{"id":290629,"date":"2026-09-21T04:52:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-21T04:52:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/290629\/"},"modified":"2026-09-21T04:52:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-21T04:52:09","slug":"monday-update-county-awards-contract-for-childrens-library-facade-repairs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/290629\/","title":{"rendered":"Monday Update: County awards contract for Children’s Library facade repairs"},"content":{"rendered":"

SCRANTON \u2014 About a year after facade issues were discovered at the Lackawanna County Children\u2019s Library, commissioners awarded a construction contract last week for stone and masonry repairs above the entrance of the architecturally impressive library building on Vine Street.<\/p>\n

D&M Construction Unlimited of Dalton submitted a $296,000 bid for the project, the lower of two the county received. That total cost reflects the sum of a $217,000 base bid to restore the building\u2019s masonry sill and cornice and a $79,000 alternate bid for the restoration of the remaining second-story stone facade.<\/p>\n

Pending repairs include replacing missing stones, resetting loose stones and repairing cracks in the masonry, county Engineer Frank Summa said shortly before commissioners\u2019 voted unanimously to award the contract to D&M.<\/p>\n

\"LackawannaLackawanna County awarded a contract for facade repairs at the Lackawanna County Children\u2019s Library on Vine Street in Scranton. (CHAD SEBRING\/STAFF PHOTO)<\/p>\n

While county officials opened bids for the project in late May, a cover sheet submitted with legislation authorizing the D&M contract says initial funding concerns delayed the award. The contract requires the work to be completed within six months, but, given the delay in awarding the project, an extension may be warranted if crews encounter \u201cpoor winter weather conditions,\u201d per the cover sheet.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs you know we\u2019ve had scaffolding in front of that building since the winter, and it\u2019s a building that should be inviting,\u201d Scranton Public Library CEO Scott Thomas told the commissioners. \u201cIt doesn\u2019t look that way (now), so we\u2019re very happy about this to make it safe. When the work does begin we\u2019ll work with the contractor to make sure people still have access to the building safely.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"LackawannaLackawanna County awarded a contract for facade repairs at the Lackawanna County Children\u2019s Library on Vine Street in Scranton. (CHAD SEBRING\/STAFF PHOTO)<\/p>\n

According to \u201cHistory Set in Stone; A Guide to Downtown Scranton Architecture,\u201d the county-owned Children\u2019s Library, the neighboring Albright Memorial Library, the nearby Scranton Cultural Center at the Masonic Temple and Scranton\u2019s Municipal Building (City Hall) and Central Fire Station are all among the downtown\u2019s \u201cGothic District\u201d properties.<\/p>\n

The guide describes the Children\u2019s Library building as a \u201cwonderful example of Neoclassical Revival architecture\u201d built for the First Church of Christ, Scientist in 1914 by architects R.W. Snyder and A.J. Ward. It was \u201cconverted for use as a welcoming children\u2019s library\u201d in 1987, per the guide.<\/p>\n

\"JackJack Lee, 5, of Waymart, digs through building pieces at the Lackawanna County Children\u2019s Library in Scranton Tuesday, March 24, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)<\/p>\n

Newspaper records note the Children\u2019s Library started as a small room in the Albright Memorial Library before moving into the former First Church of Christ, Scientist building next door in December 1987, to accommodate the growing number of families using its services.<\/p>\n

When the facade work on the building might begin was not immediately clear.<\/p>\n

MONDAY UPDATE<\/p>\n

THEN: Facade issues at the Lackawanna County Children\u2019s Library in Scranton were discovered last year.<\/p>\n

NOW: Commissioners awarded a contract for stone and masonry repairs at the Vine Street building.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SCRANTON \u2014 About a year after facade issues were discovered at the Lackawanna County Children\u2019s Library, commissioners awarded…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":290630,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[201,182,139,28,178,180,179,729],"class_list":["post-290629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-scranton","tag-lackawanna-county","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-scranton","tag-scranton-headlines","tag-scranton-news","tag-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=290629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/290629\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/290630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=290629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=290629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=290629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}