born.What’s more, neither was his mother, Barbara. However, the mother and son duo share a love of the 1935 Hitchcock movie as well as many other classics.

Their appreciation has led them to open The Vintage Theater at the old Ritz building in downtown Scranton.

“I posed the idea of opening Vintage Theater to my mother and we did a lot of research,” Mr. O’Brien said, noting he had long been impressed by theaters in places like Boston, Los Angeles and other cities that show classic films.

While the primary focus of the theater will be classic films, other purposes include the providing of a stimulating art space for the locals, Mr. O’Brien said.

Events at the theater will include music, art, poetry, photography, improv, stand up, stage production and experimental theater, he said.

“With the closing of Test Pattern, there aren’t many places that have an all-ages venue for acts to play,” Mr. O’Brien said. “Already, we’ve booked such bands as Satellite, Tearable, Coffee and Smoke, So Long Pluto and Empty Cases and, with the exception of some weeknights, we’re booked solid through March.”

Before the films

Prior to what Mr. O’Brien calls the official opening weekend, a Nintendo tournament is scheduled at the theater Saturday at 6 p.m. and the Clarks Summit band, Munster, is set to perform Sunday from 5 to 8 p.m.

For the Nintendo contest, tickets are free to audience members and $3 for participants. Admission to the Munster concert is $5.

Although fans of classic movies can sit at home and catch their favorites on television stations like Turner Classic Movies and American Movie Classics or on DVD, Mr. O’Brien is convinced area residents will enjoy reliving the theater experience of yesteryear when men wore double-breasted suits and women sported backless halter-neck evening gowns.

“This allows for the community to have a place where they can get out and have a nice time and experience the great films the way they were experienced when they first came out,” Mr. O’Brien said.

“In the end, I think this will be fun and, hopefully, I can become a pioneer of sorts because I think this is something this community really needs.”

Other showings

In addition to the Hitchcock classic that is to be shown on what is being billed as the official opening weekend — Jan. 16, 17 and 18 — Mr. O’Brien is scheduled to show such classics as 1942’s “Random Harvest,” the 1946 cowboy flick “My Pal Trigger,” and 1961’s “Little Shop of Horrors.”

Classic films are scheduled every Friday at 7 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday at 3 and 7 p.m. Ticket prices are $3 for the 3 p.m. show and $5 for 7 p.m. showings.

“We also have booked our first theatrical production for March 20, 21 and 22 and it’s called ‘Once Upon an Intervention,’” Mr. O’Brien said.

“It is a show for all ages and it delves into classic fairy tale characters who are forced into therapy sessions and discusses what happily ever after really means.”

The response for the theater has been overwhelmingly positive, Mr. O’Brien said.

“There have been people whom I’ve never met who have shown their support,” he said.

“There hasn’t been a single person say anything negative. People have sincerely shown at least some degree of positive interest, nothing negative.”

Contact the writer: sbrown@timesshamrock.comIf you go

What: The Vintage Theater grand opening weekend

When: Jan. 16 at 7 p.m., Jan. 17 at 3 and 7 p.m., Jan. 18 at 3 p.m.

Where: The old Ritz Building, 222 Wyoming Ave., Scranton

[bucks native]

from here: http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/articles/2009/01/13/business/sc_times_trib.20090113.d.pg1.tt13joint_s1.2224903_bus.txt


Think tank cuts ribbon in Scranton

BY DAVID FALCHEK
STAFF WRITER

Published: Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Updated: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 4:14 AM EST

A local think tank has a new name and an expanded presence.

The Joint Urban Studies Center has been renamed the Institute for Public Policy & Economic Development, and Monday it opened an office in Scranton, giving the Wilkes-Barre-based group a more regional presence.

The expansion has been on the drawing board since the center was founded in 2004, said founder Dr. Tom Gilmour.

“Although its origins and support came from the Wilkes-Barre area, we knew from the beginning it had to be regional,” Dr. Gilmour said at the opening of an office at 120 Wyoming Ave., site of the former Third National Bank of Scranton. “This will not be an outpost, or a second office. This will be a key component of our mission.”

The conversion from center to institute came about because many professors, partner colleges and would-be supporters thought the center only focused on concerns of downtowns and urban areas.

“We always had an expansive definition of the word ‘urban,’ thinking of the wider urban area,” said institute executive director Teri Ooms. “But it became a limiting factor in some people’s minds.”

The Scranton office will allow for research and internship opportunities for students of affiliated colleges.

The institute is known for publishing several reports analyzing regional demographic and economic information, including reports on housing, ethnicity and an annual Lackawanna-Luzerne County Indicators Report, which tracks more than 100 economic factors. While the center is a partnership among nearly all the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area’s colleges and universities, its parent institution is Wilkes University.

[bucks native]

from here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/28624045/

Scranton demolition begins

updated 2:17 p.m. ET, Mon., Jan. 12, 2009
SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY

Demolition crews began taking down the former Markowitz Brothers News Stand Building in Scranton Monday morning.

The landmark building was purchased by R S M Properties of Paramus,New Jersey last year. That company plans to erect a 6-story building on the site with retail space on the first floor and apartments above. Its located at Wyoming Avenue and Linden Street in downtown Scranton.

The 60-year-old Markowitz Brothers business moved to another location just a few blocks away.

[bucks native]

from here: http://www.wnep.com/Global/story.asp?S=9667647

photo credit WNEP:

http://sharedwww.localtvllc.com/shared/photolink2/zoomable/getimg.php?mode=full&assetid=44341


Development Plans for Connell Building

Posted: Jan 13, 2009 05:33 PM EST

Last Updated: Jan 13, 2009 05:35 PM EST

By Norm Jones

The Connell Building in downtown Scranton is in rough shape now but some developers have announced they have big plans in store for the historic building.

It will be a new life that includes nearly 100 up-scale apartments plus retail and commercial space.

For more than 100 years the Connell Building on North Washington Avenue served Scranton's people. A number of doctor's offices and stores were there.

For a few years now it's been vacant, owned by developers who have big plans for the historic building.

"I think the pieces are in place. It was a long time coming, but we're very happy it's happening, especially in today's economic climate," said John Wolfington of Wolfington Development.

He doesn't see an old building in shambles. He sees commercial and retail space on the first, second and third floors with 89 up-scale apartments above.

The apartments could make the perfect fit for doctors and medical students bound for the Commonwealth Medical College set for construction soon.

"If they need space for their students and their doctors, this will be brand new space. We want our units to be up-scale, very nice. We would love to have them as tenants," Wolfington added.

The $20 million rehabilitation and cleanup of the Connell Building comes with private and public dollars; a near 50/50 split.

