West Scranton High School...... (Wilkes-Barre, Pottsville: city hall, lofts, asbestos)

[ckhthankgod]

I was wondering, why is there a high school for the just the west side of Scranton, but the rest of the city attends Scranton High?

[The Commish]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

I was wondering, why is there a high school for the just the west side of Scranton, but the rest of the city attends Scranton High?

There used to be a high school in almost every part of Scranton. West Side is the last vestige of Scranton's highly-populated past.

[ckhthankgod]

Got ya.....So, this goes back to the days when Scranton was well over 100,000(I want to say in the 140,000 range). Sounds similar to my hometown a couple of hours north that has a high school for each side of town.

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

I was wondering, why is there a high school for the just the west side of Scranton, but the rest of the city attends Scranton High?

Its just asinine that they named the new school Scranton High School, as if there was only one high school in Scranton. They should have kept the Central name or something. Honestly, there's 2 high schools because a city of 75,000 is too big to have one high school. Scranton High School is too big as it is. Wilkes-Barre is a city of only 40,000 people and they have 3 high schools.

If it wasn't for West High School, I probably would not have moved to Scranton. I wouldn't send my kids to Scranton High School.....too big (not to mention that SHS covers the sketchier parts of town).

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by ckhthankgod

Got ya.....So, this goes back to the days when Scranton was well over 100,000(I want to say in the 140,000 range). Sounds similar to my hometown a couple of hours north that has a high school for each side of town.

Scranton used to have 3 high schools until they consolidated Tech and Central.

[LusOnlyVoice]

At one point in time we had three high schools. Scranton Technical High School, Scranton Central High School and West Scranton High School.

These High Schools were not located in each section of town, two were located in Central City (Hence the name Central High School.) Tech was a school that catered to students mainly interested in entering the trades and Central was a school for academic achievers. All in Scranton who maintained a certain grade point average, no matter what part of town they were from were welcome to attend Central High School, while the other two High Schools one was able to attend the Vocational Schools and learn a trade. There was a point in time which Central Students were able to attend vocational schools this practice was later stopped (I believe in the early 80's) and the focus was academics. This is not to say that all students who attended Technical High and West Scranton High were going into the trades, they also had academic courses and many students who traveled through the hallways of these two high schools also went to institutions of higher learning.

Lackawanna College is now housed in the former Central High School and Northeast Intermediate School no occupy's the former Technical High School. These two schools were approximately 4 or 5 blocks from each other.

[cowboyxjon]

I've been to Scranton a few times and I remember seeing an abandoned high school (?) at a busy intersection. I don't remember much about it other than that a clock was part of the building facade. Was this one of the former high schools?

Also, are there any plans to refurbish the building? Just curious.

[FightinPhils]

Originally Posted by cowboyxjon

I've been to Scranton a few times and I remember seeing an abandoned high school (?) at a busy intersection. I don't remember much about it other than that a clock was part of the building facade. Was this one of the former high schools?

Also, are there any plans to refurbish the building? Just curious.

That's the former North Scranton Intermediate School. Its been vacant for years...maybe 20 years? It was bought by Goodwill, who was supposed to turn into some sort of facility...offices, etc. There were signs that said "Coming Soon: Goodwill at North," but after about 8 years or so, those signs became a joke. The place is still empty. I don't know why the school district couldn't have kept the building....they need space, and if it was kept up, its a beautiful building.

[ScranBarre]

I snapped several photos of the historically-significant building during my 2007 photo tour of Hyde Park and Providence.




That building would make an awesome site for lofts.

[cowboyxjon]

It would definitely be an awesome site for lofts! I would LOVE the huge windows.

It's a shame that it just sits vacant. If I could find a GIS-related job in Scranton AND if I had the money, I'd definitely be interested. I like living in the West, but I think it would also be fun to move closer to my family and be a part of the renaissance of the coal region..

My parents said something about a developer being interested in turning the old Yuengling Ice Cream building in Pottsville into lofts, but apparently that project fell through because of asbestos. (and here's the part that is hearsay/gossip) Apparently someone wanted someone in City Hall to apply for a federal grant for asbestos removal, but a few residents of Pottsville became upset about using federal money on just that one building that only a few people would benefit from --- totally dismissing the fact that 'that one building that only a few people would benefit from' could potentially set an example and serve as inspiration for other projects. Pottsville certainly has its fair share of abandoned buildings, unfortunately. Like I said, it's hearsay, not sure if this is the truth.