SCRANTON, Pa. — As the former Scranton School for the Deaf sat on the market, many worried about the historic property's future, including the owner, Marywood University.
But Marywood President Sister Mary Persico cut the ribbon on the school's next chapter. The place has been sold to the Jarett Yoder Foundation and will become the Patriot Resource Center at Marywood.
"It's been on the market since 2015, and about more than 300 people have walked through here, have expressed an interest, all kinds of things. In the end, this is the perfect fit for us," Sister Mary Persico said.
The new owners held a ceremony to celebrate the new ownership. Neither the new owner nor the old owner wanted to divulge the purchase price.
The Jarett Yoder Foundation from Berks County plans to restore the property and team up with local veterans' organizations to provide counseling, training, and support to veterans and first responders in Lackawanna County.
"This property was always a property where people who needed special care came to be educated, to make friends," said Sr. Persico. "And I think that this is a continuation of that mission today."
The sale of the former Scranton School for the Deaf was of particular importance to one person.
Lynn Stroud of Tioga was a student at the school for the deaf from 1957 to 1971. Speaking through an interpreter, Stroud told us she's excited about the school's next step.
"I really applaud them, I really applaud them," Stroud said. "It's not just mine, and my father was in the military for 25 years."
The Jarett Yoder Foundation plans to renovate and restore the former school, but there is no word yet when we'll see work going on here.