It comes with a parking garage currently under construction.

Developers said having an attached parking garage right next to apartments will be one of the nicest features. Downtown businesses said it's also good for the block.

"There's been talk about that for a few years now. It's nice to finally see some activity across the street," said Mike Kerzetski of Brixx Grill & Tavern.

He added the Connell Building should do wonders for his business.

"It's a very good thing we're going to look forward to because when you have people around, you're going to have people in the door, hey there's that place, creates some traffic and some buzz in the downtown. We're looking forward to have some more people down here, more than we're used to," Kerzetski said.

Developers said they will focus on finishing apartments first and hope to have them ready by this fall.

[bucks native]

from here: http://www.scrantontimes.com/articles/2009/01/13/business/sc_times_trib.20090113.d.pg1.tt13kildares_s1.2224812_bus.txt


Kildare’s plans downtown Scranton move

BY DAVID FALCHEK
STAFF WRITER
Published: Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Updated: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 6:53 AM EST

Downtown Scranton may have another place to get a pint of stout.

Celtic-themed Kildare’s Restaurant at the Shoppes at Montage in Moosic will close and plans to move to the site of the former Bee Witching dress shop on Jefferson Avenue, said Kildare’s chief executive Dave Magrogan.

The deal is not final, Mr. Magrogan said, noting that the lease is still being negotiated with the property owner, developer Jerry Joyce.

Mr. Magrogan plans to keep the Moosic site for another of his restaurant concepts, either the farm-fresh Grady David’s or Doc Magrogan’s Oyster House.

The Moosic site was a poor fit for Kildare’s, whose parent company is based in West Chester, Chester County. While the restaurant saw traffic from office park employees during lunch or happy hour, and shoppers for lunch and dinner, the venue couldn’t attract evening revelers and the all-important alcohol revenue.

“Our food sales are great,” he said. “But our alcohol sales are suffering because we can’t get the post-9 p.m. crowd.”

For most restaurants, beverage sales are a higher profit margin item than food.

Developments in downtown Scranton such as the Commonwealth Medical College and Renaissance at 500 on Lacka-wanna Avenue convinced Mr. Magrogan to look to the city. Although the site is just a block from another Irish-themed restaurant, Molly Brannigans, Mr. Magrogan said local establishments can help each other.

“A place is more likely to be successful when you have a district where people can get a meal at one place, go for drinks at another place, and so on,” he said.

Relocating Kildare’s, which includes wall-to-wall artifacts and materials imported from Ireland, could be difficult particularly in time to have taps flowing for Scranton’s all-important St. Patrick’s Day Parade. Mr. Joyce said once the lease is signed, work would begin in earnest on the 5,000-square-foot building with an eye for a St. Pat’s opener.

But Mr. Magrogan said he’s pleased overall with the Shoppes and owner, Cincinnati-based Jeffrey R. Anderson Real Estate.

The move is a matter of matching the site with the restaurant concept. Mark Fallon, Anderson vice president, said the Moosic site will get better with the right restaurant.

“We want Dave to make a restaurant more food-focused and female-friendly,” he said. “In the long run, we will all be better off.”

The Bee Witching site has been fallow for several years. For decades, it was the Martz bus terminal. The site came to be owned by Mr. Joyce, who unveiled ambitious plans for a two-tower office complex he dubbed Jefferson Pointe. The idea never gained traction and came up short on tenants. After years of sitting silent, workers were seen several months ago stabilizing the building, fueling speculation that the site would be used. Mr. Joyce said he still has ideas for the remainder of the site.

“The rest is still developable,” he said. “The beauty of that site for a restaurant is that the Medallion Parking garage is right there.”

Contact the writer: dfalchek@timesshamrock.com

[Snakeyes]

Merril Lynch is in the old Southern Union building , correct??

[bucks native]

Merril Lynch is in the old Southern Union building , correct??

Don't know. Didn't Bank of A acquire Merrill Lynch? Does it still exist?

from here: http://www.scrantontimes.com/articles/2009/01/15/news/sc_times_trib.20090115.a.pg1.tt15warhorse_s1.2231307_top4.txt

More re downtown:

Plaza planned at Scranton gateway

BY DAVID FALCHEK
STAFF WRITER
Published: Thursday, January 15, 2009
Updated: Thursday, January 15, 2009 6:40 AM EST

A vacant site at a high-profile intersection and gateway into downtown Scranton may soon see some development.

Real estate agent George Semian plans to create a plaza and relocate his office to the former North American Warhorse building at 111 Mulberry St. and the neighboring Crystal Club Soda Water Co. building on Franklin Avenue.

Mr. Semian refused to discuss his plans for the site. However, he did disclose some details in an advertisement in which he called the project a “lifestyle center.”

“The project will offer upscale commercial and retail space with parking for over 150 cars,” the ad states. “The project will encompass a full city block with magnificent changes.”

The high-profile site has been largely vacant since motorsports dealer North American Warhorse moved to Dunmore. Before that the building was an Allied Services office and prior to that Duke Tire. Last year, soft drink maker Crystal Soda consolidated its Franklin Street operations to its Poplar Street location.

Mr. Semian plans to move his offices from the first floor of what has long been known as the Mellon Bank Building at 400 Spruce St., where the independent firm has been located since it was formed in 2005.

Contact the writer: dfalchek@timesshamrock.com

[bucks native]

from here: http://www.scrantontimes.com/articles/2009/01/22/news/sc_times_trib.20090122.a.pg3.tt22mountpleasant_s1.2247956_top5.txt

Scranton corporate site takes shape


BY JEREMY G. BURTON
STAFF WRITER
Published: Thursday, January 22, 2009
Updated: Thursday, January 22, 2009 6:17 AM EST

Five years in the making, a project to build a $30 million office park by Scranton High School is nearing construction and lining up tenants.

City officials and business leaders have been touting the Mount Pleasant Corporate Center since 2004, estimating it could create 1,000 jobs.

Planning for the 23-acre site has been extensive and lengthy. But next month, the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce will finalize bids for the first phase of infrastructure work, meaning developers could be building as early as this summer, chamber President Austin Burke said.

The site, named for a former colliery and wedged on the west side of the McDade Expressway, will be sold to developers in five lots. That private investment is expected to reach $30 million.

The chamber — with $4.2 million from the state, $1 million in federal funds, $250,000 from the city and $1.45 million of its own — is spending $7 million to level the site, install infrastructure and add traffic lanes, according to chamber Vice President Andrew Skrip.

The chamber is in talks with developers, Mr. Burke said, and most of the potential tenants are from outside the region. One is a local firm looking to stay in the city. Another was drawn by the new Commonwealth Medical College, he said.

