A ribbon cutting Wednesday at Jim Thorpe Borough’s new public works garage closed out more than a decade of planning, a pandemic-era setback and a multimillion-dollar federal investment that borough officials said will pay dividends for taxpayers well into the future.

The facility at 701 W. Broadway, financed in large part through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Development program, replaces a cramped, aging garage on Ninth Street that workers and equipment alike had long since outgrown. Borough Manager Maureen Sterner said the need was unambiguous.

“Any of you who know our old public service garage, you will certainly agree that this is desperately needed,” Sterner said. “It was a small garage. They outgrew the garage. Some of the equipment outgrew the garage. The equipment is larger today than what it used to be.”

The new building includes two large salt and cinder sheds that expand the borough’s material storage capacity significantly beyond what was possible at the old location — a capability, Sterner noted, that the past two severe winters made impossible to ignore. Room for future expansion was also built into the design.

“Every piece of equipment and every tool now has a home,” Sterner said. “They can find things so much more easily. They can complete their tasks more efficiently and more effectively.”

Major federal investment

Jim Thorpe Borough Council awarded contracts totaling $9.69 million in 2023 for the new 26,000-square-foot, nine-bay garage and the companion renovation of Memorial Hall. USDA Rural Development provided approximately $4.7 million in loans and grants across the two projects, with additional HUD funding of $1.468 million. The borough contributed roughly $500,000 of its own funds, aided by interim financing from Jim Thorpe Neighborhood Bank.

USDA Rural Development provided the bulk of the funding, both as grant money and financing, for both the garage and a companion renovation of Memorial Hall. Together, the agency committed approximately $4.7 million to the two projects. Chris Hoffman, just eight days into his tenure as Pennsylvania State Director of USDA Rural Development, said the garage embodies what the agency was created to do.

“From rural development, this is really what we’re all about,” Hoffman said. “It’s about providing money, dollars, expertise to be able to make projects like this come together.”

Hoffman acknowledged reviewing the project’s history for the first time in his new role, calling it a case study in what it takes to see a complex municipal effort through.

“A community takes a lot of partners and a lot of people to work together to actually make something like this come to fruition,” he said.

The road was not smooth. Discussion of a new garage predated Sterner’s arrival at the borough in 2016, and after years of feasibility studies and council deliberations, the COVID-19 pandemic brought momentum to a halt in 2020 and sent material costs sharply higher.

“This thing goes back with Memorial Hall and this garage over almost 10 years, and there’s been a lot of ups and downs through the project, and we all know what happened in 2020,” Hoffman said.

Sterner said borough council remained committed throughout.

“Council was determined, and they dedicated themselves to moving this forward and bringing the Public Works Department into the present,” she said.

‘A savings on every taxpayer’

State Rep. Doyle Heffley, R-Carbon, was among the legislators attending the ceremony.

“You look at the investment that the borough made in this building — about half a million dollars — but then the rest of the puzzle that came together — that’s a huge investment,” Heffley said. “That’s a savings on every taxpayer in Jim Thorpe Borough.”

Heffley also argued that rural communities like Jim Thorpe depend on federal partnerships to maintain aging infrastructure that would be impossible to fund locally.

“If you live in Carbon County, you’re rural Pennsylvania, you’re rural America,” he said. “These projects are so important, and it gives a safe place for people to work — people that do this public works — because it’s important that they have a place to park the equipment, to store the equipment.”

Bipartisan roots

Several speakers credited the project’s federal momentum to an early act of cross-party cooperation. When the garage first came up for discussion, Congressman Dan Meuser and Sen. Bob Casey, a Republican and Democrat respectively, both backed the effort.

Carbon County Commissioner Michael Sofranko opened the ceremony with a prayer asking that the building “stand as a symbol of progress and reliability for the entire town of Jim Thorpe.”

“When it comes to this borough garage, this benefits everybody,” Sofranko said. “This benefits across the board. And you know what? The both of them (Meuser and Casey) were 100% behind us.”

Sofranko, who served on Jim Thorpe Borough Council before going on to become mayor and later a county commissioner, said he had been making the same promise to public works employees for four decades.

“Before I was commissioner, before I was mayor, I was councilman, and I always said to the public works, we’re going to build the biggest, best borough garage this county has to offer,” Sofranko said. “Congratulations, public service. You finally did it. Took us 40 years, but you’re here.”

The project was designed by Spillman Farmer Architects and managed by KM Zurawa. Prime contractors were Bracy Construction, KC Mechanical, Reading Mechanical and Larry McCullion and Son.

Jim Thorpe Neighborhood Bank provided interim financing for the project and served as Wednesday’s sponsor. Sterner also recognized past council members Greg Strubinger and Jay Miller for their sustained commitment to the project through multiple council terms.

The borough received a congratulatory letter from U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., and drew support from state Sen. Dave Argall as well.