Private Jewish school Cheder Menachem in Luzerne has an application pending before the Wilkes-Barre Zoning Hearing Board to relocate to the former Coughlin high school annex in Wilkes-Barre.
Jerry Lynott | Times Leader
Private Jewish school seeks zoning permission to relocate from Luzerne
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WILKES-BARRE — The former Coughlin high school could be filled with students again if the city’s Zoning Hearing Board approves the application of Cheder Menachem Inc. to relocate from Luzerne.
The private Jewish school on Parry Street applied for a variance to operate a day care and a special exception to change the nonconforming use of the newer section of Coughlin to a religious school from a public school.
The application is on the agenda for the board’s next public hearing scheduled for 4:30 p.m. on Aug. 18 in City Council chambers on the fourth floor of City Hall.
Messages left Wednesday with Cheder Menachem and the Wilkes-Barre Area School District, which owns the property on North Washington Street, were not returned.
The district approved the sale to the New York-based developer City Mills LLC in January for $1.65 million. The Coughlin property, made up of the newer annex, the original building, adjacent field and small lot across the street, would no longer be needed under the district’s plans to consolidate it with Meyers and GAR high schools. Later this month the district will hold a ribbon cutting for the new high school in Plains Township.
The older and original section of Coughlin was closed in 2016 after the district declared it unsafe. Classes were split between the newer annex and the renovated Mackin Elementary School in the city’s East End.
The last Coughlin class graduated in June.
Reach Jerry Lynott at 570-991-6120 or on Twitter @TLJerryLynott.