Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry

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Chamber Announces 2010 Pride of Place Award Recipients at Annual Awards Luncheon on June 16 - (05/17/2010)

     Contact: William T. Corcoran Jr.
      Public Relations Intern
      (570) 823-2101 ext.153
      intern@wilkes-barre.org, www.wilkes-barre.org


     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

     Chamber Announces 2010 Pride of Place Award Recipients at Annual Awards Luncheon on June 16

     Wilkes-Barre, PA. (May 17, 2010) – The Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce will hold its Annual Awards Luncheon on Wednesday, June 16 at 11:30 a.m. at the Best Western Genetti Hotel and Convention Center in Downtown Wilkes-Barre.

     At this annual event, the Chamber honors individuals and organizations that make a difference in the Greater Wilkes-Barre community as well as make it a better place to live, work and learn. Area businesses and professionals will be honored in the following categories: Pride of Place Awards, “I Believe” Award, and the ATHENA Award.

     Reservations for the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce Business Awards Luncheon are $35 and can be made with Jean Kile (570) 823-2101, ext. 113; jean@wilkes-barre.org; or online at www.wilkesbarre.org/calendar.

     The Pride of Place Awards honors businesses and individuals that improve the physical environments of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Area. The awards consist of the New Construction Award; the Restoration/Renovation Award; the Interior Design Award; and the Community Award. The Chamber is proud t announce this year's recipients:

     • New Construction: A building or complex recently designed from the ground up.
      -King’s College for the Gateway Commons Building
     • Restoration/Renovation/Remodeling: An existing structure that has had its external surface improved, modernized, or returned to its former appearance.
      -Wyoming Seminary for Fleck/Swetland/Darte Halls
     • Interior Design: Original designs or improvement made to internal spaces of new or existing structure.
      -KNBT Bank in Kingston
     • Community: Projects that span multiple categories and have a significantly positive impact on the community.
      -The City of Wilkes-Barre for the Coal Street Park Revitalization Project

     King’s College will be honored with the New Construction Award for its new building: Gateway Corners. King’s College partnered with Kinship Square, a non-profit community development corporation, and Radnor Property Group to develop Gateway Corners, a four story 95,000 square foot multi-purpose building adjacent to the College Campus. King’s, which is leasing the building from Radnor Property Group, is using the top three floors to house 165 students in apartment style suites. The first floor contains office space for the College’s education faculty, state-of-the-art classrooms, a public day-care facility (managed by Hildebrandt Learning Centers) and a public eatery (Leo’s on Mane). Gateway Corners replaced two blighted buildings. Kinship Square acquired the property from CityVest.

     Wyoming Seminary will receive the Restoration/Renovation/Remodeling award for the preservation and historic revitalization of the Swetland, Fleck, and Darte Halls – the original campus of the school – in 2007. These three buildings have been a landmark on the Kingston landscape since they were constructed in 1853 following a fire which destroyed the original two Wyoming Seminary buildings in 1844. Swetland and Fleck Halls serve as the women’s residence hall; dining facilities are located on the first floor of Fleck Hall. Darte Hall serves as a residence hall for the ninth and tenth grade boys with kitchen facilities located on the first floor. The entire complex has apartments for eleven faculty members who supervise the resident students. All of the structures are comprised of 3 wythe thick load bearing masonry walls that support structural wood rood framing. Beginning in the late spring and concluding in the early fall of 2008 and 2009, Masonry Preservation Services completed the first two phases of the restoration project. The Final phase of the project will be completed this summer. Many companies were involved in the project including: Masonry Preservation Services, General Roofing Systems Inc., Mark J. Sobeck Roof Consulting, Trade Eastern, Hirthler Painting, Borton-Lawson Engineering, and Bakker & Lewis Architects.

     KNBT Bank, located at 310 Market Street in Kingston, will receive the interior design award for renovation of a Suzuki dealership into a full service, 8,974 square foot bank. The new full-service community bank offers the latest technology for customers, along with five teller windows inside. A new technology advance the bank offers is a Teller Cash Recycler (TCR), which is used to take in, verify, store, and recycle cash to customers with cash withdrawals. This branch is a one-stop center for KNBT to deliver its products and services in the community. Ground breaking on the project began in September 2009 and was completed in January 2010. KNBT held its grand opening in February, 2010. Bonsall Shafferman served as the Architects and space planners and C.C. Inc. served as the general contractors.

     The City of Wilkes-Barre will be honored with the Community Award for the Coal Street Park Revitalization project. The City of Wilkes-Barre conceived the project to rehabilitate a blighted ice skate rink facility in the Heights section of the city that had been closed for seven years. The project included extensive renovations of the 38,000 square foot ice arena at Coal St. Park, a 37 acre park, as well as needed improvements to the existing recreational facilities which included a playground area, baseball and softball fields, basketball, and tennis courts. The new ICE-A-RAMA was expanded to a 45,000 square foot two story structure that increased the availability of commercial office space in the city, increased and improved recreational opportunities for city residents, and provided a new arena for the area semi-pro hockey team, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, to practice as well as a base of operations for their front office management. Fifty direct/permanent jobs and 75 indirect support/supplies jobs were created permanently as a result of the revitalization project providing much needed revenue to the city, the community, and its residents during this harsh economic climate. The Facility is an asset to the City of Wilkes-Barre and to the Entire Region.

     The Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Commerce is a member-driven organization representing businesses and organizations in Northeastern Pennsylvania and is focused on helping our members grow and succeed. For more information, visit www.wilkes-barre.org.