The Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority is partnering with the Landscape Architecture department at Penn State University to sponsor “The Lackawanna Valley Studio: Heritage as a Catalyst for Sustainable Community Planning and Design.” Using the heritage and history of the Lackawanna Valley, students in this upper-level course will look at community planning and design in a city currently undergoing a transformation. Students will focus on the design of spur trails, trailheads, signage, trail amenities, and green space. Students will present both individual and group projects to LHVA.
On August 31, Professors Ceclia Rusnak and Ken Hendrickson toured the Lackawanna Heritage Valley with their students and LHVA staff. The students took the Lackawanna Coal Mine Tour; visited the remains of the Gravity Slope Colliery in Archbald, the Co-op Farmer’s Market in Scranton, and Old Forge Bore Hole, the site of acid mine drainage pollution into the Lackawanna River; followed the existing and proposed alignment of the Lackawanna River Heritage Trail (LRHT); and traveled through Waymart and South Canaan to see active farmland. The day ended with an ice-cream stop at Keating’s Heaven’s Gate. Photos from the day’s adventures can be found on LHVA’s flickr photosteam at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lackawannaheritage/sets/72157622091789151/.