Friday, November 4, 2011

More Preservation

It was a strange coincidence. I happened to be in downtown Wilkes-Barre last Monday, and I snapped off a picture of one of my favorite buildings-- the Irem Temple on North Franklin Street. The next day, a story on the building appeared in the Times~Leader.

The Irem Temple is owned by an arm of the Chamber of Commerce, and it's looking for bids on repairing and stabilizing the mosque. The Chamber sees the building as part of the riverfront project. That's all well and good, and I hope it happens. Here's another idea. Work a deal to make it a performing arts center for nearby King's College. As I've said here in the past, the only organizations with money to expand these days are colleges and universities, Walmart, and dollar stores.

The Irem Temple is a treasure and it should not be lost.