SCRANTON -- A building that's been a popular place for athletes in Scranton for almost a century is getting a much-needed improvement, and it's being paid for by the very family who donated the building in 1916.
Work crews will be laying down a new roof on the field house at Weston Field for the next few weeks, but the repairs have been a long time coming according to officials with Scranton's Parks and Recreation Department.
“Well, the roof is actually leaking in seven different spots. It's leaking over the basketball court which is damaging the hardwood floor. This conference room, we don't even use any more because of the severity of the roof damage,” said Paul O’Hora of Scranton's Parks and Recreation Department.
Buckets have become a common sight inside the field house on Providence Road that has a pool and basketball courts for people to use, but officials said this temporary solution won't do anymore.
Weston Field was donated to the city of Scranton almost 100 years ago, and besides some minor patchwork, officials believe this is the original roof, and, if it wasn't replaced soon it would become a major safety hazard or even unusable.
“In all likelihood, we would have had to close the building. The building gets a tremendous amount of use,” said O’Hora.
O'Hora manages Weston Field, and was faced with a dilemma. With the city of Scranton in serious financial trouble he was worried the department would never have the money to fix the roof, but the very family that donated the building in the first place came to the rescue.
The new roof is being paid for by the Weston Family Trust that was set up in 1916 when the field house was first donated.
“This is probably the largest amount that the trust has paid for renovations to the building,” said O’Hora.
The new roof should be finished in about a month. Then, officials will have to figure out how to pay for repairs to the inside of the building at Weston Field.