DUNMORE, Pa. — Dunmore's Drinker Street has seen a lot of change over the years but most recently a change in landscape.
The razed buildings near the intersection with S. Apple Street clearing a path for what could be a new era in this part of town.
"When I first opened 25 years ago, you couldn't park, people were coming up and down the street all day and it was packed," said John Gregory, owner of Sweeper Central on Drinker Street.
Gregory welcomes the empty lot next to his building where Friedman's Clothing used to be because of exactly what is planned for it.
A 40-unit senior living facility tentatively called "Bucktown Center".
"We hope that these new people coming in will re-stimulate the corners and he's also having a new storefront in the building next to me, so that will bring in even more people," Gregory added.
The "he" Gregory referred to is Mike Kelly, the president of Senior Health Care Solutions. He is the project's developer.
"I'm a Dunmore guy, born and raised here and I just never had the right property to develop. I wanted it to be as close to the center of town as I can it's very important for seniors to be able to walk to the physician, stores, have access to all that kind of stuff," Kelly told Newswatch 16.
Kelly actually found two spots right off of Dunmore corners. The one on Drinker and a lot adjacent to it on Chestnut Street. Kelly's planning an assisted living facility there with 50 units.
The project would be Dunmore's first assisted living building. The two projects together could bring 90 new residents to this part of the borough.
"I hope that It's crowded and I hope that they're busy. I hope all the vendors and all the commercial businesses do really well from it because I think there's going to be a lot of spillover," Kelly added.
Kelly said he hopes to break ground on at least one of the lots before the end of this year and start moving people in by the end of next year.