Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport Board Meets in New Catering Venue

Feb. 24—DUPONT — The landlords got a taste of their new tenant's venue during an airport board meeting Thursday.

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton International Airport board met inside the Venue by Culinary Creations, a new catering locale near the airport.

Luzerne and Lackawanna counties, joint operators of the airport, own the building, which for years housed the Tipsy Turtle Restaurant. The restaurant closed in December 2021, unable to find adequate staff.

In October, the board approved a lease with Metz Catering PA LLC. An affiliated company, Metz Culinary Management, operates a Dunkin' and Lucky's Craft Food and Drink, the airport's main restaurant, inside the terminal. The lease calls for Metz Catering to pay the airport 10% of annual gross revenues earned at the Venue, according to a copy of the lease.

Rick Sell, Metz Culinary's vice president of restaurant operations, said the Venue will benefit from the location, next to the border between the counties.

"We think it's going to be able to serve the local communities on either side very, very well," Sell told the board. "We're blessed with a large footprint here. So we think it's going to be very versatile space. ... We have the Best Western Plus right here, recently renovated in early 2020. They offer 99 hotel rooms, eight suites and we have plenty of parking."

Kathi Bankes, director of catering for the Venue, said she wants to see "this building being full every day."

"That is my vision, and I really do believe that that can happen because we are already getting calls for breakfast," Bankes said. "Obviously there's a need for a venue like this in our area. The beauty we have is this parking, because there's a lot of venues, but there's not a lot of parking."

The venue can handle at least 165 people comfortably, she said.

After the meeting, Rak Patel, who owns the Best Western, said he thinks the Venue and hotel will help each other.

"It'll be a symbiotic relationship where ... the business they get may turn into some room nights to catering events, weddings, conferences, things like that," Patel said.

In other business, the board:

* Heard airport director Carl Beardsley Jr. say passenger departures grew to 13,699 in January from 12,144 in January 2021, a 12.8% increase.

* Awarded a $789,000 contract to Rise Construction, Jefferson Twp., for the construction of a new hangar where Geisinger Health System helicopters will park. Geisinger's 10-year lease requires the system to pay $15.12 a square foot a year for about 6,500 square feet.

* Hired Nicole Bowling, Blakely, as an accounts payable specialist.

* Hired Peter Mataloni, Dunmore, as a maintenance staffer.

* Honored Kristen Barone, an accounts receivables specialist, with a plaque for 10 years of service.

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