Condo Project Intended To Give Lift To Pittston

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

PITTSTON, PA — Shovels moved the first dirt Thursday for a 30-unit residential project along the Susquehanna River bank that most people agreed has been a decade-long labor of love.

The Riverfront Condominium, a residential building that for the past 10 years existed only on paper and in the imaginations of city officials and architects, promises to be the crowned star of Pittston, arguably the Wyoming Valley, it backers say.

“This is a long time coming,” Joe Chacke, Pittston Redevelopment Authority’s executive director, said.

The project’s original engineer, Alex Belavitz, whose firm is still the condominium’s official engineer after all these years, said public/private partnerships always bring obstacles. The $9 million construction uses $4 million in state grants — $1.5 million from a gaming tax grant and $2.5 million assigned by Gov. Tom Corbett.

Read more:  http://www.timesleader.com/news//519678/Condo-project-intended-to-give-lift-to-Pittston

Carbondale Looks To Grow Businesses

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Lackawanna County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

CARBONDALE, Pa. – Bill Wallis sees the benefit of the city’s facade grant program that has improved the look of town.

“A lot of Main Street shops had the face-lifts and that’s nice,” said the owner of Wallis Furniture. “That’s an attraction for people. The sidewalks and street lamps make it a more pleasant downtown as well.”

The facade program, the new businesses and the increased downtown focus are part of a strategic plan created by the Greater Carbondale Chamber of Commerce in 2002, according to Mayor Justin Taylor.

Mr. Wallis’ family-run business is located on Main Street, where city officials and developers have been focusing an effort to revitalize businesses. He has already noticed an increase in foot traffic in the two months since NHS Health Services of Northeastern Pennsylvania moved in down the street.

Read more: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/carbondale-looks-to-grow-businesses-1.1318210

South Scranton Streetscape Facades Refurbished

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Gutheinz Meats Inc. has been a South Scranton staple since 1879, when deliveries were made door-to-door by horse-drawn wagons and orders were cut fresh right off the carriage on the street.

Those days are long gone, but Gutheinz has remained a landmark business on Cedar Avenue.

The building recently got a fresh coat of paint, and its distinctive, decades-old sign was renovated under an improvement program that has refurbished facades of 31 homes and businesses in South Scranton over the past two years.

“It came out nice,” Gutheinz owner Allen Leach said of the upgrade to his building.

The work was part of the Elm Street Revitalization Project of the nonprofit United Neighborhood Centers of Northeastern Pennsylvania. Elm Street’s “Design Grant Challenge” provides matching grants to homeowners and businesses as an incentive to invest private money in renovating facades to improve the appearance of the neighborhood, said Elm Street Manager Jill Murrin

Read more: http://thetimes-tribune.com/news/business/south-scranton-streetscape-facades-refurbished-1.1258202#ixzz1jmOb0D11

Wilkes-Barre General Hospital Getting New Addition