Thorpe owners want to fix High St. steps

One of two Jim Thorpe property owners responsible for a now closed set of steps leading from High Street to West Broadway said last week they are nearing completion on a plan to present to borough council regarding future use.

Tom Loughery, owner of the Three Towers Apartments and a portion of the High Street steps, didn’t unveil details of the plan, but did say the issue “needed a resolution.”

Borough officials previously maintained the steps, which have long been used by the public as a way to access the downtown area, until a slip-and-fall insurance claim prompted them to have a survey done.

After the survey determined the borough didn’t own the steps, Loughery and Michael Rivkin, co-owner of the Parsonage, the other owner of the steps, closed them because of liability issues.

“They were in a kind of no man’s land on the deeds,” Loughery said. “We always assumed a property owner owned right up to the steps and then the next property owner picked up on the other side of the steps. There was never a proper survey done when Michael or I bought our properties.”

In previous meetings, borough officials have said the steps would need significant maintenance, but Loughery isn’t so sure.

“I think they’re solid,” he said. “I don’t know that taxes would have to go up to solve this.”

Councilwoman Edith Lukasevich suggested the people with the biggest interest in opening the steps conduct fundraisers to help raise money for their repair. Loughery said that has been one of the ideas discussed among the stakeholders.

“I agree they’re an important part of the history of the town,” Lukasevich said.

With the steps unable to be used, residents of High Street are left to go at least a half-mile out of their way to get downtown, Loughery said, or be forced to fight for a parking spot in an already crowded tourist area.

His latest comments came after Jim Thorpe resident William Maehrer told council not to budge.

“Look long and hard before letting the property owners dump this in your lap,” Maehrer said. “Leave them closed.”

Unlike Loughery, Maehrer is concerned about the condition of the steps.

“If the borough takes them, it could be looking at new railings, fencing, lighting or whatever else it might take,” Maehrer said. “I know it may be a hardship for some people, but if the borough had to increase taxes for everyone including in the Heights or on the east side, that would be a slap in the face to everyone who lives in this town.”

Loughery said he and Rivkin aren’t trying to push the steps on anybody.

“We want to do what is right for the neighborhood,” he added. “Those people need a way to get downtown. The steps are a part of the infrastructure of this town.”

According to Rivkin, “There is a clearly defined pattern of maintenance by the borough from the time it paid for and constructed them in 1885 and, as recently as 2015, it received federal grant money to do work on the upper portion of the steps.”

“We want to work together instead of being adversaries,” Loughery told council. “You’ll be hearing from us soon.”