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By MELISSA M. JANOSKI [email protected]
Wednesday, November 01, 2000 Page: 1A
WILKES-BARRE – Mayor Tom McGroarty doesn’t want to look greedy.
That’s one reason he rejected a business group’s call to apply for the
state Main Street program, McGroarty said Tuesday.
The Main Street Program offers advice and about $115,000 over five years to
help spruce up buildings and hire a manager to oversee downtown efforts. In
return, the city must spend about $90,000.
For a year, the Wilkes-Barre Metropolitan Development Corp. headed by
restaurant owner and developer Thom Greco has lobbied the city to apply for
the program.
Last week, McGroarty publicly rejected the request, saying he is more
interested in a 1992 downtown plan written for his predecessor, Lee Namey.
On Tuesday, McGroarty expanded on his decision. The Main Street program
offers little state money, he said. And applying for it could hurt the city’s
chances to win approval of more important requests, such as money for streets
and parking garages, he said.
He compared the city’s funding requests to a Christmas wish list. “You
want to make sure you have your sled and your bike as a child before you ask
for a coloring book,” he said. “It’s nice to have a coloring book, but I’d
rather have a $2.5 million garage.”
Greco could not be reached for comment.
As far as the Namey plan goes, McGroarty said it inspired three ideas: the
planned downtown movie theater, improved access to downtown from Interstate 81
and the Cross-Valley Expressway and better street lights.
The theater is scheduled to open in 2002.
The state is planning to reroute Coal Street in a few years. McGroarty
takes credit for lobbying for the plan.
And, McGroarty recently announced plans to replace the red ’70s-style
street lights with brighter lights with an old-fashioned look. The 1992 report
said that the lights “seem out of character due to their ultra-modern
style.”
There are no other big projects in the report that he plans to pursue. The
report’s suggestions include a hotel to cater to college visitors, a
year-round indoor farmers market and a renovated Hotel Sterling. McGroarty
said the crumbling landmark hotel is important, but a private developer must
take the lead.
Melissa M. Janoski, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at
831-7331.