3/12/25
 
SCRANTON, Pa. – It is a building steeped in tradition and history. A structure that has contained championship celebrations, heartbreaking defeats, raucous concerts, presidential visits, and boisterous campaign rallies within its walls of iron and concrete. A haven for the local community to celebrate sport, activity, and civic engagement.
 
For 75 years, the intersection of Jefferson Avenue and Vine Street in downtown Scranton has been occupied by the massive, hulking figure that is the Lackawanna College Student Union, formerly the Scranton Catholic Youth Center.
 
If you're from Scranton or the surrounding area, however, you probably only know it by three letters: C-Y-C.
 
"Playing at the CYC felt like playing at Madison Square Garden," says University of Scranton women's basketball coach Benjamin O'Brien, a Dunmore native. O'Brien played in the gym for Dunmore High School in several marquee games, and he later coached there in several more primetime matchups as the head coach of the Dunmore Lady Bucks girls' basketball team.
 
"If you were playing there, it was a big game in front of a big crowd."
 
Veteran sportswriter Scott Walsh, a longtime scribe with the Scranton Times-Tribune, agrees with that assessment.
 
"I think it holds such a reverence among past and present local athletes because if a game was played there, it meant something," says Walsh, "It wasn't just your typical game in a typical gymnasium. If your game was held there, it was an event."
 
Though it was conceived as part of a multi-point construction plan hatched by Bishop William J. Hafey of the Diocese of Scranton in the 1940's, the concept of the Scranton Catholic Youth Center was something Bishop Hafey hoped would reach beyond the church.
 
"While we call it a Catholic Youth Center, I hope there will be no misunderstanding – it is for all youth, including older persons who have become young in spirit," Hafey was reported as saying by the Scranton Times-Tribune at the ground-breaking ceremony in November 1948.
 

 
























In the years leading up to the first shovel plunging into the ground where the foundation would be laid, Bishop Hafey had laid out a multi-pronged plan to acquire and/or build centers to reach into eleven counties in the diocese. Among the intended projects were youth centers in Scranton, Olyphant, and Carbondale, as well as a new wing to what was then Mercy Hospital in Scranton, a new hospital in Hazleton, new buildings and programs for King's College in Wilkes-Barre, and more Catholic education centers in parts of the diocese.
 
The crown jewel, however, and probably the most lasting reminder of the post-war influence and power of the Scranton Diocese, would be the Scranton Catholic Youth Center.
 
The "state-of-the-art" facility would be one of the most "completely equipped youth centers in Pennsylvania," according to the Scranton Times-Tribune. Amongst the included amenities would be a 12-lane bowling alley, a pool, a large meeting room and auditorium with a stage and a 300-persons capacity, and the gymnasium itself, with two lower levels and two upper decks, plus a balcony, all totaling 4,000+ capacity.
 
The ground-breaking was the first of a series of important milestones for the construction of the building, with the lot being cleared and the foundation being laid throughout the winter and early spring, and the steel structure beginning to take shape at the beginning of June 1949.
 

Bishop Hafey, along with Bishop Henry. T. Klonowski, blessed the cornerstone during a ceremony in July of that year. The cornerstone, still prominently displayed outside the building today, has "1949" etched into its face, with a Catholic cross engraved above it.
 
On March 12^th, 1950, an estimated crowd of 7,500 people jammed themselves into the brand-new facility for the dedication ceremonies. The final estimated cost was said to be in the neighborhood of a million dollars, which equates to $13.2 million in today's money. In either era, it's a staggering amount of money and a testament to the might of the Scranton Diocese in the post-World War II years.
 

 































Just a few days later, on Saturday, March 18^th, the first official contest was held inside the spacious gym. Fittingly, it was a basketball doubleheader. Marywood College women's basketball played College Misericordia in the first-ever game at the CYC, winning 32-30. The nightcap was the University of Scranton men's team defeating King's College, 66-63, in overtime.
 
Going through the extensive history of the events the CYC has showcased and hosted could be a book all on its own. Suffice it to say that the space became the home for youth dances, birthday parties, recreational athletics, swimming lessons, handcrafts, hobby workshops, and youth game nights, as well as plays, concerts, wrestling shows, boxing exhibitions, and state visits for the next 75 years.
 
