In 1913, W.W. Scranton gave $10,000 to the Century Club of Scranton to build a colonial-style home on Jefferson Avenue for the organization.
His son and daughter-in-law, Worthington and Marion Scranton, donated $1 million in 1954 to establish the Scranton Foundation, which 71 years later is called the Scranton Area Community Foundation.
Now, the Jefferson Avenue property is the foundation’s new permanent home.
“I absolutely feel like it's full circle. It seems almost like fate, the fact that the Scranton family catalyzed both the Scranton Area Community Foundation and the Century Club,” said Laura Ducceschi, president and CEO.
The foundation was housed across the street in the Jewish Community Center. It was a much smaller space, with lower ceilings. The foundation holds and manages a variety of assets for charitable purposes. It also works with local nonprofit organizations.
Ducceschi said their new home allows them to better serve that nonprofit community. The offices of the Century Club, which was founded as a women’s organization in 1911, are still in the home.
“It's welcoming, it's inclusive, it invites the community in and says ‘there's space for you here, you're welcome to convene your boards to come in and learn,'” she said. “It's a space where we can connect more deeply with philanthropists, with other foundations, we can convene around issues that matter.”
Large double front doors open into a foyer. A main hall extends back into an auditorium, one of the original requirements for the Century Club, according to newspaper articles from the time. There is a grand staircase, described as having “leisurely landings and graceful curves,” in a 1914 newspaper article.
The basement, which the article said was a “comfortable English lounging room for men,” is where many of the offices for foundation staff are located.
The home had to be restored. A slideshow of the progress played on a screen in the auditorium as a band performed and people walked through the three floors during an open house and ribbon cutting.
The foundation wanted to make sure the Jefferson Avenue home kept its historical integrity. The Century Club is on the National Register of Historic Places. Some of the art is original to the club. In Ducceschi’s second-floor office a large French-style silver and sapphire mirror looms over a restored fireplace.
They raised $2.2 million for the project, she said.
"But we needed to make it the type of building that could contain a staff that is growing, that is moving forward, that is innovating, that it would have the technology and the type of furniture and the type of setting that would welcome people in," Ducceschi said.
Technology was updated, said Ducceschi. There’s wifi and Smartboards to help nonprofits with their meetings. A large room on the second floor is full of long meeting tables. In the garden room natural light streams through antique windows to illuminate high tops and couches.
"We can truly say to organizations 'you can come in here and you can host meetings and you can learn' and we're going to have the equipment for you to do it," she said.
The elevator was put in before the foundation took over, but the parking and the back of the home is now more accessible, she added.
The foundation may have Scranton in its name but their work extends beyond Lackawanna County.
“We can't help but think regionally. We all need to think regionally. We partner with nonprofits, with foundations in other areas," she said. "And the thing is, we serve donors that have desires to meet, to have their charitable mission go outside Lackawanna County. And so we want to fulfill that.”
A legacy lives on
The foundation's new location is symbolic for Ducceschi. The Jefferson Avenue home honors the Scrantons, who were catalysts for both organizations.
“I also think that the foundation, any community foundation, is a reflection of the strength of the community that it serves. And I can't say enough about the strength and the resilience of this community. And if we didn't have all partners at the table for this, this wouldn't have happened," she said.
