SUNBURY, Pa. — Driving through Sunbury, it's hard to miss the former Celotex site, which covers nearly 22 acres. It's been vacant for more than a dozen years. Northumberland County owns the property and intended to build the county's prison there, but that did not happen.
"We've been trying to market this property now for at least the last three years. We had some bites, but no one really interested, basically because of the infrastructure not being there," said Northumberland County Commissioner Sam Schiccatano.
That's all about to change. Sunbury recently received a $2 million state grant to buy the former Celotex property from Northumberland County.
"They have already started infrastructure in their streets, coming down 4th Street and different places, and they'll run it into the property, put the infrastructure into the property, the sewer and water lines, and we'll together market it in the future and hopefully get a very good tenant," Comm. Schiccatano said.
"The additional funding will be used to help with the infrastructure of the property to ensure that we can get this developed and create jobs and economic development in the area," said Derrick Backer, the Sunbury city administrator.
According to Backer, taxpayers will not have to worry.
'Hopefully, hundreds of jobs, great-income paying family-sustaining jobs, without raising taxes in the city to do it."
While Sunbury is buying the property from Northumberland County, the county plans to give that money back to the city through federal American Rescue funds.
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