New plans for an old church in Pittston

PITTSTON, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — It is a growing problem across NEPA abandoned buildings, and among the shuttered buildings are churches. But that’s starting to change and not in the way you would expect.

This is just another example of how the city of Pittston continues to evolve. Big plans are in the works for the former first Presbyterian Church on Broad Street in Pittston.

Soon to be called the “Bell Tower Lofts,” it will house apartments, a community gathering space, and the greater Pittston Historical Society.

“We actually in sort of discovery of the building have found that the original bell is up in the tower. So, we want to restore that and at least make it visible from the ground,” said Mayor Michael Lombardo.

The vacant church was purchased by the city’s redevelopment authority about three years ago.

Lombardo’s goal for this project is to preserve as much of the original architecture as possible.

“There’s what would have been the old Sunday school classrooms for the church are in the back, that lends itself perfectly for a repurposing, for what I would call small like black box theatre space,” stated Mayor Lombardo.

The city replaced the steeple roof last year. Lombardo says projects like this are all about revitalizing downtown.

“The steeples are such a significant part of our skyline, so I’m really excited about this. This area of downtown has received a lot of attention. We’ll be eventually doing some streetscape on lower broad, so it just really fits in the long-range plan,” added Lombardo.

Mayor Lombardo tells me he expects construction to kick off in the spring of next year.

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