Despite challenges of the awkwardly shaped property and routing the traffic, Mr. Burke said there is a keen desire to see Mount Pleasant to the finish, relishing the chance to transform a brownfield into an “attractive” and “progressive” entrance to downtown.

“Looking for open land in the city, that’s a rare commodity,” Mr. Burke said.

[bucks native]

from here: http://www.scrantontimes.com/articles/2009/01/22/lifestyles/sc_times_trib.20090121.c.pg1.tt21dionysus_s1.2244436_fea1.txt


Area native opens wine bar to be part of city’s resurging nightlife

BY STACY BROWN
STAFF WRITER
Published: Thursday, January 22, 2009
Updated: Wednesday, January 21, 2009 5:52 AM EST

With an influx of arts and cultural activities as well as a host of restaurants and retail shops, downtown Scranton has began to attract those who once fled the city for more happening places.

M.J. Dougherty is one of those who left the area after being lured to cities around the world that he thought were more conducive to those wishing to eat, drink, and socialize until the sun rose.

Now, Mr. Dougherty is back and is betting that Scranton’s renaissance continues.

The 27-year-old Clarks Summit native and Penn State graduate has opened Dionysus, the city’s first independent wine bar that features wines from around the world.

“I have lived all over the place since college including the Netherlands, Ireland and even Colorado,” said Mr. Dougherty. “I came back to Scranton with no intention of staying, but I noticed how much things have changed and how the city was going in a positive direction and I wanted to be a part of it.”

New beginning

In August, Mr. Dougherty opened the upscale wine bar in the 200 block of Penn Avenue, next to the old Pub Charles, where a local developer still hopes to build St. Peter’s Square, a ritzy condominium and retail complex.

Today, Mr. Dougherty said he plans to expand the business and include regular wine tastings in the basement. “We are working on the basement space here because I think people will love the great stonewalls we have,” he said.

Dionysus already offers a variety of red and white wines as well as chocolates, fruit and different cheeses to go with each drink. Neatly decorated with soft-leather chairs, a chaise and track lighting, the bar area has wall slots for each wine, clocks which show the time in several cities around the world, and a round chalkboard-like space where artists get to design a painting that hangs for at least 45 days.

Dionysus also offers musicians a venue to entertain.

“We also host First Friday here and it’s always a lot of fun,” Mr. Dougherty said, noting that “this is not an Irish bar, but I’m an Irish boy and this city is happening.”

A pre-grand opening held last summer featured a private party that included a number of local dignitaries, including Mayor Chris Doherty, who called the place a fun and great experience.

“(Mr. Dougherty) is excited about where the city is going,” the mayor said. “He’s done a great job with his wine bar and he’s very enthusiastic and everyone has a good time there.”

The bar does serve beer and other cocktails and Mr. Dougherty said he’s always willing to make suggestions to those who are unsure what they may like.

“We have something for everyone’s palate,” he said, adding that his signature cocktail is “huge,” as in successful.

“We make a Champagne cocktail that is out of this world, but I can’t tell you my secret.”

Kind gesture

Once a month, Mr. Dougherty hosts a charity event and he also provides a portion of his proceeds to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. “We should all give back and this is one of the ways in which I try and give back,” he said.

Having once worked at a bar in Ireland, Mr. Dougherty said he knows the characteristics of each wine are different and they can change with every person, he said. “Your tongue and your palate and what you are eating changes,” he said.

Now that he’s experienced the nightlife in various parts of the world, Mr. Dougherty said, it is unlikely he would leave the area again. “In Scranton, word of mouth is everything,” he said. “If you are good, consistent and positive, people are going to tell their friends about you.”

Contact the writer: sbrown@timesshamrock.comAbout Dionysus

Location: 244 Penn Ave.

Hours: Monday through Thursday 4-11:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday 4 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Details: The first independent wine bar in Scranton features wines from various countries, including Italy, France, Ireland and the United States. Dionysus hosts First Friday events each month and features a platform for musicians and other artists. Wine is served with different chocolates, cheeses and fruits and the bar also contains Champagne, beer and a host of other cocktails. For more information, visit www.dionysusdowntown.com.

[MetroJunkie BJR]

My first time back here in months. Where are dony and ex-ithacan? :shrug:
Seems like Bucksnative is running the pages now, with Vasiliy not far behind.

[bucks native]

The southeast corner of Linden and Wyoming, downtown, has been cleared. Wow! What a difference. Would like to see a render of the apartment building that will rise on that site.

[vasiliymeshko]

I keep promising myself more updates from intermodal center, but somehow never quite got around to it yet.

[PLYfreak]

Bucks- can you get up some pictures of the St. Peter's Square site? Also, any building going on with the medical school?

[Ex-Ithacan]

My first time back here in months. Where are dony and ex-ithacan? :shrug:
Seems like Bucksnative is running the pages now, with Vasiliy not far behind.

Good to see you again MJ. I stop by once in a while, but I haven't seen dony in ages. Vasiliy, Bucks and others are keeping the thread going, and adding good info/pics. I do feel guilty about not checking here often enough. I'll try to check it out more often. :)

[bucks native]

PLY: the St. Peter's Sq. site is a surface parking lot.

The site for the med school's first buildings has no activity but there's a huge med school banner on the side of Tech High.

Sorry, but I don't have a camera...well, I do but it's not digital. I might go shopping today.

[vasiliymeshko]

Well, this is how Intermodal Center looks currently, with some random city photos thrown in:
http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/1230/51570739pn0.jpg

http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/7233/61784777ce1.jpg

http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/8929/52661646wk8.jpg

http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/9356/68858259yw6.jpg

http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/9917/17867912bx5.jpg

http://img13.imageshack.us/img13/342/68628958em3.jpg

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/6443/34259798nj5.jpg

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/8079/48871644hv0.jpg

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/6400/76730034ee0.jpg

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/3028/18125208uk2.jpg

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/336/66245680rk8.jpg

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/7708/95954939wz4.jpg

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/3671/40620208sd7.jpg

http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/1183/49529235dq3.jpg

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/7571/44138719ue6.jpg

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/231/57366405jv7.jpg

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/2764/69186591df8.jpg

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/45/68014008ml7.jpg

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/6001/82771228pf7.jpg

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/2492/57822676nj6.jpg

http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/4039/54919126sj9.jpg

[vasiliymeshko]

I was going to photograph North Main Street gateway too, but then I got somewhat lazy for more walking. Hopefully I'll be able to get to it next week. Now I'm ready to enjoy tomorrow's Daytona 500 :banana::banana::banana:

[Ex-Ithacan]

Thanks for the pics Vasiliy. And you must be in your glory this weekend (Daytona of course).

