L Vol. 115 No. 26 Fireballs win softball championship | Page 7 The Back Mountain's Newspaper Since 1889 June 27 to July 3, 2004 | : SERVING THE COMMUNITIES OF THE DALLAS & LAKE-LEHMAN SCHOOL DISTRICTS Weather, wires delay paving project By RONALD BARTIZEK Post Staff KINGSTON TWP. — The project to pave Green Road is behind schedule, and a new obstacle may push it even fur- ther from the original completion date f June 30. @ have been making a significant ickup in the last couple of weeks,” said township manager Eddie O'Neill June 22. “But technically they should have had everything done by June 7.” If that deadline was met, Lagana Con- struction, the general contractor, would have spent the last three weeks of June moving equipment out and doing final touch-up work. The biggest current hangup is getting underground electrical wires moved so that new drainage basins can be in- stalled along the northern quarter of the road. “This is essentially buying them some time,” during which Lagana can catch up on other work that should have been completed by now, O'Neill said. Crystal Kravits, who has lived on Green Road for 10 years, noticed the change of pace. “I seems like the last week it’s been pretty slow,” she said Wednesday. But she’s not too concerned. “We've See GREEN ROAD, pg 3 With skies threatening, construction equipment sat idle June 22 along Green Road in Kingston Township. POST PHOTO/ RON BARTIZEK Commonwealth building updated, preserved By RONALD BARTIZEK Post Staff DALLAS — What's new is old again at the Commonwealth Tele- phone Enterprises office building at 100 Lake Street. While making repairs and updating the front steps to meet modern stan- dards, the company remained faithful to the original character of the 53- year-old building. “It had really been almost a land- mark building,” said Pat Amendola, director of corporate communica- tions. Construction on the Georgian colo- ial style building took place in 1950 d 1951. A public opening was held in January, 1952, at which time Sen. Andrew Sordoni called it “a milestone in the company’s construction progress.” : George Farrell, a Commonwealth regional vice president who oversaw the renovations, said Sordoni mod- eled the building after the then-new IBM headquarters in upstate New York, “on a smaller scale.” Restoration was guided by Bakker and Lewis architects of Jackson Town- ship. ~ Rob Lewis, who acted as architect, said all the windows on the second floor and a few on the first and third rs had been replaced with mod- , energy-efficient models that closely match the originals. The building originally was built with two stories, but designed to ac- cept a third floor, which was added in the early 1990s. It now contains ap- proximately 37,000 square feet of of- fice space. “They blended the brick well, but the windows didn’t match,” Lewis reer SL oS TR RE rE — POST PHOTO/RON BARTIZEK Architect Rob Lewis, left, worked closely with Commonwealth Telephone vice president George Farrell on renovations to the company’s building on Lake Street in Dallas. said. The exterior front stairway, which was completely rebuilt, serves what is actually the second floor. “There was a significant amount of site work,” Lewis said, including the that defines the Lake Street entrance stairs, sidewalks, brick work, paving were retained, and brick was found and adding handicap ramps at the that closely matched the original. The rear of the building. Capstones on the serpentine wall See BUILDING, pg 3 Vv Inside The Post Girl Scoutshave fun while learning to camp Page 6 a aes do 4 -_ ll» TN Is " 5 | PS " Ss 0 8 Of l BATE" R Auction antiques; something old, F%¥ something older Erm By SANDY PEOPLES RC N22 Post Correspondent ~ A kaos 6: at oh: The lineup of antiques and creative accessories going on the block at the 58th annual library auction will de- light fans of home decorating chan- nels, interior designers and anyone else looking to add unique and excit- ing touches to their home. “More than 600 items have been do- nated so far,” said Karen Boback, co- chairperson of the auction’s antiques committee, “and more are coming in every day. In fact, we accept dona- tions right up to the days of the auc- AL ed EEG GTR with a certificate of authenticity. from her 1984 work entitled ‘Old IF YOI Friends.’ It is a framed picture of the Cassie Green = 5a Trail? By VICKI KEIPER Post Correspondent LEHMAN TWP. — The Board of Supervisors now has one less road to worry about. The board voted on June 21 to va- cate Cassie Green Road, meaning that the township has relinquished it rights to the road and will no longer main- tain it. But residents with adjacent properties will have the right to use and repair it, said Supervisor Chair- man David Sutton. “We were hoping to make a trail from one end to the other and only al- low pedestrian traffic,” he said. “It’s a great place to walk.” But hikers disturbing the residents might be a problem, he said. The township could install a sign stating that the road is no longer public but will not maintain the sign, Sutton said. While one road ceased to be a con- cern, another may use up the town- ship’s paving budget. The board agreed to advertise for a bid to pave Mountain View Drive, which “needs a lot of help,” said Su- pervisor Douglas Ide. Ide said that the two-mile-long road was only oiled and chipped in the 35 years since it was last paved. But with just $8,000 to spend on it, he said, the township might reduce the number of road upgrades. For example, instead . of widening the road to 18 feet, it may be left at 17 feet. “We try to fix what we possibly can,” Ide said. “We’re going to try and get the most bang for our buck.” In other business, the board elected to “opt-in” to the Pennsylvania Uni- form Construction Code and hired Building Inspection Underwriters, Inc. for third party inspections. Zoning Officer Charles Bartlett ex- plained that the process of obtaining a building permit would remain the same. When a resident applies for per- mit, Bartlett would contact BIU to look at the site. The inspection fees would then be billed to the township under an account separate from the general account. The cost of permits will go up since the inspection fee, which would cover a minimum of five inspections, would be included in the permit fee, he said. See LEHMAN, pg 2 12 Pages, 1 Section Calendar ...........: 12 Church 5... icici: 1 Crossword '............ 8 Egitorials ...vc... 0h .. 4 Obituaries... ..... 4, 5 School .....i.. i... 10 SPOFtS.. ....n 0. ns 7-9 ¥ How To Reach Us News: 675-5211 thepost@leader.net 15 N. Main St. Wilkes-Barre PA 18711 Advertising: 970-7102 Subscriptions and Delivery: 829-5000 | tion. Many high quality items have al- ready been received this year from tra- ditional supporters of the auction as well as new contributors, and we are grateful for their support.” Red accessories seem to be highly sought-after this year, and the auction committee wants to make sure that no one is disappointed in their search for that perfect accent piece. A hand- knotted, 5’ by 8, red Baluch wool rug has been donated and comes com- plete with a certificate of authenticity from the Middle East. Some other unique items are an old wooden candy counter from a general store, hand-crafted stained glass win- dows, marble-topped tables, china closets, wicker furniture, tapestry chairs, oil lamps, candle sticks, vari- 58th Annual Back Mountain Memorial Library Auction Thurs.-Sun., July 8-11 On the library grounds, 96 Huntsville Rd., Dallas Donation of items gratefully ac- cepted. Stop by the library, or call 675-1182 if you need pickup ous pieces of framed artwork, stemware, dish sets, pitcher and bowl sets, and more. “Even though Sue Hand will not be producing an on-site painting this year, she will be represented by two of her works of art,” said Boback. “She will be donating an item from her new millennium collection and some- one has donated a numbered print old library when it was on Main Street.” This is the first year that Boback and Michael Klug have co-chaired the antiques committee. For the past 24 years, Ernie Ashbridge has single handedly functioned as the chairman. “Now it’s time for me to pass the torch,” he said, “and it is my job to just advise and mentor those who will follow.” Boback and Klug have accepted the post, but each comes with their own personal reason to do so. “I have been on the board of the li- brary for many years,” said Boback, “and I have watched where every dol- lar goes. This auction is needed more See AUCTION, pg 3 Harvest Festival meeting Tuesday The 2004 Dallas Harvest Festival Committee, and Chairman Rich Fu- faro, have announced that there will be a meeting on Tuesday, June 29, at 7 p.m., at the Dallas Borough Munic- ipal Building, Main Street, Dallas. This year’s event will incorporate the 125th anniversary of Dallas Bor- ough. Volunteers and additional task force members are needed. Questions can be directed to the Dallas Borough Administrative Of- fice at 675-1389. Access the Dallas Borough calen- dar on-line, at www.dallasborough.org, for upcom- ing community events and future meetings. Any community organiza- tion scheduling a future event may also contact the Dallas Borough Ad- ministrative Office. ' IK A ——
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers