BY ROBERT SWIFT (HARRISBURG BUREAU CHIEF)
Published: March 22, 2011
Source
Marywood now owns former SSSD
HARRISBURG – Marywood University is officially the new owner of the campus of the former Scranton State School for the Deaf.
“They are now in possession of the property,” said Troy Thompson, spokesman for the Department of General Services on Monday.
Marywood paid $500,000 to the state to obtain the 10-acre property in the Green Ridge section under terms of a state law enacted last fall. The money was deposited in the all-purpose state General Fund.
The transfer agreement contains a provision that the property can’t be used as a licensed gambling facility.
The property, which includes nine buildings, housed a state-run residential school for deaf students until state budget problems led to its closure in 2009. The Western Pennsylvania School for the Deaf, the successor to SSSD, leased the campus this academic year.
The $500,000 price set in a sales agreement between DGS and Marywood in July is based on the value of the land. DGS officials have said that an initial $2 million appraisal for the property was offset by the need to rid the campus of environmental problems with asbestos and lead paint and to rehabilitate some buildings.