URBAN PARTNERS

The Eckley Miners’ Village is an historic “company town” located in Luzerne County, PA. The village is currently owned and managed by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (PHMC), which has restored several of the nearly 150 residential structures for interpretive purposes. The Eckley houses — which are wood frame construction and located above a former coal mine — are in various stages of deterioration and many are in danger of collapse. PHMC retained Urban Partners to determine reuses for the unused residential structures which might help finance their rehabilitation and long-term maintenance. While PHMC was willing to consider a wide range of potential uses that would help stabilize the site and return life to the village, it also required that these uses be compatible with the State’s existing historical and interpretive goals.

Urban Partners examined a range of potential uses for the site including permanent rental housing for local residents, country inn accommodations for visitors, vacation homes (including housing/workshop space for artists), congregate and program housing for special needs populations and special group and commercial conference facilities. Our market analysis indicated that it would be unlikely that any one of these uses would require all of the available buildings in Eckley; however, if grouped collectively, combinations of these uses could allow the rehabilitation of most or all of the properties on the site.