[Snakeyes]

http://www.500block.com/main.html


Updated pictures on the Lackawanna Ave Project...


I think they are at half occupancy if that....although it is a helluva an upgrade from what is used to be.

[bucks native]

We have lift-off, folks.

Dozers are on site - the site for the first two buildings on Pine between Jefferson and Washington - and it's being cleared.

The Connell Bldg. conversion into apartments downtown is well underway.

Quite a number of renovations are underway on the lower hill. Draw a line from the med school site to the UofS, and convert there... it's HOT.

Gotta get myself a camera.

[bucks native]

I just don't think that this will happen. Folks here are outraged and everywhere I go, there's someone collecting signatures on a petition to keep the school open - and people are lined-up to sign it. It's a beautiful campus in Green Ridge.

http://tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:cqXu6d5uP_983M:http://www.sssdsos.org/sssdsos.jpg

Poster credit: sssdsos.org


http://tbn1.google.com/images?q=tbn:W1XZkkmPDI_GxM:http://tsdeaf.org/graphics/sp_photo_deaf.jpg

Photo credit: tsdeaf.org

http://www.nepanetwork.com/schools/1908%20Scranton%20PA%20School%20for%20Deaf.jpg

Postcard from 1908


Gov. Rendell Addressed Proposed Closing of Scranton School for the Deaf

At East Stroudsburg University, Governor Rendell sounded off on the proposed closure of the Scranton State School for the Deaf as part of the state's budget plan, a school attended by some Lehigh Valley children. He says the state is facing a $2.3 billion deficit and cuts had to come. Rendell encouraged anyone in the crowd to take action if they don't agree with his proposals. Gov. Rendell: If you're not happy with a cut or the elimination or what I just said, I would urge you to see your legislators, they can negotiate with us and we'll try to reach some compromise, but cuts have to be made.

If the School for the Deaf in Scranton does close, the governor says students will be given an option to attend private schools or Intermediate Units in the area.

[bucks native]

To the PA pol$ add the NY pol$ because the line would extend through Binghampton, up to Syracuse. To get to NYC from Syracuse a line would run through Scranton. But how to connect Wilkes Barre to the existing line? There must be intact rail but no one discusses it. Vasily, do you know of an existing line that runs from WB to the Scranton-Hoboken line? They must have been connected at one time. Who is WB's rep in Washington?

from here: http://www.mcall.com/news/nationworld/state/all-a5_train.6797761feb26,0,6092665.story

Lawmakers ask Rendell to form train line agency

They are pushing for line from New York to Scranton.

February 26, 2009

WASHINGTON | - Four Pennsylvania lawmakers are asking Gov. Ed Rendell to form an agency to oversee a proposed train line between Scranton and New York City.

U.S. Reps. Paul Kanjor$ki, D-11th District, and Chri$ Carney, D-10th District, and Republican Sen. Arlen $pecter and Democratic Sen. Bob Ca$ey Jr. have written a letter requesting that the governor form a Tri-State Authority with New Jersey and New York.

The letter, released Wednesday, says there is ''a dire need'' for the service to help alleviate congestion on Interstate 80 between northeastern Pennsylvania and New York City.

The letter says the 100-mile system across New Jersey would also make the Poconos and Pennsylvania casinos more accessible.

The rail system is projected to run through Monroe County and the northeastern corner of Northampton County.

The lawmakers say the train proposal has languished the last 20 years, but they hope the Tri-State Authority changes that.

Rendell spokesman Chuck Ardo says the governor supports the project and will review the request.

[Snakeyes]

Breaking news: Medical school construction under way


Share This Story:
Yahoo! Buzz
BY DAVID SINGLETON
STAFF WRITER
Published: Friday, February 27, 2009
Updated: Friday, February 27, 2009 11:59 AM EST
SCRANTON -- Construction is under way at the nation's newest medical school.

Excavators, graders and dump trucks were at work on site preparation Friday at the future home of the Commonwealth Medical College on Pine Street in Scranton.

The medical school marked the occasion with a brief ceremony hosted by Robert D'Alessandri, M.D., dean and president.

Dr. D'Alessandri thanked the individuals and organizations that have had a hand in helping the college start construction, including a consortium of nine local banks.

The medical college will enroll its first class this fall. For the first two years, students will use temporary facilities at Lackwanna College before moving into the new Medical Sciences Building in 2011.

[vasiliymeshko]

To the PA pol$ add the NY pol$ because the line would extend through Binghampton, up to Syracuse. To get to NYC from Syracuse a line would run through Scranton. But how to connect Wilkes Barre to the existing line? There must be intact rail but no one discusses it. Vasily, do you know of an existing line that runs from WB to the Scranton-Hoboken line? They must have been connected at one time. Who is WB's rep in Washington?


There very well might be, I'll have to look.

[bucks native]

Excavation is complete at the med school site and they're pouring concrete for the foundations of the first two buildings. Very cool. Interviews - over 600 - are complete for the first class and 120 applicants have received invitations to be part of the first class. The school expects commitments from 60 of that 120.

Strange sight in downtown Scranton: a crane. It's at the Connell Bldg on Washington which is being converted into apartments.

The 500 block of Lackawanna is looking good.

Still nothing underway at St. Peter's Square and there's just a hole and no activity across Wyoming at Linden, where the corner was cleared to make way for a new apartment building. It's fenced but there's no rendering posted on the fence.

[bucks native]

from here: http://www.thetimes-tribune.com/articles/2009/03/13/news/sc_times_trib.20090313.a.pg1.tt13parade_s1.2368575_top2.txt


St. Pat's Parade features record 11,000 marchers

BY BORYS KRAWCZENIUK
STAFF WRITER

Published: Friday, March 13, 2009
Updated: Friday, March 13, 2009 2:15 PM EDT

A record-long succession of more than 11,000 people will march through downtown Scranton in Saturday’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

With a forecast of sunny skies and temperatures in the 50s, the 48th annual tribute to Ireland’s famed saint will step off at 11:45 a.m.

Billed as the one of the largest in the country, the Scranton St. Pat’s parade attracts a contrasting audience: families who revel in its floats, bands and bagpipers and partiers who prefer soaking in the beer flowing from downtown bar taps.

Parade committee President Michael Harrity emphasizes family. “To see people and families downtown, this is sort of our Mardi Gras or our rite of spring passage,” Mr. Harrity said. “And it’s for the kids.”

This year will include the return of Timbo the Clown after a two-year absence. He’s the clown who rides on a hot dog cart, followed by live dachshunds — wiener dogs — popular with kids.

