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PLYMOUTH — The talk of the town was the town itself on Monday night at the Wyoming Valley West auditorium, as citizens and officials of Plymouth Borough gathered to discuss the planned revitalization of the borough in coordination with the PA Downtown Center organization.

The first of five scheduled meetings to discuss revitalization efforts in Plymouth, Monday saw borough citizens come out in droves to discuss what ways they thought Plymouth could improve.

Topics ranged from public perception of the borough to drugs, crime and absentee landlords.

“I think it’s a step in the right direction,” said Joe Czopek, a lifelong resident. “I think people need to get a little more positive … if we stay positive, we’ll get more people involved.”

Julie Fitzpatrick, the recently-named Executive Director of PA Downtown Center, was the leader of the meeting, which saw an attendance of over 100 people, leading Fitzpatrick to joke about not having enough handouts for such a large crowd.

“I literally have chills right now,” Fitzpatrick said to the crowd at one point during her speech.

Holly Spece, borough secretary/treasurer, was excited by the turnout.

“I could not imagine 100 people coming, so I’m just happy right now,” she said.

Fitzpatrick split everyone into groups and had them all map out their plans for fixing Plymouth, grouped into four categories: strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.

Among the weaknesses shared by the crowd was the public perception of Plymouth, which mostly everyone agreed had become lackluster over the past couple of years.

Other shared weaknesses included drugs and crime, out-of-state landlords driving down property costs, and vacant buildings along Main Street.

“A lot of the out-of-town landlords are a big problem,” Czopek said. “This leads to blighted properties, and it all snowballs from there.”

Route 11 was highlighted as a strength of the community, and a way to bring businesses back to Main Street with the promise of traffic flowing through town stopping along the way. A lot of citizens also echoed the idea of a community center as a way to bring residents together.

Included in the meeting was a questionnaire for everyone to fill out and hand back, including questions like “What three words would you use to describe Plymouth today?” and “What are our community’s core values?”

Fitzpatrick has been involved with PA Downtown Center for the past 15 years, and was named executive director last month. The organization, founded in 1987, helps small communities like Plymouth with funding and other essentials needed to lead a struggling borough to prosperity.

“It’s no small task,” Fitzpatrick said, “but we’re here to provide an economic strategy for Plymouth.”

Fitzpatrick also directed people to an online survey, which could be found at reporting.padowntown.org/forms/current-perceptions-of-downtown-plymouth.

Julie Fitzpatrick, executive director of the Harrisburg-based Pennsylvania Downtown Center, applauds the over 100 attendees at the initial Plymouth revitalization meeting at Wyoming Valley West High School on Monday.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/web1_TTL080619PlymouthRevitlization_1.jpg.optimal.jpgJulie Fitzpatrick, executive director of the Harrisburg-based Pennsylvania Downtown Center, applauds the over 100 attendees at the initial Plymouth revitalization meeting at Wyoming Valley West High School on Monday. Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader
Borough’s strengths, weaknesses, future discussed

By Kevin Carroll

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More Photos

See more images from the meeting at timesleader.com

Reach Kevin Carroll at 570-954-8360 or on Twitter @TLKevinCarroll