If you see Mayor Mike Lombardo of the City of Pittston lately, you’ll notice he has a bit of pep in his step.
I sat down with Lombardo for a chat on the state of Pittston and the always-enthusiastic mayor feels Pittston is in great shape, both fiscally and physically.
The first big news is the acquisition of the Fort Pittston School on the corner of Parsonage Street and Main Street across from Pittston Lumber where the Redevelopment Authority is looking at converting the school into an 11-unit building with plenty of parking, including the required two parking slots per unit.
The city has a $3 million request in to PennDoOT into the last phase of streetscaping from New Street south to the Spc. Dale Kridlo Bridge, formerly the Fort Jenkins Bridge. Funding for streetscaping from New Street to the end of the city line is already in place.
According to the mayor, a series of buildings will be demolished in the area of the former Geri’s Bridal Shoppe where almost an entire block of will be revitalized.
Another part of the $3 million is the possibility of the removal of the kink in the road across the street from the Convenient Mart heading into the Junction.
There are two more potential pad sites available for development next to the new Luzerne Bank across the street from the former Pittston Tire, now Jack Williams Tire. The mayor believes by July of this year a developer will have plans for those two sites.
Another building scheduled for demolition is on the corner of Oak and Main Streets on the east side of Main Street.
One project that has always been on the back burner, now possibly being pushed through, is construction of the new American Theatre.
This has been an idea of the mayor’s for many years. Losing the original American Theatre to the wrecking ball a few decades ago was the main thrust for Lombardo to run for the mayor’s position.
The mayor hopes the new 250-seat theatre will be located at the site of the current ambulance association building with parking fairly near at the Tomato Festival parking lot.
Parking in the city, especially downtown, has always been a concern of the mayor’s so the city assigned a consultant to evaluate the parking situation downtown and the conclusion is — there doesn’t seem to be a need to build a parkade.
Instead, the city will focus on preferred parking and long-term parking, making them both more efficient.
One issue that needs to change, according to the mayor, is downtown business owners parking on Main Street.
Other possibilities coming to downtown are a Mexican restaurant and a deli.
The proposed Jazz Fest you read about in this column two years ago is still in the works. Now that the amphitheater has been completed behind the Pittston Memorial Library, the next phase will be to complete a main stage on the second tier of the Tomato Festival lot next to the James G. Zarra Pittston Festival Association Headquarters building.
The main stage will be a permanent facility with access to a dressing room for entertainers at the Zarra building.
Essentially, once the Jazz Fest is in place, there would be several components involved — the amphitheater, the main stage, the new American Theatre and, possibly, the third floor of the fire hall.
The fire hall currently has funding to completely remodel the third floor gym that could be utilized as hall space.
The Markdata building remodeling project next to Cooper’s has begun and, by late February or early March, the project will be in full swing mode. Twenty housing units are proposed for the building, along with offices and shops.
The mayor is thrilled with the city’s Art e Fekts gallery, located next to Boden on Main Street. Lombardo gives great praise to Art e Fekts director Mary Kroptavich for doing a dynamite job in getting the gallery up and running.
Currently, the works of Frank Wengen are being displayed. Wengen is considered to be one of the world’s best watercolor artists and he’s based right here in northeast PA.
On the fiscal level of the city, Lombardo said, “This is the best sleep I’ve gotten in November and December since I’ve been elected because this is the best financial shape we’ve ever been in. We’ve finished way in the black and paid every bill.”
Lombardo said the financial shape of the city is something nobody likes to talk about. “It’s been a 30-year, 40-year struggle and, if you go around the state and take a look at third class cities that have never been distressed, we’re one of them.”
The mayor is confident Pittston City homeowners will get another tax break by the end of the year.
“Talking about finances in Pittston is not a sexy topic and nobody likes to talk about it, but I don’t see the need for a tax increase for the next 10 years,” Lombardo said.
Because of the initiatives created in Lombardo’s first run at mayor — sandwiched in between the efforts of former Mayor Jason Klush — , the city has added $20 million of conservative assets to its financial statement.
The mayor would like to see more retail downtown and is working on trying to make that happen.
Quote of the week
“All profoundly original art looks ugly at first.” – Clement Greenberg, American essayist
Thought of the week
“Often the test of courage is not to die but to live.” Vittorio Alfieri, Italian poet
Bumper sticker
“Beauty is power; a smile is its sword.” – John Ray, English botanist