Timbo will be among more than 200 marching units, including 11 high school bands, 13 bagpipe bands, two string bands and the 55-member Pennsylvania National Guard 28th Division Infantry Band from Hollidaysburg.

The invitation to the Guard band is part of an effort to highlight the military, Mr. Harrity said. The parade’s military presence will include three units of the 55th Brigade, based at the Watres Armory.

“It’s a show of respect for the soldiers who have been in Iraq,” he said.

[bucks native]

from here: http://www.scrantontimes.com/articles/2009/03/14/news/sc_times_trib.20090314.a.pg1.tt14semian_s1.2370953_top4.txt

Mulberry Place blooming

BY JAMES HAGGERTY
STAFF WRITER
Published: Saturday, March 14, 2009
Updated: Saturday, March 14, 2009 4:14 AM EDT

A $7 million renovation project that will create new jobs and clean up an eyesore intersection leading into downtown Scranton is moving forward.

“Mulberry Street is going to be completely cleaned up,” George Semian, broker and owner at Semian & Gress Real Estate, predicted after a group he heads completed the purchase Thursday of the former Crystal Soda Water Co. headquarters at 421 Franklin Ave., for $695,000. Paperwork on the sale was filed Friday.

Plans call for development of Mulberry Place, which will house Mr. Semian’s real estate agency and its 30 employees, a bank branch, a restaurant, a florist, an orthodontist and possibly a physicians’ group, Mr. Semian said.

“It’s a great concept. It’s going to work,” said Mr. Semian, whose firm will relocate from the Mellon Bank Building at 400 Spruce St., in November after the redevelopment is complete. “There will be 100-plus people working there.”

Mr. Semian’s group, Mulberry Place LLC, plans to demolish about 9,000 square feet of warehouse space at the rear of the 24,000-square-foot soft-drink company to add 30 more parking spots for a total of about 150 on the site.

He said the group also has an agreement to buy an adjoining property at 119 Mulberry St., that most recently housed North American Warhorse, a motorcycle dealership. Earlier, the building was an Allied Services facility and it had housed Duke Tire Co. for many years.

“We’ve already negotiated the terms” on the acquisition of the Warhorse building, Mr. Semian said. Dunmore businessman Louis DeNaples owns the structure, Mr. Semian said, though he would not disclose a purchase price.

The development will be announced formally on March 27, Mr. Semian said.

The investment will help create a new look at the western approach to Central City. The Warhorse building has been empty for years and a lot housing a long-vacated gas station at Mulberry and Mifflin Avenue is being converted into a Dunkin’ Donuts.

“The Semian building is going to be a real jewel anchoring the entrance to the city,” said Austin Burke, president of the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce, which stands across the street from the site. “The whole Mulberry corridor is a major thoroughfare through Scranton.”

Crystal Soda Water Co., which makes Crystal Club beverages, had owned the Franklin Street site since 1965. It will consolidate operations at its production facility at 104 Poplar St., company president Louis Kahanowitz said.

Crystal, which employs about 20 people, has undergone some changes in recent months and its products are scarce at regional grocery stores.

“We have issues, but we’re still in business,” Mr. Kahanowitz said.

Contact the writer: jhaggerty@timesshamrock.com

[Ex-Ithacan]

I just don't think that this will happen. Folks here are outraged and everywhere I go, there's someone collecting signatures on a petition to keep the school open - and people are lined-up to sign it. It's a beautiful campus in Green Ridge.

http://tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:cqXu6d5uP_983M:http://www.sssdsos.org/sssdsos.jpg

Poster credit: sssdsos.org


http://tbn1.google.com/images?q=tbn:W1XZkkmPDI_GxM:http://tsdeaf.org/graphics/sp_photo_deaf.jpg

Photo credit: tsdeaf.org

http://www.nepanetwork.com/schools/1908%20Scranton%20PA%20School%20for%20Deaf.jpg

Postcard from 1908


Gov. Rendell Addressed Proposed Closing of Scranton School for the Deaf

At East Stroudsburg University, Governor Rendell sounded off on the proposed closure of the Scranton State School for the Deaf as part of the state's budget plan, a school attended by some Lehigh Valley children. He says the state is facing a $2.3 billion deficit and cuts had to come. Rendell encouraged anyone in the crowd to take action if they don't agree with his proposals. Gov. Rendell: If you're not happy with a cut or the elimination or what I just said, I would urge you to see your legislators, they can negotiate with us and we'll try to reach some compromise, but cuts have to be made.

If the School for the Deaf in Scranton does close, the governor says students will be given an option to attend private schools or Intermediate Units in the area.


I hope this doesn't happen. My Grandmother use to work at the school for many years (Kind of a floor Mother for the students). I remember going to visit her with my parents when I was a youngin'. When I stopped in Scranton on a trip a couple of years ago, I met up with MetroJunkie for a tour of the city. We actually drove by the school, and I got a bit nostalgic. Funny (though not unusual), the place didn't look as big as I remembered it.

[bucks native]

full read here: http://www.scrantontimes.com/articles/2009/03/24/news/sc_times_trib.20090324.a.pg1.tt24obama_s1.2391453_top2.txt


Exclusive: Obama endorses rail projects; Scranton-NYC line may find support

BY ROBERT SWIFT
STAFF WRITER
Published: Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Updated: Tuesday, March 24, 2009 4:18 PM EDT

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama said in a White House interview Monday projects like the long-sought Scranton-to-New York City commuter rail line will have a shot for federal funding when the next federal transportation funding bill is taken up by Congress.

Meeting in the Roosevelt Room with regional reporters representing a half-dozen news organizations, including Times-Shamrock Newspapers, Mr. Obama also said he is trying to build long-term economic growth in Northeast Pennsylvania and elsewhere with a change-oriented $3.6 trillion proposed federal budget.

Civic leaders in Northeast Pennsylvania view the long-sought Scranton-to-New York City commuter train and development of the Commonwealth Medical College to train physicians in Scranton as bringing the type of long-term economic development Mr. Obama is talking about.

Mr. Obama said projects like the commuter train will spur economic development and will get consideration in Washington.

While not specifically addressing the medical college, Mr. Obama suggested one of the goals of his health care agenda is to have the medical profession focus more on the prevention of illness and disease.

“We are going to need more nurses and family practitioners who are providing preventive care,” he added.

[MetroJunkie BJR]

Good to see you again MJ. I stop by once in a while, but I haven't seen dony in ages. Vasiliy, Bucks and others are keeping the thread going, and adding good info/pics. I do feel guilty about not checking here often enough. I'll try to check it out more often. :)

Well, I surely owe the pages some more frequent visits. It's a shame dony's not around anymore. His insights were always very worthwhile.

