SCRANTON, Pa. -- Millions of dollars in state gaming money was handed out to boroughs and townships throughout our area this month.
In Lackawanna County, the grants are helping create a park and a community center.
At the future home of a community center in Dickson City, the building was donated to the borough, and a state grant is helping to complete the project.
It's a similar story with a proposed park in Scranton. It started as a vision from a property owner.
Lucy Costa had high hopes when the owner of the vacant lot across from her dress shop showed her his plans for the property, but for a year and a half, the lot along Cedar Avenue in Scranton sat empty.
“Nothing happened, still empty. We don’t want empty land over here by us, you know, Cedar Avenue," Costa said.
But now, Lucy's hope has been restored. The lot's owner was awarded a $75,000 grant to complete his vision of a pocket park and community garden.
“A park, and especially the garden, I think that’s nice. There’s nothing like that around here. My wife likes gardening, I know they have the farmers’ market down the street. So yeah, I think that’d be great," John Goshleski said.
The city of Scranton plans to help the owner in his endeavor. Mayor Paige Cognetti says the land would continue to languish otherwise.
“It really shows that people care so much about our city and they care about it moving forward and they also care about kids. That’s a really exciting element about this Cedar Avenue park, is that it’s really focused on children. We have so many children in our community that don’t maybe have a yard, our schools don’t have gardens in them. This is a way to supplement that and get them to learn something new," said Mayor Cognetti.
That combination of a state grant and the generosity of a private citizen is also driving another project along Main Street in Dickson City.
A former video store will soon become a community center. The Koboriecki family donated the building to the borough two years ago.
“They were longtime residents here, their family goes back a long time, hundreds of years, in the town and they wanted to give something back to the community," said Dickson City borough manager Cesare Forconi.
Forconi says the building will be renovated using a $100,000 grant. It will be used by Dickson City's historical society and other community groups.
“To be honest with you, if we didn’t receive the grant, we wouldn’t be able to do this project at all," Forconi said.
Both of those projects could get started in just a few months.