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By TOM OBRZUT JR.; Times Leader Business Writer
Wednesday, February 21, 1996 Page: 1A
WILKES-BARRE — A proposal by a group of professionals for a downtown
college bookstore could become the first step in the revitalization of West
Market Street.
The proposal has been presented to community leaders during the past
several months by members of Wilkes-Barre Tomorrow. Community leaders and
representatives of King’s College and Wilkes University have met three times
in the past week to discuss the project.
“This is a wonderful first step towards providing another outlet and
another activity in the downtown for both the students of the area and the
regular community,” said Gerry Mihalick, treasurer of Wilkes-Barre Tomorrow, a
group of professionals encouraging economic and cultural growth in the region.
By becoming a destination point, he said, the bookstore would produce
pedestrian traffic and, hopefully, other business growth. The bookstore’s
customer base would be the more than 1,800 full-time students at Wilkes and
the 1,760 full-time students at King’s.
“The proposal, only in its infancy stage, is that a site equidistant
between the two schools might possibly be designated and then used to house a
downtown activity center,” said Todd Vonderheid, president of Wilkes-Barre
Tomorrow and director of marketing and development for the Greater
Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry, which also supports the
project.
The proposal has “The Collegiate” located next to Lowe’s Restaurant &
Cocktail Lounge on West Market Street.
The owner of the buidling planned for site, Gaetano Serpico, could not be
reached for comment.
It says the block between River Street and North Franklin Street occupies
an important position in relation to other significant revitalization
projects, such as the riverfront and inflatable dam projects proposed by U.S.
Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Nanticoke.
“A centralized bookstore would be a wonderful opportunity to get closer
cooperation between the two universities and … would bring back an
opportunity for the city to start growing in that area, ” Kanjorski said. He
said he met Monday with college officials and Wilkes-Barre Tomorrow members.
“It would set a nice psychological effect in the community,” Kanjorski
said. “It helps in making Wilkes-Barre a real college town.”
The Army Corps of Engineers estimates a lake resulting from Kanjorski’s dam
project would attract more than 404,000 persons annually.
“The Collegiate,” as it’s proposed, would serve the traditional function of
a bookstore, but also could include other features such as a restaurant,
reading and studying space, and an Internet cafe, wherein students could
browse the World Wide Web computer network while socializing.
Some officials have said the colleges might be opposed to the idea because
it might hurt them financially because both bookstores are now located on
campus. Both stores are run by Follette College Stores, Chicago, Ill.
Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tom McGroarty called the bookstore proposal “neat,” but
said a lot of people are talking about doing something but haven’t discussed
financing.
“The problem is money, nothing other than money,” he said. “We’re not the
Yellow Brick Road.”
McGroarty said the project was first suggested by former Mayor Lee Namey
almost two years ago. McGroarty said he initially met with King’s College
president the Rev. James Lackenmier three months ago to discuss the future of
the project. He had another meeting with representatives from both colleges on
Tuesday.
“We moved forward,” McGroarty said of Tuesday’s meeting. “They’ll be back
in two weeks with ideas.”
Lackenmier said Tuesday it was too early to comment on the proposal, but
said community leaders are meet routinely about projects that could foster
downtown economic growth.
“We’re still sowing,” he said. “But not reaping.”
Wilkes President Christopher Breiseth could not be reached for comment
Tuesday.
Although the project has some hurdles to overcome, it is a tool for
development, Vonderheid said.
“This project is simply an attempt to use a captive pool of consumers and
increase pedestrian traffic for downtown Wilkes-Barre,” he said. “That captive
market is that of the two schools.”