Good to see the groundbreaking for TCMC. It's becoming more real instead of a dream. Very exciting.

Happy Spring to all!

[Snakeyes]

The med school couldn't come at a better time. HIring good paying jobs, I just hope some of the employees choose to live in the City.


Hear the University is buying more property in the hill section as well.


Happy Spring to you Metro!

[vasiliymeshko]

Unfortunately I did not have my camera with me to photograph this(:(), but today the huge crane from Intermodal Center was dismantled and hauled away. I wonder what project it might get to work on next....

[vasiliymeshko]

There very well might be, I'll have to look.

Well. I've been looking, hopefully I'll be able to post some maps soon.

[vasiliymeshko]

Today was Aviation Exploration Day at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport. Perfect opportunity for some picture taking. They even had plane rides for only $5! :runaway:

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport (KAVP/AVP)
The gateway to NEPA:
http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/4799/00032.jpg

After that I promptly proceeded to buy a ticked for the ride. By some fortunate circumstances, I was able to cut to the front of an insanely long line.
A short briefing, and off we go.

The airport from high above:
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/4007/00002r.jpg

City of Scranton:
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/1928/00004knr.jpg

Downtown Scranton looking nice from high above. Anyone got a better angle? :thankyouthankyou:
http://img4.imageshack.us/img4/420/00006l.jpg

In the middle of turn to align for final on RW 22:
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/4503/00007d.jpg

Touchdown on Runway 22. Here is our new terminal:
http://img141.imageshack.us/img141/4291/00009x.jpg

The old and the new:
http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/6205/00010u.jpg

Continuing down on RW 22:
http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/3982/00011e.jpg

http://img25.imageshack.us/img25/3918/00014p.jpg

http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/8292/00015.jpg

Control tower and the old terminal:
http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/3751/00016.jpg

A De Haviland Dash 8 being serviced:
http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/8918/00023.jpg

http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/9183/00024.jpg

After getting out, I immediately started to regret not buying TWO tickets, by that time they were sold out :(

So, it was on to the static aircraft on display. This is Geisinger's Life Flight:
http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/9977/00025d.jpg

Some general aviation aircraft:
http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/1056/00027.jpg

http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/7023/00029r.jpg

A Fed Ex plane:
http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/4789/00030.jpg

Front view of the old terminal with the ATC control tower:
http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/9449/00037v.jpg

And now a view of the new terminal:
http://img238.imageshack.us/img238/4456/00038l.jpg

KAVP cargo ramp:
http://img105.imageshack.us/img105/5881/00050.jpg

Some usual panos:
http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/4973/00036a.jpg

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/7803/00047.jpg

Hope you enjoy.

[Ex-Ithacan]

Wow, how cool is that? Looks like you had a blast Vasiliy. Thanks for sharing your adventure.

[Evergrey]

anybody see the news about the proposal to revive rail service between Scranton and Binghamton?

[Snakeyes]

Med school work to change routes

The Commonwealth Medical College is moving forward with the construction of its Medical Sciences Building at 525 Pine St. in Scranton with a 24-hour concrete pour involving more than 400 trucks to lay the foundation of the new building.



The following streets will be closed to all traffic from 7 a.m. on Saturday to noon on Sunday: Pine Street, from North Washington Avenue to Kressler Court; Dix Court, from Pine to Gibson Street; Kessler Court, from Pine to Gibson. Gibson will only be closed if needed.

There will be no parking on Gibson from North Washington to Jefferson Avenue. Scranton police will post signs for all traffic.

The Commonwealth Medical College expects to enroll 60 medical students and 30 master of biomedical sciences students in the fall. The school will train the next generation of physicians in a community-based model.

Focusing on selecting students with a propensity for community service, the school is being designed to provide students with diverse clinical experiences and will have campuses in Scranton, Wilkes-Barre and Williamsport.



April 23
Survey shows students big spenders
Students attending Lackawanna’s seven colleges and universities shell out half million a week.
By Andrew M. Seder aseder@timesleader.com
Times Leader Staff Writer



SCRANTON – A report being released this morning shows that undergraduate students at Lackawanna County’s seven colleges and universities spend nearly $500,000 a week off campus on food, entertainment, shopping and travel.

The survey was conducted in February by the Northeastern Pennsylvania Colleges and Universities Information Task Force. Composed of officials from Baptist Bible College, Johnson College, Keystone College, Lackawanna College, Marywood University, Penn State Worthington Scranton and The University of Scranton, the task force surveyed a sampling of the 12,000 undergraduate students at their schools about various spending habits.

Peter Kilcullen, the task force chairman and the executive director of marketing at Marywood, said the results clearly show students at the seven schools have money to spend and they do so throughout the region. Whether it’s coffee shops or bars, malls or boutiques, they spend money and they spend a lot of it.

The survey, which was completed by 1,200 students and with results extrapolated from their responses, shows approximately $470,400 is spent by students off campus each week.

The survey results will be presented to members of the Scranton Business Alliance at 8:30 a.m. in the board room at the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce, corner of Mulberry Street and Penn Avenue, Scranton.

This is the third time the task force conducted this type of survey. The results of the test survey conducted in 2005 were never made public. In the fall of 2006, survey results showed college students were spending about $20,000 more per week than the current survey depicts.

Kilcullen said that could be a reflection of the poor economy, but with both results showing nearly $500,000 being spent at local establishments, it should open the eyes and ears of retailers to take advantage of this demographic. Kilcullen said that’s something that wasn’t done three years ago.

The students overwhelmingly asked for student discounts to be offered, he said. The task force shared those results last time but nothing was done. Some stores offered discounts for students at specific schools but not for all students.

“What we’re trying to say to the merchants is ‘Do something,’ ” Kilcullen said. “Treat our student IDs with the respect of offering a 10 or 20 percent discount.”

“These kids have a lot of money,” Kilcullen said. “They’re spending it, but they would be spending it at your store, perhaps, if you gave them a reason to.”

Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce President Austin J. Burke said that while the survey is purely based on Lackawanna County college students, it’s fair to say that students at Luzerne County’s six colleges spend their fair share of money throughout the area, too, on similar things their counterparts up I-81 do – restaurants, entertainment and shopping.

“Scranton and Wilkes-Barre are college towns, and that not only represents great intellectual resources and financial contributions by the universities and its employees, but the students themselves,” Burke said. He said the area’s colleges and students are an essential cog to the economic development machine in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

In addition to task-force members, members of the Scranton Business Alliance and Burke, Scranton Mayor Christopher Doherty and Scranton Tomorrow’s Leslie Collins will be in attendance. The survey also queried student preferences regarding incentive programs, downtown events and methods of promotion and advertising. Students from each college will also participate in a Q & A session with downtown business owners immediately following the survey presentation.

