SCRANTON -- Demolition crews are tearing down several properties in Scranton, including one that polluted the Lackawanna River last summer.
People who live in the 1200 and 1300 blocks of North Washington Avenue woke up Monday morning to the sounds of two demolition crews.
One is making way for a parking lot, the other one is a bit of a mystery. But neighbors say regardless, their neighborhood is changing.
Two long-expected changes to the Scranton neighborhood, by coincidence, came at once.
Three homes next to the Lackawanna County Prison on North Washington Avenue came down quickly. Neighbors have been anticipating this for a few years.
The prison has plans to build a parking lot for its employees who now share street parking with prison visitors and the folks who live in the neighborhood. One neighbor says the demolition was a wake-up call he was happy about.
"When I was shopping for apartments, I thought this was a dry block, until I moved on it it's actually a busy strip. And especially on Tuesdays and Sundays when they've got the visits going on, I try not to go to the store until it's over because I don't want to lose my spot."
Part of North Washington Avenue will be trolling with demolition crews this week with these houses being torn down, plus right across the street another demolition company is tearing down part of the old Community Central energy plant.
"We're being surrounded. Our homes are being surrounded by progress, I guess."
Mark Seber grew up in this neighborhood. Now, three of the homes he's used to passing and the once-busy steam heat plant top the list of changes he's not sure are for the better.
According to the Department of Environmental Protection, the old Community Central energy plant was the source of an oil leak that made its way into the Lackawanna River last summer.
The plant is now owned by Lackawanna County businessman Louis DeNaples. The demolition permit his company filed with the city of Scranton calls for the removal of the oil tanks.
"Well, if they do it right, whoever's in charge up there should be able to do it right because they've got a lot of money behind them," Seber said.