Pocono News Section

Stroudsburg Recovers from Fires

Stroudsburg Recovers from Fires - Monday, December 10, 2007 at 4:23PM EST

Reported by: Laurie Monteforte
Monday, Dec 10, 2007 @04:23pm EST
STROUDSBURG - A small borough in the Poconos is proving you can come back from disaster. Stroudsburg suffered three major fires in two years. Two of the fire sites are cleaned up. Now there's only one to go - and it's on its way to rising from the ashes.

It's ugly, charred and some would say dangerous, but some say they are happy to see the burned out building on Sixth Street in Stroudsburg.

"Right now it looks not too good but in a couple weeks it will be much more pleasant," said Paul Manata who owns the Manata Grill across the street from the eyesore.

Crews recently started to demolish the crumbling building. Manata doesn't like his customers looking out onto the mess, but he's glad crews have started to clean it up. It's been more than a year since the fire.

It took so long to start the demolition because after the fire the borough went into bankruptcy and just recently the bankruptcy court gave the borough the money they needed to tear down the building.

"I think it's great because it's been burned like that for a while so I think it's good they're tearing it down," said Eric Mesko of Stroudsburg. He eats at Manata about once a week and said he'll like it even better once the view is improved.

Manata is looking forward to all the new customers the demolition and rebuilding could bring. "First we'll have construction workers and they have to eat, then we'll have more people working and they'll have to eat," he said.

The chef/owner is looking forward to the day when his customers can enjoy his famous smoky chicken without having to look at the smoke-stained mess across the street.

Stroudsburg's Borough Manager expects the demolition to be finished within the next few weeks. She does not know what will be put in its place. The property is for sale.