The event is open to the public. If you are interested in the survey results but can’t attend today’s meeting, the results will be posted on the chamber’s Web site – http://www.scrantonchamber.com – soon.

[vasiliymeshko]

Wilkes-Barre Mountain was burning today.... again! And this is after the huge fire they had last week. Poor Laurel Run has to be just about choking from all the smoke.

[bucks native]

Lots of activity at this site which is behind the cathedral. Nothing underway across Linden at the proposed St. Peter's Square site. But on the southeast corner of Linden and Wyoming, where the Markowitz Bros. store was demolished, there's now tarp on the fencing around the site and noise coming from within the hole. No renders posted on the fencing of the proposed apartment building. Med school construction well underway. And it looks like the UofS has started work on the campus "gateway" they proposed some time ago. There's excavation underway at the notheast corner of Mulberry and Jefferson, across Jefferson from beautiful Colonnade 401.

All the streets need paving. What's up with the stimulus funds that other cities are getting?

from here: http://www.scrantontimes.com/articles/2009/05/01/news/sc_times_trib.20090501.a.pg3.tt01joyce_s1.2489825_top4.txt


Going upscale in downtown Scranton

BY JAMES HAGGERTY
STAFF WRITER
Published: Friday, May 01, 2009
Updated: Friday, May 1, 2009 6:09 AM EDT

A multimillion-dollar apartment complex will rise from the remnants of a downtown industrial structure gutted by fire 15 months ago.

“I think it’s emblematic of the changing face of the city,” Dalton-area developer Jerry Joyce said of the complex, which will be built along Oakford Court, off the 300 block of Linden Street. “By the beginning of August, they will be occupied.”

The four-story, brick complex, simply called 317, will include 40 high-end apartments and incorporate the upper floors of the former Penguin Lounge building, a three-story structure at 324 Penn Ave., that Mr. Joyce’s group acquired in 2006.

The development, which will start within weeks, illustrates expanding demand for upscale downtown housing.

“There are upper-end paying people that are looking for a better place,” said Charles Hibble, owner of Weichert Realty, Hibble & Associates, who redeveloped a warehouse section at the rear of the former Coon Building, 329 Penn Ave., into six luxury apartments in 2006. “I have a waiting list. I get people calling me all the time.”

Some interest comes from the Commonwealth Medical College, which will open in the fall. Medical students have committed to rent dozens of the apartments, which start at $1,500 a month for two-bedroom units, Mr. Joyce said.

“We’re going to be dragging the purchasing power of the medical school and the universities into the core of the downtown,” Mr. Joyce predicted. He declined to disclose the project’s cost, but called it a “significant investment.”

The prefabricated structure will fulfill Mr. Joyce’s original plans for an apartment complex at the rear of an industrial laundry at 317 Linden St., that his group bought for $300,000 in February 2006. After the front of the building was redeveloped into a restaurant and gift shop, the 30,000-square-foot two-story rear segment was heavily damaged in January 2008 when a spark from a welding torch ignited a fire that took more than five hours to extinguish.

Insurance haggling delayed redevelopment for more than a year before officials at Normandy Holdings, Mr. Joyce’s development company, decided to start fresh. Demolition of the industrial laundry will wrap up this week, he said.

The Linden Street development, made up of two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments with high-speed Internet and Wi-Fi capacity, will include a 10,000-square-foot basement with fitness, media, laundry and readings rooms and a common lounge.

“This is the sort of development that we hoped for when the medical school was announced and, lo and behold, it’s happening,” said Austin Burke, president of the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce.

Contact the writer: jhaggerty@timesshamrock.com

[Snakeyes]

Lots of activity at this site which is behind the cathedral. Nothing underway across Linden at the proposed St. Peter's Square site. But on the southeast corner of Linden and Wyoming, where the Markowitz Bros. store was demolished, there's now tarp on the fencing around the site and noise coming from within the hole. No renders posted on the fencing of the proposed apartment building. Med school construction well underway. And it looks like the UofS has started work on the campus "gateway" they proposed some time ago. There's excavation underway at the notheast corner of Mulberry and Jefferson, across Jefferson from beautiful Colonnade 401.

All the streets need paving. What's up with the stimulus funds that other cities are getting?

from here: http://www.scrantontimes.com/articles/2009/05/01/news/sc_times_trib.20090501.a.pg3.tt01joyce_s1.2489825_top4.txt


Going upscale in downtown Scranton

BY JAMES HAGGERTY
STAFF WRITER
Published: Friday, May 01, 2009
Updated: Friday, May 1, 2009 6:09 AM EDT

A multimillion-dollar apartment complex will rise from the remnants of a downtown industrial structure gutted by fire 15 months ago.

“I think it’s emblematic of the changing face of the city,” Dalton-area developer Jerry Joyce said of the complex, which will be built along Oakford Court, off the 300 block of Linden Street. “By the beginning of August, they will be occupied.”

The four-story, brick complex, simply called 317, will include 40 high-end apartments and incorporate the upper floors of the former Penguin Lounge building, a three-story structure at 324 Penn Ave., that Mr. Joyce’s group acquired in 2006.

The development, which will start within weeks, illustrates expanding demand for upscale downtown housing.

“There are upper-end paying people that are looking for a better place,” said Charles Hibble, owner of Weichert Realty, Hibble & Associates, who redeveloped a warehouse section at the rear of the former Coon Building, 329 Penn Ave., into six luxury apartments in 2006. “I have a waiting list. I get people calling me all the time.”

Some interest comes from the Commonwealth Medical College, which will open in the fall. Medical students have committed to rent dozens of the apartments, which start at $1,500 a month for two-bedroom units, Mr. Joyce said.

“We’re going to be dragging the purchasing power of the medical school and the universities into the core of the downtown,” Mr. Joyce predicted. He declined to disclose the project’s cost, but called it a “significant investment.”

The prefabricated structure will fulfill Mr. Joyce’s original plans for an apartment complex at the rear of an industrial laundry at 317 Linden St., that his group bought for $300,000 in February 2006. After the front of the building was redeveloped into a restaurant and gift shop, the 30,000-square-foot two-story rear segment was heavily damaged in January 2008 when a spark from a welding torch ignited a fire that took more than five hours to extinguish.

Insurance haggling delayed redevelopment for more than a year before officials at Normandy Holdings, Mr. Joyce’s development company, decided to start fresh. Demolition of the industrial laundry will wrap up this week, he said.

