‘Great Momentum’ Behind Downtown Hazleton Revitalization

Downtown Hazleton, PA (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A team that will develop a plan for the future of downtown Hazleton is working on a similar downtown revitalization project in Hershey.

With a $30 million streetscape project nearing completion on Broad Street and a private-public partnership funneling millions into the restoration of the Markle and Trader’s Bank buildings, a project manager and architect who will develop a 10-year blueprint for downtown Hazleton said at a revitalization kickoff reception Thursday that the city has plenty of positives to build upon.

“There’s great momentum and we want to harness that momentum and set a vision,” said Christopher J. Brown, a project manager with Derck & Edson, a firm that specializes in improving downtowns, college campuses and athletic venues.

Brown spoke about plans for the downtown at a revitalization kickoff reception at the Markle hosted by the Downtown Hazleton Alliance for Progress.

Read more: http://standardspeaker.com/news/great-momentum-behind-downtown-revitalization-1.1686744

Hazleton Community Center To Open With ‘Major League’ Backing

Map of Pennsylvania highlighting Luzerne County (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

HAZLETON, PA — Tampa Bay Rays manager Joe Maddon will be among the ribbon cutters Monday at the grand opening of a building he believes will help unify the community — the Hazleton One Community Center.

The community center, housed in the former Most Precious Blood Elementary School, at 225 E. 4th St., between Seybert and Hayes streets, is an initiative of Maddon’s Hazleton Integration Project, which he spearheaded to counteract a sense of divisiveness he detected in his hometown during a 2010 visit over the Christmas holiday.

Tension between ethnic groups seemingly had increased as the city’s Latino population rapidly grew over the last decade. The illegal immigration debate heated up around Hazleton’s Illegal Immigration Relief Act ordinance, which would prohibit landlords and employers from renting to and hiring illegal immigrants.  The law was struck down, but the ruling is being reconsidered.

Read more:  http://www.timesleader.com/news/local-news/600911/Community-center-to-open-with-major-league-backing