SCRANTON -- The newest tenant in The Mall At Steamtown will be a community college.
Luzerne County Community College will open a campus inside the mall in downtown Scranton this summer.
It's an unconventional anchor for the rebounding mall, but current tenants think it will help the mall grow.
There was a crowd on the second floor of the empty BonTon anchor store where Luzerne County Community College announced an accomplished long-term goal: a new campus in Lackawanna County.
LCCC's president admits a former department store was not the original idea.
"Approximately 53 sites and they weren't all one visit, so we visited some sites several times, and we really evaluated all of the pluses and minuses and this one at the Steamtown Mall came out number one, clearly," said President Thomas Leary.
LCCC will offer more than a dozen of its programs on the second floor of The Mall at Steamtown.
College officials say the campus will serve its students who already live in the Scranton area.
Educators think it will also open up opportunities for people not currently on the college track.
"Well, I think it gives a dream to a different caliber of a kid, and I think that's very important, especially in today's society," said Riverside School District Superintendent Paul Brennan.
LCCC will be moving into a part of the mall that's been almost entirely vacant for more than a year. There are only two open store fronts there: Lackawanna County's Single Tax office and Nail Trix.
The owners have stuck it out. Jessica Nguyen says after a decade in this spot, the past year has been especially rough.
"We're not busy, but we do have those regular customers, they came back," Nguyen said.
Keisha Kent is one of those loyal customers. She had hoped for an anchor store instead of an anchor college but says having students there could help the whole mall.
"Anything that brings people around because at the end of the day, even though they are students, they're still going to be around here and promote business for the mall," Kent said.
LCCC officials say renovations to the old BonTon should be done in time for classes to start at the mall in August.
We asked the president if he thinks LCCC can compete with the already crowded field of colleges in Lackawanna County. He says this addition can complement other schools, since LCCC students can move to other schools to finish bachelor's degrees.
