A seven-year vision to develop a new state-of-the-art campus for Scranton Counseling Center became a reality Thursday at the corner of Cedar Avenue and Cherry Street in south Scranton. The ribbon cutting for the new $15 million multi-building complex that provides counseling services to mostly uninsured and underinsured consumers suffering with behavioral health and substance use disorders was held in front of the new campus.

The historic site originally housed The Scranton Button Company, and later became the home of Capitol Records. The conversion to Scranton Counseling Center’s new headquarters preserved the main and adjoining buildings while modernizing the structures and significantly upgrading the service spaces, including everything from the windows to all building systems for the nonprofit’s thousands of annual consumers and staff.

The Counseling Center has moved from its previous cramped and outdated space on Adams Avenue – its home for over 3 decades – that was previously a Sears store. “This bright and modern new home is welcoming, inviting and functional,” relayed Dr. Edward F. Heffron, who retired as president and CEO of the Counseling Center last week. “This was a seven-year labor of love that has many supporters and facilitators to get us to today’s event,” he continued. “This opening is the goal that kept me energized and focused during that time. Once we opened the doors, I felt my mission had been completed.”

Jefferson-Werner LLC is the developer and Hemmler and Camayd the architects of the project that was aided with state and federal funding, including a $4 million state Redevelopment Assistance Capital grant and $7 million in new markets tax credits. Grants from The Moses Taylor Foundation, The Harry & Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, The Hawk Family Foundation, The Margaret Briggs Foundation, Peoples Security Bank and Trust, and Community Support Group added to the financing support of Commonwealth Cornerstone Group and PNC Bank.

A tribute wall planned for the first-floor hallway of the new facility recognizes the various individuals and groups who aided with the project. The tribune wall names the Scranton Counseling Center board members, the elected officials who supported the funding, the foundations and financial entities who are invested, and the architects, engineers and contractors who completed the work.

Developer Charles Jefferson said, “Some projects are more rewarding than others to complete. This campus renovation is a shining example of improving the needs of the marginalized individuals in our community, preserving and modernizing a historic building, revitalizing this section of south Scranton and connecting a wide and diverse stream of funding to make it happen… in a single focus.”

Scranton Counseling Center is a community-based private nonprofit behavioral health provider serving children, adolescents, adults and families with mental health and substance use disorder issues in Lackawanna, Susquehanna and surrounding counties. The Center is northeast Pennsylvania’s largest integrated provider with over seven decades of quality accessible services for those in need.