Greater Pittston Regional Ambulance breaks ground on $8 million headquarters

PITTSTON — After years of planning, a groundbreaking ceremony for Phase 1 of the new $8 million Greater Pittston Regional Ambulance (GPRA) Headquarters took place on Thursday morning at the site of the former Triangle Motel.

Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo, along with some members of Luzerne County Council, presented a $2 million check from the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) of 2021 to go toward the project.

In addition to ARPA money, funding was secured through Local Share Account (LSA), Luzerne County Community Development Block Grants, as well as the City of Pittston Redevelopment Authority.

Joe Chacke, City of Pittston administrator, opened the ceremony mentioning the former blighted structure occupying the site after the motel fell into disrepair.

“This project really started a couple of years ago when we demolished the former Triangle Motel on this site,” Chacke said. “In it’s heyday, it was a very nice place and I hear stories from the residents how they loved going to the restaurant, and a happy place it was. We were able to secure some funding from Luzerne County, which we are thankful for, and we kicked off the project by acquiring and demolishing that structure about two years ago.”

Chacke then recognized team members working on the project such as city Redevelopment Authority Deputy Director Shannon Bonacci and design team Quad 3 assisted by Reilly Associates.

Construction contractors for the new headquarters include Champion Builders, electrical contractor Minichi Inc., and Troy Mechanical.

Phase I, the construction of the garage, will begin after the sewer system is relocated, then Phase II, consisting of the meeting space and living quarters, to follow.

Mayor Lombardo said the project could not be done without the cooperation and funding from Luzerne County and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania recognizing many of those members of government present at the groundbreaking.

“This is a really an important project and a lot of focus gets sort of directed on the glitz of downtown of the kind of sexy, fancy projects, but as an elected official, one of our core responsibility is public safety, Lombardo said. “I don’t think there’s a better testament of representing a bunch of municipalities, but the ambulance (GPRA) does such a great job. The benefits of having it (GPRA headquarters) here are just so tremendous.”

Atty. Michael Lombardo, GPRA vice president and an EMT member, spoke on the support of the City of Pittston as well as recognizing Chief Michael Turner of the Wyoming Area Regional Police who was very vocal in support of GPRA taking over ambulance responsibilities on the west side of the Susquehanna River.

Atty. Lombardo made note of the late Jimmy “Socks” Ruane, who started the ambulance association in 1952. GPRA honors Ruane placing a pair of red socks decals on each of the ambulances.

“The ambulance was something that was always important to Jimmy, and I take the history of the ambulance being vested in me and getting that from him, I take that very seriously,” Atty. Lombardo said. “The reality is, we weren’t always on the pathway to success. Things were not always going good for us. A group of us started 30 years ago at that moment in time, we had a group of people who cared about this organization. There were a lot of sleepless nights and a lot of time invested and slowly but surely we got this organization back in its feet.”

GPRA Chief Ed Szafran echoed Atty. Lombardo sentiments thanking the City of Pittston in their partnership with GPRA, as well as Luzerne County.

“The people standing behind me in uniform (GPRA EMTs), I will put anyone of those individuals on their worst day up against anybody on their best day,” Szafran said. “I believe we have the best providers in the valley that provides the best service in the valley and as Mike (Atty. Lombardo) said, as long as I’m here, he’s here and these people (EMTs) are here, we are going to continue that dedication to the communities we serve.”

Luzerne County Council Chair John Lombardo and GPRA board vice president, dressed in his EMT uniform, thanked fellow council members for working on the GPRA project in securing funds.

According to Chair Lombardo, half of the ARPA money would go to county internal projects such as prison renovations, IT upgrades, road repair and other infrastructure projects. The other half would go to community projects such as the GPRA headquarters.

“I’d like to thank the members of County Council, who were there in the trenches working on these projects to make sure they received the funding they desperately needed, especially former Councilman Matt Mitchell, who was critical in producing the final list of recipients,” Chair Lombardo said.

He also thanked Luzerne County grants writer, Michele Sparich, for her critical role with assisting in the project.

This state-of-the-art facility represents a major investment in public safety infrastructure and will serve as a vital resource for the nine municipalities of Greater Pittston.

The new headquarters will centralize GPRA’s business office and administrative functions while providing an upgraded, modern environment for ambulance crews and operations.

The new headquarters Phase 1 will feature a large apparatus bay with capacity for 10 to 12 emergency units, a robust storage and support facilities to enhance operational efficiency

Phase II will include a supportive crew quarters designed for around-the-clock readiness, a community meeting space for local organizations and events, a dedicated Emergency Operations Center for use by the city and surrounding communities during major emergencies.

GPRA services the municipalities of Pittston City, Jenkins Twp., and the boroughs of Yatesville, Exeter, Wyoming, West Wyoming, West Pittston, Laflin, and Avoca.

They also provide additional advance life support to the boroughs of Dupont, Duryea, Hughestown, and the townships of Exeter and Pittston.

Mayor Lombardo said he expects to see the entire project completed sometime in 2027.