Goodwill Industries of Northeast Pennsylvania is negotiating the cost to plug a soft silt patch beneath the former North Scranton Junior High School before moving forward with a $22.6 million transformation from an abandoned building to apartments.
"We're as anxious to get this baby done as anyone," said Gerald Langan, Goodwill Industries executive director. "Probably more."
Goodwill recently discovered the small patch of silt beneath the school, which will be converted to 58 apartments for residents 55 and older. Three vendors are competing for the job of filling in the silt, though Mr. Langan would not say who those vendors are.
Right now, the price tag is around $400,000. The project is expected to fall within budget, though the expense was unexpected.
Mr. Langan said he is "99.5" percent sure the building will not move, citing discussions he has had with consultants hired to evaluate the building's soil.
"The guy who has our geo-evaluation said the building hasn't moved in 80 years," Mr. Langan said. "He doesn't think it will ever move."
The project is mainly funded by tax credits Goodwill Industries received in April 2012 from the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency. Goodwill Industries sold those credits to investors for $17 million.
Attempts to revitalize the shuttered school stretch back through nearly two decades of delays, criticism and postponed plans. The building was in use since it was built in 1924 until it closed in 1988 because of the threat of mine subsidence. The building was permanently closed in 1991.
Once work begins, it is expected to take a year to 14 months to complete, contractor Quandel Construction Group Inc. said. There is no start date yet, Mr. Langan said.
"We waited this long. We want to do it right," Mr. Langan said.
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