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FOREST CITY — Greater Forest City Industries Inc., the industrial development corporation in Forest City, Susquehanna County, created the 30-acre VISION 2000 Industrial Park.
It is located at the corner of Wayne, Lackawanna and Susquehanna Counties. The park was originally funded by a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Grant Program, secured almost 20 years ago by former Congressman Joseph McDade.
In April 1999, GFCI purchased the 30 acres of mine-scarred land, which is located on Route 247 between Forest City and Browndale, from Linde Enterprises Inc. Cost of the land was $5,000 per acre and was purchased under the grant program. The entrance to the Park is in Wayne County but the bulk of the property is in Susquehanna County.
An intersection with Route 247 was constructed and the access road, known as Commerce Boulevard, traverses through the park. The access road goes over lands owned by the D&H Rail-Trail Council and the Lackawanna River Basin Sewer Authority. Rights-of-way were negotiated with both entities.
A number of industrial parcels were laid out in the park. Infrastructure presently constructed within the park include paved roads owned and maintained by Forest City Borough, sewer and water, with availability to electric, and fiber optic. A natural gas line was recently installed by UGI into the park.
Quad Three Group, of Wilkes-Barre, was the park’s project engineer. Steve Weinberg, director of Community Action Services, a longtime director of Forest City Community Development efforts, administered that grant.
The park was named the VISION 2000 Industrial Park due to the inception of a four-community comprehensive plan which involved a joint planning effort on the part of the four local communities (Forest City, Vandling, Browndale and Richmondale) which are located in three different counties.
At the time, VISION 2000 set up task forces for Recreation, Housing, Industrial Development and Intergovernmental Co-operation. The industrial park was intended to forward the goals of the Industrial Development Task Force.
GFCI officials soon determined that no small to medium-sized company was interested in locating a plant in a rural area if it had to spend a quarter of a million dollars simply for installation of utilities. With land purchase and building costs, any industrial building project in the Forest City area at that time would have cost in excess of $600,000.
With a developed industrial park, GFCI officials felt they could provide a small manufacturer with a suitable building site at a reasonable cost. GFCI also could provide financing through state sources and local bank financing.