A conflicting wave of emotions is rising as state funding is approved for a reconstruction and redevelopment project in downtown Nanticoke.

The Nantego Development Project is an over $20 million project for the creation of 40 low-cost senior living apartments and retail areas below them. It belongs to a family of related projects that collectively aim to improve the looks, safety, and infrastructural stability of downtown Nanticoke.

In August, State Representative Gerald Mullery (D – Luzerne) and State Senator John Yudichak (D – Luzerne/Carbon) announced the approval of a grant from the Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program (RACP) – a state grant for, according to the state website, “acquisition and construction of regional economic, cultural, civic, recreational, and historical improvement projects.” Additionally, in 2017, casino money grants were also designated to the project, initially funding the multiple-year-long redevelopment initiative for the city.

The project is not without reason, many residents would argue. In the downtown area of Nanticoke, many buildings and storefronts are in unsafe condition, leading to a lack of land value and location desirability. Of the 15 stores on the street, only a handful are occupied by tenants—those including Nardozzo’s Pizza and Reams Chiropractic—with the rest remaining bare and empty. One of the goals of the Nantengo Development Project is to rectify this.

However, although members of the government and many city residents are in support of the initiative, the occupants of the apartments above the storefronts hold to the contrary. In a recent article of the Times Leader, residents of the downtown Nanticoke block stated, regarding the proposed new structure, that they “can’t understand why [the government] wants to build another one.”  In addition, they say—not without reason, at that—that there is no visible reason to construct new properties when existing living spaces are vacant.

In spite of this controversy, however, the State Senator and Representative remain optimistic and supportive of the initiative, with Rep. Mullery saying that the funding “will help to complete the [redevelopment] project, bringing jobs and businesses back to the downtown.” It is the hope of all, residents of downtown Nanticoke and city commuters and employees alike, that should this project proceed—which is almost inevitable for the vast funding and governmental support poured into it— it will help morph Nanticoke from an “upscale trash can” (as a commenter on a year-old WNEP article referred to the city) to a newly flourishing and supportive society.