Former World Heavyweight boxing champion, Larry Holmes, got his professional start inside the CYC. Liberace, the Boston Pops, circus shows, Harry Belafonte, the Grateful Dead, Blue Oyster Cult, Billy Joel, Dionne Warwick, Johnny Cash, the Beach Boys… the entertainment was all across the spectrum. Ozzy Ozbourne got banned in 1983 for his "satanic" themes. The WWF later was banned in the 90's as the company entered its Attitude Era.
 
Oh, and there was basketball. Plenty of that.
 

 

































Wilt Chamberlain, one of the greatest players in basketball history, appeared in April of 1960 for an all-star event. Meadowlark Lemon and the Harlem Globetrotters put on basketball displays at the CYC. Legendary Syracuse basketball coach Jim Boeheim played for six seasons in the Eastern Professional Basketball League as a member of the Scranton Miners and the Scranton Apollos. The EPBL also saw names like Hubie Brown, K.C. Jones, John Chaney, and Paul Arizin, amongst others, make the trek to Scranton. Tom McMillen, once the #1 HS recruit in the country, played in the gym with Mansfield HS in 1969, before going on to play for the University of Maryland, and then in the NBA for eleven seasons.
 
The CYC was, at its heart, the premier venue for basketball in Northeastern Pennsylvania. It probably doesn't get there, though, without the help of the Lynett Tournament.
 
The Scranton CYC became the home of the newly conceived Lynett Memorial Basketball Tournament in 1951. In Guy Valvano's "The Lynett Legacy," which details the lengthy history of the Lynett Tournament, he mentions the conversations held about how the tourney came to be.
 
Former Scranton Central HS athletic star Edward Kairis Sr. was named as the CYC physical education director in January 1950, two months before the building opened. He spent much of his first year trying to come up with a showcase event for the CYC to host. He felt they needed a linchpin, marquee event that the CYC could own. According to Valvano's book, highlighting high school basketball was the obvious choice:
 
"Speaking from his position as a teacher of physical education, Kairis said to Bishop Hafey, 'What you have here is something more like Madison Square Garden instead of a youth center. Since it's such a big arena, and with the popularity of high school basketball in this area, it would be a good idea to conduct a tournament. You've got an arena that's not being used to its full potential.'"
 
Not long after that, the Lynett Tournament, so named in honor of Edward J. Lynett and his son, William R. Lynett, former editors and publishers of the Scranton Times-Tribune, came into being. It featured three separate tournaments with 24 teams competing across ten days in March of 1951.
 
The tournament has gone through several changes over the years since then, but the one constant thread running through the Lynett Tournament history was that its tradition was forever linked with its ancestral home of the CYC.
 
But the Lynett was just one (admittedly large) cog in the machine that was the CYC and its lasting legacy.
 
It was the venue of choice for rivalry games that needed a little extra capacity, grudge matches for league or district championships, or even state playoff tilts that galvanized their respective communities and packed the gym to the rafters.
 
"There is very little room between the floor and the start of the bleachers," says Joby Fawcett, longtime sportswriter with the Scranton Times-Tribune, "The dimly lit upper section makes the game the centerpiece, creating a backdrop of excitement."
 
"When the gymnasium is filled, the energy resonates throughout the building."
 
It wasn't just limited to high school events, either, as local colleges consistently played, as well as the aforementioned professional outfits in the Scranton Miners and the Scranton Apollos. From October through April, you'd be hard-pressed to find a night where the gym wasn't holding some sort of event.
 
Scott Walsh details one of his favorite memories, which comes from an Atlantic Basketball Association contest in 1993. The Scranton Miners were down eight with 1:49 to go in double overtime against the Pottsville Stingers, and the Miners rallied to get within a point with one second left and an inbounds play in front of their bench.
 
"Kevin Houston, who played for Army, threw an alley-oop inbounds pass toward the basket, and Marvin Andrews streaked down the lane, went up, and slammed the ball home before the buzzer sounded," recalled Walsh. "One of the greatest basketball plays I've witnessed."
 
That's just one example of the games and plays that have populated the iconic history of the CYC.
 
O'Brien and his Dunmore Lady Bucks teams made many forays into the state tournament, and much of their playoff history is tied up with the historic venue. One game stands out in particular for him.
 
"The eastern final vs. Mid Valley was one of the greatest events that I have ever seen at the CYC," says O'Brien, referencing the 2011 PIAA Class 2A Girls semi-final, where Dunmore and Mid Valley met to decide who would play for the state championship. There was only one place for a game of that importance to be played.
 

 






















Both teams packed the Lackawanna College Student Union, as the CYC was then known, and the feverish crowd and high-stakes basketball was exactly the type of game that the old building excels at showcasing. Dunmore won 51-46, and it left an impression on O'Brien forever.
 
"That game would have been a big game anywhere," says O'Brien, "but the CYC made that game, in my mind, one of the greatest, if not, the greatest high school girls' basketball game in our area's history."
 
That's a bold statement, but, time and time again, the CYC has a way of bringing out the best in the performers on the floor.
 
"Through more than 25 years of covering high school sports, I have seen athletes raise their level of play," says Fawcett, "…inspired by wanting to leave a lasting impression in the hallowed building."
 
The historic venue, with its lofty ceilings, second-level seating, concrete and brick walls and exposed steel beams, is a product of a bygone era. Whether you're playing, coaching, or just watching the action unfold, you can't help but feel the presence of those who came before. The "ghosts" of the CYC always seem to appear. A missed free throw on the basket in front of the vast balcony seating behind it, a peculiar bounce that sends the ball careening out of bounds, or even a player running at breakneck speed to make a play and then crashing through the doors under the basket and straight out into the alley behind the gym…you'll typically see some sign that the spirits of those thousands of players and coaches from years past are present and making it known.
 
For a lot of local athletes and the teams they play for, being at the CYC is more than just history in the area, it's a family affair. Generations of families, from fresh-faced high school athletes in the 1950's to their children in the 1980's to their grandchildren in the 2010's and even today, the local ties to the CYC reach back to its humble beginnings.
 
"Our teams (at Dunmore) always talked about the history of the CYC, and most of our players already knew it from their own families," says O'Brien, "We always talked about it, and I don't recall talking that way about any other venue we ever played in."
 
Bucknell women's basketball coach, Trevor Woodruff, played a famous game against Dunmore in the PIAA playoffs in 1995, as his Wyalusing Area Rams upset the Bucks in a first-round showdown. Naturally, that game took place inside the CYC. Woodruff, who went on to coach at Delaware Valley, Lackawanna College, Misericordia University, and the University of Scranton, has spent many a night watching basketball from the bleachers, scouting his next potential recruiting target or just taking a game in.
 
"The CYC is a magical place that connects generations of people throughout the basketball world," says Woodruff, "It remains the best place to play or watch a big game in NEPA."
 
Riverfront Sports Executive Director Kevin Clark, another Dunmore native, has ties to the venue as both a player and a coach. Clark's seven siblings, his father, and his great-grandfather, plus numerous cousins, have all played in some capacity inside the CYC. After his playing days, Clark coached inside the gymnasium as the head men's basketball coach at Lackawanna College, and now, with Riverfront and his NEPA Elite AAU basketball program, Clark has plenty of chances to send young players inside to feel the experience of playing in that temple to roundball.
 
"The CYC is the Mecca of basketball in Northeast PA," says Clark, "Growing up, the CYC was the place that every kid wanted a chance to play in. Just the feeling of walking into that gym gives you chills, knowing that you could showcase your talent on the same floor as some of the area's greats from the past."
 
Despite that reverence and status amongst the sporting community in Northeast Pennsylvania, there came a time where, after 50 years of dutiful service to the community at large, the iconic venue was potentially on its way out of commission.
 

On January 12, 2001, it was reported in the pages of the Scranton Times-Tribune that the CYC would officially close on June 30^th of that year. The venue had struggled with declining money coming in, and, as Scranton High School planned to move its athletics teams' practices to its brand-new facility and school campus on Providence Road, a large chunk of yearly rental money was going away.
 
The articles lamenting the possible demise of the CYC came out in full force, with features of Scranton residents and area luminaries sharing their fond memories of the incredible events and performances that the CYC held, and pleading op-eds dotted the pages of the local press, asking for local authorities, representatives in Congress, basketball legends…anybody that was reading, really, to step in and save the CYC.
 
Along with the endless stream of print, the rumor mill ramped up on who would take on the struggling CYC to keep the historic site going. Lackawanna College was a prominent player in those rumors, but the estimated costs just to get the building up to code were too much to bear, so the College and the Diocese couldn't come to an agreement, and the building closed on June 30^th, 2001.
 
Less than five months later, the announcement was made that Lackawanna College had agreed to lease and rent the space from the Diocese of Scranton for an indefinite period. For two years, an uneasy agreement rested between the Diocese, which desperately wanted to offload the aging facility, and Lackawanna College, which wanted a home, but wasn't willing to meet the price.
 