The Linden Street development, made up of two-, three- and four-bedroom apartments with high-speed Internet and Wi-Fi capacity, will include a 10,000-square-foot basement with fitness, media, laundry and readings rooms and a common lounge.

“This is the sort of development that we hoped for when the medical school was announced and, lo and behold, it’s happening,” said Austin Burke, president of the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce.

Contact the writer: jhaggerty@timesshamrock.com

I was going to post the same article. I wonder if they will be open in time for the first class at the medical school. Heard the U is building a new Science Center, but not sure where.


Dunkin Donuts construction and the new professional buildings across from the High School.....lots and lots going on....

[vasiliymeshko]

If anyone has driven by the 8th Street bridge lately (connects Wyoming & Jenkins Twp) you probably noticed huge cranes and tons of construction equipment, as well as earthen walkway/road that now stretches halfway across the Susquehanna. Hopefully this means a replacement bridge is on the way. :banana: The current one is dilapidated and pain in the neck ridiculously narrow to drive on.

[bucks native]

http://www.scrantontimes.com/polopoly_fs/1.18871!image/917317484.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_490/917317484.jpg

photo credit: Scranton Times

Med school construction. This is one of the two buildings going up at the current construction site. This appears to be set on a ground-level pad while the other, one corner of which shows in the lower left corner of the photo, is starting below ground level. There, the supports are in place and walls are being framed, but nothing as yet is above ground level.

I was told that, rather than driving piles down through whatever mines are below, they drilled to confirmed bedrock right through any mines below, then filled the drill holes with casing and reinforcement rods and, then, filled the casing with concrete. Very interesting to watch. Lots of activity.

By the way, the new Science Center at the UofS will infill on the main campus, at Ridge Row and Monroe. The school has demolished even more buildings on the blocks across Mulberry from the main campus and on the downtown side of Madison.

There's a lot of renovation work underway on the Lower Hill between the two campuses.

Our program (medical residents' training program) is lobbying for a van shuttle to run from CMC to Moses Taylor, Mercy, the UofS, med school, and out to Marywood. A streetcar would be ideal but not likely anytime soon. We need something to move the interns, residents and med students among the hospitals and campuses. We'll see how that goes.

[MetroJunkie BJR]

It's so nice to see a crane or two up over Scranton.
This doesn't exactly make us Dubai, lol, but it is a good thing to know actual, substantial construction is and will be going on!

[MetroJunkie BJR]

Today was Aviation Exploration Day at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport. Perfect opportunity for some picture taking. They even had plane rides for only $5! :runaway:

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport (KAVP/AVP)

Hope you enjoy.

Vasiliy,
WOW!!! Great pics of the airport and above Scranton. Really nice job. I've never see Scranton from that altitude.

Does the airport have an aviation day every year? Five bucks for a plane ride, sheesh, can't beat that. :)

[Snakeyes]

There are a ton of cranes in Scranton yet many complain that the city hasn't changed in the 8 years of Doherty? Makes you scratch your head.

[vasiliymeshko]

Does the airport have an aviation day every year? Five bucks for a plane ride, sheesh, can't beat that. :)

From what I know, yes :)

[vasiliymeshko]

Now that leaves are back to green color, is my favorite time for photographing. Had a chance to do another nice session lately. Still trying to work on the images a little, but here's a sneak preview:

http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/8918/00023.jpg

[bucks native]

Larger view of construction site:

http://tcmedc.net/upload/data/May_15_TCMC_Building_Updates_Second.jpg


TCMC Building Updates

Since the April 25-26, 2009 concrete pour, the Medical Sciences Building site has been getting prepped for the structural steel assembly, which is on track to start July 1, 2009. The exterior construction is estimated to continue through January 2010, with the entire construction of the Medical Sciences Building being completed in 2011.

While the construction continues at the new Medical Sciences Building site, expansions continue in our temporary facilities as well. The remodeling of the Lackawanna College –based research laboratory space is complete and is 90% functional with remaining work involving the installation and delivery of equipment and supplies. The researchers have begun working in their laboratories and are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the summer interns and the Charter Class students.

Please continue to check the Webcam for real-time views of the Medical Sciences Building site. You can also find the Webcam and see pictures from a specific time period on the portal by simply clicking on the Time Lapse Camera link under The Commonwealth Medical College Construction Site block.

[Snakeyes]

Larger view of construction site:

http://tcmedc.net/upload/data/May_15_TCMC_Building_Updates_Second.jpg


TCMC Building Updates

Since the April 25-26, 2009 concrete pour, the Medical Sciences Building site has been getting prepped for the structural steel assembly, which is on track to start July 1, 2009. The exterior construction is estimated to continue through January 2010, with the entire construction of the Medical Sciences Building being completed in 2011.

While the construction continues at the new Medical Sciences Building site, expansions continue in our temporary facilities as well. The remodeling of the Lackawanna College –based research laboratory space is complete and is 90% functional with remaining work involving the installation and delivery of equipment and supplies. The researchers have begun working in their laboratories and are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the summer interns and the Charter Class students.

Please continue to check the Webcam for real-time views of the Medical Sciences Building site. You can also find the Webcam and see pictures from a specific time period on the portal by simply clicking on the Time Lapse Camera link under The Commonwealth Medical College Construction Site block.


Thanks for the update. Is this the only new construction associated with the Medical School or will there be dorms? Do you have a sense of where all the students will be living>?

[bucks native]

No dorms. The school is helping them find apartments.

[bucks native]

from here: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20090604_Biden_tells_governors_to_plan_for_rail-line_stimulus_money.html

Thu, Jun. 4, 2009

Biden tells governors to plan for rail-line stimulus money

By Paul Nussbaum
Inquirer Staff Writer

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation planners are looking at using stimulus money for improving the Philadelphia-Harrisburg route, adding service to the existing one daily round-trip between Harrisburg and Pittsburgh, and restoring rail service between Scranton and New York.

[Snakeyes]

No dorms. The school is helping them find apartments.

I hope inside the city!

[vasiliymeshko]

Is there any sort of map that shows med school project locations. I was at Steamtown about two weeks ago, and of course, missed all the action due to lack of familiarity with the area :gaah:.

[vasiliymeshko]

There was a huge fire in Wilkes-Barre today, one of the abandoned buildings on Kidder Street.

http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/1900/00097.jpg

http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/6766/00098.jpg

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/1597/00099.jpg

http://img200.imageshack.us/img200/91/00105.jpg

http://img83.imageshack.us/img83/4287/00114.jpg

http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/9793/00119.jpg




Wow, post number 2000!!!!!:notacrook::banana: