751 Comments for Hotel Sterling

It's still there. CityVest is fighting the city to not demolish it. Again NO MONEY which seems to be the case for all cities in North East PA.

I actually worked here around 1971.......the place was kind of run down then.....the room you're showing was the "Crystal Ballroom" and was the
largest reception room in the hotel. The larger weddiing receptions were done here. By today's standards it was a little tacky, but probably
for the 1960's or early 70's was about the best the valley had to offer.

Still standing, no money to demolish it.

The reason things got swanker higher up was because of no air conditioning. Higher equals cooler back then.

Come to my town... It's full of them!:-)

As of Sept 21, 2012, the Citizen's Voice (paper) reported in an article of theirs that the county will discuss Sterling demolition funding next week... projected demolition cost -$486,000 to $1m based on who gets the bid. I guess that's why it's really still standing -they say they can't afford to tear it down. Just like they can't afford to fix it up...there's always a way, just not enough wealthy ones to care enough. I remember a few years ago seeing some people on that sidewalk on the corner with signs..."Save Hotel Sterling!"... it seems like the place fizzled out with the coal mining industry in this area. I know it would be a fortune to fix up, but the end result would be phenominal. Personally, I would pay just to walk through the door and see the end result and to relive some of our wonderful, if not sometimes twisted past...

GAH!! THEY TORE IT DOWN?!

Wow this looks great compared to the others.

Ruin... oops.

Why do people always have to Graffiti old buildings. They run everything. What are they trying to prove exactly.

Information taken from Wikipedia. Answers: Where the $6 million went, and what the future holds...
The hotel was purchased in a tax sale in 2002 by a non-profit organization named CityVest, who had plans to restore the hotel. Part of these plans included acquiring additional land, including an adjacent parking lot, and after advisement from appropriate professionals, demolishing the Plaza Tower and connector building, and leaving just the original 1897 hotel building. This demolition was completed in 2007. The money to accomplish this, over $6 million, came from federal, state and county government. The idea was to make the property attractive to potential developers. However, CiyVest failed to mothball the original Hotel Sterling, and the building now stands in a state of great decrepitude, and would cost up to $35 million or more to restore. This is aside from the cost of potentially developing the adjacent properties to make the eventual development viable. Such costs could reach $100 million.

During July 2011, CityVest indicated that they failed to attract an investor-developer to the Sterling site, and now wishes to demolish the remaining, original 1897 hotel, and local politicians agree with this course of action. It is expected to cost between $1 and $2 million to demolish the building.

In September 2011, Luzerne County suffered record flooding due to Tropical Storm Lee. Flood waters from the nearby Susquehanna River flooded the Sterling's basement to a height of several feet. While the water eventually drained, it left several inches of mud in the basement, and a subsequent inspection by local engineers determined that that parts the building may be in danger of collapse. This was reported by the Times Leader newspaper.[8] The city of Wilkes-Barre now plans to divert Market street traffic away from the Sterling as reported by the Times Leader.On November 17, 2011, Wilkes Barre City Council voted unanimously on a one million dollar project that would demolish the Hotel Sterling. The Sterling was to be demolished in February 2012.[9] As of May 1, 2012, the building remains standing.In June and July 2012 construction workers are beginning to rip down the building.

It is just weird to see the building like this. The Citizens Voice used to have their business out of there, believe it was their office staff. When I delivered Newspapers, the Old way, I used to have to go down there with my mom to pay them every week. That was 1979, The lobby was beautiful, wish I was more into history then, woul dhave like to look around there more.

Damn, I'm curious what those machines are (far right).

I live in the area of the hotel (see it daily) and it's truley a sad story that our history is being ripped away from us. The original part of the Hotel still stands, but parts of the road and sidewalks all around the place are blocked off, supposedly because the place is so unsafe. However when u drive by the boarded windows look as if tho they have been tappered with. Probably from urban explorers and the homless still looking for somewhere to stay. Anyways CityVest is actually (from what I heard owned by a group of local millionaires and politicans), are former congressman is one the owners. Anyone familiar to this area knows that the last few years have been filled with public scandals. Judges, our former county commissioner and numerous others have been accused, some tried and convicted now sitting in federal prison. Most of the crimes.....bottom line money... just google, kids of cash scandal, Luzerne County. Yes, are judges putting kids in detenton centers and getting kickbacks. My guess ...that $6M they obtained almost a decade ago went into their pockets as this beatiful hotel and this county goes to shit!!!! There have been pro-testers out there to save the hotel but at this point most residents just want something done. The hotel Sterling at this point is the perfect example of this community, years ago it was beatiful and filled with so much promise, now its just a crumbling mess!

Anyone have any shots of the boiler room?