Eventually, the Diocese got tired of waiting, and put the building on the market in June 2003, with a price tag of $580K. For ten months, the historic CYC stood in the middle of a showdown between the Diocese of Scranton and Lackawanna College. Bishop James C. Timlin, in charge of the Diocese at the time, was reportedly adamant that the asking price was a "steal" and that the property was worth "a lot more," than what was listed. Lackawanna College believed that, between what the Diocese wanted and the estimated $600K it would take to get the building back into shape, that the price for the historic building was still too steep.
 
So, time marched on, the building sat without a bid, and then, finally, in April 2004, it was announced that Lackawanna College would take on the CYC. The College had agreed to pay $425K for the facility, a far cry from the Diocese's asking price. Lackawanna had also pledged nearly $1M in planned upgrades in and around the facility.
 
And so, from that moment on, the CYC, a 53-year-old building in failing health, got a fresh coat of paint and a complete overhaul to enter its new phase of life: The bustling, permanent home for the Lackawanna College Falcons.
 
In the time since the College bought the CYC, the gymnasium and the building have received a facelift. The bowling alley was ripped out and turned into a large meeting area, the so-named Student Union, for Lackawanna College's students and various athletics squads. The pool area was turned into a fitness center to serve the Lackawanna College community. The Lynett Lyceum auditorium was revamped into the Lackawanna College wrestling room. The bathrooms were redone, the offices were refurbished, the hallways painted…and, of course, the gym was completely revitalized.
 

 





















The warped, dark wood floor was replaced with a fresh, crisp hardwood, adorned with the Lackawanna College logos and the Scranton city skyline. The old, discolored lights that buzzed and gave the basketball action inside a blue and purple haze were replaced and updated. The seating was re-done with new wooden benches going row-by-row up the lower levels to the top of the stand. The old roll-out wooden bleachers were all replaced except for a middle section across from the team benches, a nod to the past. The scoreboards were replaced and updated; the locker rooms were re-done…there was a lot that went in to bringing the Student Union into the new age.
 
"Hats off to the folks at Lackawanna College for their efforts to update and improve that venerable facility," says Woodruff, whose one-and-only season coaching at Lackawanna College ended literally the month before Lackawanna was announced as the buyer. He and his Falcons, region champions and national tournament qualifiers, played their season at the Dickson City Civic Center…a nice facility, but not nearly the Broadway stage that was the CYC.
 
Joby Fawcett says that the changes made by Lackawanna College blend the old gym feel with the new gym needs.
 
"It is a first-class facility, but it embraces its history. It has always been the showpiece for the region during basketball season," says Fawcett, "It gives fans a modern-day feel with a touch of nostalgia."
 
Scott Walsh says that, despite the cavernous opening when you first walk in, the coziness is what sets the stage for the gymnasium.
 
"The coziness gives it its mystique. The upper deck hovering over the court and the closeness of the lower-level stands to the court put the fans right on top of the action," says Walsh. "I think, too, the fact that it's on the second level of the building, not the ground floor. All of that makes it unique."
 
Clark, who coached for two seasons at Lackawanna from 2014 through 2016, felt like he had a recruiting advantage when it came to the Student Union and its incredible aura.
 
"We always made the gym the last stop on our campus tours," says Clark. "It was really hard for a kid to come into that gym and not want to play in it. Quite honestly, it made recruiting feel a little bit easier, knowing that you had the best gym in JUCO in your back pocket."
 
Now in firm control of Lackawanna College, the Student Union continues to churn out high-level athletic competition. Granted, maybe not at the rate it once did, but the gym is still abuzz from September through April with a flurry of activity. From Lackawanna women's volleyball matches, to morning training sessions for the Police Academy students at Lackawanna College, to the men's and women's basketball programs, to Lackawanna wrestling hosting its district tournament, to a regional high school basketball showcase, to those Scranton/West Scranton grudge matches, to the commencement of Lackawanna College's graduating class every spring, to finally, of course, the Lynett Tournament.
 
Though it goes by the official title of the Lackawanna College Student Union, there's no denying the history of the old CYC, and its place of reverence in Northeastern Pennsylvania sports. Though Bishop Hafey may not have intended it to work out quite like this, perhaps he can rest easy knowing that the mission of the Catholic Youth Center he planned all those years ago, that the building be for all youth, including those young in spirit, has endured and been renewed in the hands of Lackawanna College.
 
Cheers to the Student Union for 75 years, and the countless memories it has helped provide. Here's hoping to 75 more years, with more iconic performances and moments that will only add to the historic legacy of that legendary building.