SHAMOKIN - City council is awaiting word on a grant application that, if approved, would be used to make repairs to Shamokin's seven decaying outdoor public staircases.
Combined with continuing improvements at Claude E. Kehler Community Park and objectives for the American Legion Building downtown, council members are taking steps to improve some of Shamokin's core infrastructure.
There are no concrete plans in the works to spend even a dollar, be it local or state money, on the staircase repairs; however, an application for $500,000 is pending with state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources (DCNR) to be used toward the creation of Shamokin's branch of a proposed regional walking trail.
Some of the grant funding would be used toward restoration of one or more of the seven staircases, Steve Bartos, city clerk, said Friday.
If approved, he said the city would be required to match either 20 percent or 50 percent of the grant total - $100,000 or $250,000.
Apart from making the long-closed staircases functional once again, Mayor George Rozinskie agreed that the restoration project could go a long way toward preserving a link to the city's past and rekindling a bit of municipal pride.
"I think the people of Shamokin deserve that," Rozinskie said.
"They've been neglected for many, many years," he said of the staircases.
99 and Patsy
Bartos pegged the city's most visible set, the "99 Steps" at Lincoln and Liberty streets, as the most likely of the seven to get a face lift.
The other staircases are the "Patsy Steps" in the Fifth Ward and those on Clay, Cameron, Packer, North Liberty and Orange streets.
Some of the staircases were built between the mid-1930s and early-1940s as projects by the Works Progress Administration.
The staircases were looked over last fall by officials of Pennsylvania Historical Museum Commission. C&D Waterproofing Corp., Bloomsburg, was later brought in to create a cost estimate, which topped $750,000 to restore all seven staircases.
The total cost has Bartos thinking that staggered restoration projects would be the way to proceed.
Renovations include repairing cracked stone, bent railings and spillways, as well as rebuilding risers and landings. The goal, Bartos said, would be to restore some of the staircases to their original looks - such as the "99 Steps" - and bring others up to code.
Contractors bidding on the work - if the project comes to pass - will be required to be certified by the National Park Service for restoration work on historical properties, Bartos said.
$7,500 could net $1.7M
The city has spent $7,500 on engineering services and grant writing services for three projects. If all three approved, it would net $1.7 million for the city.
A grant application is pending for $1.1 million for the historic restoration and preservation of the stone wall of the Shamokin Creek channel following last September's historic flooding. Another $50,000 grant application is pending for the installation of windows at the Legion Building.
"If we can get just one (grant) we've done fabulously," Bartos said. "If we get all three, Shamokin gets a nice amount of infrastructure funding to improve quality-of-life elements for city residents."
Upgrades at Claude Kehler park were also paid for with grant funding. Contractors are expected to begin the installation of sidewalks on Arch Street, between Sixth Street and the railroad tracks, later this month.
The city could gain some advantages in the future when it comes to grant funding as officials are in the process of readying an application with the National Park Service to have a portion of the downtown district designated as a historic district with the National Historic Register.
That application is to be submitted by Sept. 1.
If Shamokin were named to the register, grant funding and tax credits would be made available to the city and property owners within the historic district for restoration projects. There are, however, restrictions on structural and aesthetic changes as a result of being listed on the register.