The Wilkes-Barre Zoning Hearing Board approved plans to renovate the former Meyers High School building into a multi-use space housing apartments, public exercise facilities, retail space, a public auditorium and more.
Submitted rendering
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The renovations planned for the former Meyers High School building will keep the exterior facade intact despite many changes inside.
Submitted rendering
Part of the renovations for the former Meyers High School building include transforming the Wilkes-Barre Memorial Stadium into a 318-space parking lot.
Submitted rendering
WILKES-BARRE — The Wilkes-Barre Zoning Hearing Board this week approved plans to renovate the former Meyers High School building into a multi-use space housing apartments, public exercise facilities, retail space and more.
Wednesday’s decision by the board solidified the purchase of the property by Carey Holdings LLC from the Wilkes-Barre Area School District for $3.2 million. The sale covers 250,000-square feet of property, including the Wilkes-Barre Memorial Stadium.
The school closed when Wilkes-Barre Area School District opened the new, consolidated high school in Plains Township in 2021.
According to Mark McNealis, an attorney representing Carey Holdings, the property will host a total of 103 apartments— 60 one-bedroom and 43 two-bedroom units — spread throughout each of the building’s three floors.
Although the developers have plans to alter the property’s use, they hope to retain as much of Meyers High School as possible, including the exterior facade.
“When people drive by, it’s going to look like Meyers High School, so that historic value or sentimental value that probably a lot of people that graduated from there over the years appreciate will remain,” McNealis said.
The auditorium, which seats 1,000 on the lower level and an additional 500 on the balcony, will also remain. According to McNealis, there will be minor updates and changes, including partitioning off the balcony to be turned into conference and office spaces for tenants.
As for the lower level, McNealis said the auditorium will still be available for educational or recreational purposes for groups or organizations in the city that might have a use for it.
The swimming pool, weight room and basketball courts will also remain, with the addition of a pickleball court in the space where the cafeteria currently sits.
If there’s enough community interest, the developers will offer memberships for those who do not reside on the property to use these recreational facilities, McNealis said.
The space will also feature nearly 13,000 square feet of retail space, which McNealis says will focus heavily on local vendors, markets and professionals — all of which will also be open for public use.
“It’s a real mixed use— there’s basically going to be people living there, but there’s also going to be amenities there for the community and some businesses as well,” McNealis said.
“The intent is, if the demand is there, to offer these facilities to folks in the greater Wilkes-Barre community as well,” he added.
The plans also propose transforming the Wilkes-Barre Memorial Stadium into a parking lot with over 318 spaces to accommodate tenant parking, as well as parking for community use of the building.
According to McNealis, the renovations will be a positive for the surrounding community.
“Not even one person in the neighborhood showed up in opposition of it, and it really is going to be less intrusive to the neighbors and the area than the school was,” he said.
The developers hope to have apartments available for rent inside the building as early as 2025.
