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NEWS 8/18/04 - Providence Square Facelift Begins 8/07/04 - Electric City Sign Restoration Begins
2004 News Archive 2003 News Archive
This is a 2002 panorama of the downtown taken from the Westside. The radio tower in the center is atop the Scranton Times Building. The building in the lower left corner is the Central NJ RR Terminal. To the immediate right of the radio tower is Bank Towers, Scranton's tallest building. It no longer has the tower which once crowned the top. The Grange National Bank Building is visible on the right, and the convention center is the red building farthest to the right. With the presence of a new mayor, this site has changed from being solely about what Scranton was, and is now focused on what Scranton is becoming. There is a renewed optimism and a willingness of investors to bring their dollars into the downtown. Hundreds of millions have been invested in the city in the past few years, and Scranton appears to be on the brink of a large scale comeback.
Here is an artist's rendering of what the renovated 500 block of Lackawanna Avenue would look like. The entire project will involve a $20 million dollar, fourteen property renovation and construction. It is the latest in a flurry of commercial activity proposed and realized in downtown Scranton over the past several years. It would be a tremendous undertaking since many of the properties have been demolished, vacant, or rundown for as long as I can remember:
A new thirty-six million dollar Hilton convention center is finally open, after nearly a decade of planning and setbacks. Rail service is scheduled to be reestablished to Manhattan by 2006. A new International Airport terminal is under construction, and many renovations in the downtown are popping up due to the Keystone Opportunity Zones, which promote growth by eliminating state and local taxes for ten years. In the 90's, a major downtown project involved the creation of The Mall at Steamtown. An entire block of Lackawanna Ave. was demolished to make room for the mall. Other proposed projects:
New Casey Parking Complex Jefferson Pointe
St. Peter's Square Condominiums Center Street Plaza The Southern Union Corporation, one of the United States' fastest growing corporations, has announced that they will be constructing a beautiful five story office building on Lackawanna Ave. on the sites of the WYOU Building, and the Gallucci Music Studios/Steamtown Trading Post Building. The CEO of this company grew up in Scranton, and is contributing to the ongoing rebirth of the downtown. Politicians believe this development may have a prominent role in luring more companies to Scranton, like Aventis Pasteur, which has announced plans to rehabilitate the abandoned Woolworth Building next to the Southern Union site.
The New Southern Union Building
So, anyhow, that's my site. Take a look around, but don't touch anything. You break it, you buy it pal.
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