PITTSTON — The city is still moving forward. Actually, the city is always moving forward.
Mayor Michael Lombardo is constantly searching for ways and means to keep Pittston improving. He recently outlined a checklist of projects that are in the planning stage, are starting or have started.
Plans on the river trail are still on target and Pittston is looking to partner with Duryea to maintain the trail from Pittston to Duryea.
“We have a zero turn mower, a tractor and this year we would like to acquire a larger tractor, maybe in partnership, hopefully, with Duryea, so we can do maintenance on the riverfront of the trail,” Lombardo said. “Keith (Moss, Duryea Borough mayor) and I met with Dave Pedri (Luzerne County manager) and Andy Reilly (Luzerne County Redevelopment Authority) to talk about that whole project.”
Lombardo is hopeful in purchasing a mower with an extended arm to cut a wider sweep of grass and brush along the trail to create a clear walking path.
“In the next 10 months, you will probably see us making an application to the Dept. of Conservation and Natural Resources to expand the trail north and south going from Duryea to Jenkins Twp.,” he said.
The intent is for the trail in Greater Pittston to extend to the Lackawanna County Heritage Trail.
Lombardo met with current Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tony George and mayor-elect George Brown on the connection of the riverfront between Wilkes-Barre and Pittston.
“There is currently a grant in for the boat ramp and some work on our part for the riverfront,” Lombardo added.
Plans are still in the mix to create a boat ramp at the riverfront that will make way for a rowing/sculling facility, tentatively partnering with King’s College. Lombardo will meet with King’s president The Rev. John Ryan in August to discuss future plans of the facility.
The City of Pittston partnered with Pittston Area School District in applying for a Local Share Account (LSA) grant through Luzerne County for the demolition and reconstruction of Americans with Disability Act required bleachers at the Pittston Area stadium. That project has been underway for the last several months and is on schedule to be completed by the upcoming football season.
Pittston has also given a helping hand through LSA money for a new roof to the Knights of Columbus building as well as improvements to the Greater Pittston YMCA building.
“We partnered with Pittston Area on a three-year deal so if the city is in need of a large facility, we will have use of the stadium,” Lombardo said. “It’s a community facility and the residents use the track to walk, watch games, etc. If you have to increase taxes at the school district level for bleachers, it’s going to affect our residents, so that was our rationale with helping out. It’s important to have a good relationship with the school district.”
Regarding helping the Knights and YMCA, Lombardo’s explanation is clear.
“I was in Pottsville a year ago meeting with their city officials and I said to them, the single most important things you can do in the preservation of a downtown and not lose existing inventory is making sure the roofs are okay; you need a good roofing inspection program,” Lombardo stated. “We look at two buildings downtown that were lost due to failure of the roofs.”
There are two other downtown roofing projects slated, one being the original bank structure of the current Luzerne County Community College building and the other is the site of a bakery. Funding for those two projects will be through internal funding and restructuring money, according to Lombardo.
“The next three high priority projects for me are the ambulance building, the new stage at the Tomato Festival lot and a new concession stand and parking area for West Park with the addition of bleachers and goalposts,” Lombardo said.
The new American Theatre is still on track but, according to the mayor, before the theatre project can proceed, the new ambulance building project must be done. The new theatre will be constructed at the site of the current Greater Pittston Ambulance Association on the corner of Main and Market Streets.
Lombardo is hopeful the theatre project is a 2021 project and will hold 250-300 seats.
Art in and around the city is still on track.
The Art Walk has been in full swing and will continue through the fall. The mayor is also very pleased with Art e Fekts Gallery downtown and the response from the public in making it successful.
The city is working on having an Artist in Residence program.
“We are working on fundraising for a 2’6” x 10’ sculptural piece that will be going to the library. That will be done in granite so the artist will have the raw piece of granite dropped at the library and the artist will be working on it for six to eight months carving it,” Lombardo said. “The public will be able to watch the progress in place behind the library.”
The city will work on a fundraising project for the sculpture to be produced.
An Art Loop Trial is also being planned where the mayor said there will be several branches to tour.
