An official from the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry who was vocal about advocating for gaming funds for the historic Irem Temple building was fired late Wednesday afternoon.
Ross Macarty, vice president of community development, real estate and special projects for the chamber, said he was fired at 4:55 p.m. by chamber CEO Bill Moore. The decision to fire him came the day that the Commonwealth Financial Authority announced it awarded $12,499,058 in gaming funds to Luzerne County projects. The $2.4 million the chamber and city requested to restore the Irem Temple building was not one of the projects approved.
Macarty said chamber officials said he was fired for being too vocal in shedding too much light on an "embarrassing issue" for the chamber: the Irem Temple building.
"I have not spoken to anyone who doesn't wholeheartedly agree with the restoration of the building, but unfortunately, it's sitting in the hands of an organization that can't do anything about it and doesn't have the ability or interest to focus on it," Macarty said.
The Greater Wilkes-Barre Development Corp., an arm of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business and Industry, bought the building in 2005 for $992,000 using a combination of federal, state and chamber funds.
Macarty was active in advocating for $2.4 million in state gaming funds to bring the building up to code and return it to use. He asked elected officials for their support and also reached out to foundations for additional funding to save the building.
"I feel like I was vilified for going above and beyond the call of duty," Macarty said.