{"id":250606,"date":"2026-07-23T21:27:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T21:27:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/250606\/"},"modified":"2026-07-23T21:27:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T21:27:07","slug":"former-deaf-school-campus-in-scranton-dunmore-to-get-106-apartments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/250606\/","title":{"rendered":"Former deaf school campus in Scranton, Dunmore to get 106 apartments"},"content":{"rendered":"

The redevelopment of the former Scranton State School for the Deaf campus straddling Dunmore and Scranton would result in 106 apartments in the nine buildings on the nearly nine-acre site, an engineer told the city Planning Commission.<\/p>\n

The deaf school operated for over a century but fell largely dormant and into disrepair over the past decade.<\/p>\n

A private firm called 1801 Jefferson LLC acquired the site from a nonprofit foundation through a foreclosure. Previously, Marywood University owned, but never used, the campus for several years after the deaf school relocated in 2011 to South Abington Township.<\/p>\n

The 1801 Jefferson LLC firm has undertaken a sweeping rejuvenation of the landmark property in Green Ridge into an apartment complex. Renovations began last year.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, project engineer Dave Lopatka of the Reuther + Bowen firm introduced the project to the Scranton Planning Commission, and it then accepted the plans for further review, according to an Electric City Television simulcast and video of the meeting posted on YouTube.<\/p>\n

Bounded by North Washington and Jefferson avenues and Electric and Evelyn streets, the 8.56-acre former deaf-school campus has eight, architecturally distinctive stone-block buildings dating to the late 1800s and early 1900s, all situated on 6.66 acres in Dunmore; and a 1973 brick building on 1.9 acres along North Washington Avenue in Scranton.<\/p>\n

The plan calls for 14 apartments in the three-story building in Scranton, with seven apartments going into each of the upper floors, and the first floor getting office and retail space. The buildings in Dunmore would all get apartments, ranging from two to 26. The apartments would be a mix of one and two-bedroom dwellings.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve also submitted (plans) to Dunmore Borough, so we\u2019re kind of going through the process with them as well,\u201d Lopatka said.<\/p>\n

The owners recently subdivided the campus from one parcel into four, including two each in Scranton and Dunmore, Lopatka said. Of the two parcels in Scranton, one lot contains the 1973 building and the other lot contains the area along North Washington Avenue and Electric Street. Of the two parcels in Dunmore, one lot contains the eight older buildings and the other lot contains the wooded area on the other side of Meadow Brook, along Electric Street and Jefferson Avenue.<\/p>\n

The owners do not yet have plans for that wooded area, he said.<\/p>\n

Lopatka generally discussed parking, stormwater management and sidewalks, and said he will be working through the city engineer\u2019s comments and recommendations regarding those matters.<\/p>\n

Regarding parking, the city requires one parking space per apartment unit and Dunmore requires two spaces per unit. The land in Scranton might have more room for parking such that some spaces there might be used for apartments in Dunmore.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut there potentially could be, if they do sell any of these lots and there\u2019s different owners, they would naturally have to have some kind of agreement between the two,\u201d regarding parking, Lopatka said.<\/p>\n

Commission member Jennifer Davis asked, \u201cWill the site be open to the public in terms of pedestrian traffic or will it be gated?\u201d<\/p>\n

Commission member Gus Fahey noted many people walk through the property between North Washington and Jefferson avenues.<\/p>\n

Lopatka said the owners are not planning on making the site a gated compound.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a path through there currently that goes along the creek there and pops out on the field, on the vacant lot. They\u2019re not looking to restrict any of that, as far as I know, not putting gates up or swing gates for cars,\u201d Lopatka said.<\/p>\n

The roots of the campus date to a precursor institution founded in 1882 by the Rev. Jacob Koehler, who was deaf and a leading advocate of compulsory education of deaf children, according to an historical marker at the site erected in 1999 by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.<\/p>\n

The first building of a deaf school was constructed in 1889 at the Green Ridge site. The facility constructed two other buildings in 1892 and five more around the 1930s, all in the same style of stone blocks; and then added the different-looking, rectangular brick building in 1973.<\/p>\n

\"One<\/p>\n

One of the buildings on the former Scranton State School for the Deaf campus in Scranton is being renovated Thursday, July 22, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The former Scranton State School for the Deaf is seen in Dunmore Thursday, July 23, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A worker with RLE Enterprises operates a construction vehicle on the property of the former Scranton State School for the Deaf campus in Dunmore Thursday, July 22, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The former Scranton State School for the Deaf campus in Dunmore Thursday, July 22, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

An historical marker for the former Scranton State School for the Deaf, along North Washington Avenue in Green Ridge in Scranton, on April 1, 2026. (JIM LOCKWOOD \/ STAFF PHOTO)\n<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

An aerial view of the former Scranton State School for the Deaf in Dunmore Thursday, April 2, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 6<\/p>\n

One of the buildings on the former Scranton State School for the Deaf campus in Scranton is being renovated Thursday, July 22, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n

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