Scranton, PA Historic Preservation: Historic-Cultural Monuments (2026)

Section 18-49, part of Article VII of Chapter 18, gives the Commission for Architectural and Urban Design Review authority over cultural monuments and works of art specifically because they sit inside historic districts or on City-owned land. Under § 18-49A the Commission considers the preservation and existing location of works of art in historic districts and may recommend relocating them. Under § 18-49B, no work of art may be erected in a historic district, or placed on any street, park, public building or other City property, until the Commission has reviewed both the artwork and its proposed location and recommended a course of action to the governing body of the City of Scranton; the same subsection bars removing, relocating, demolishing, razing or altering any work of art or public structure in a historic district without the Commission's recommendation.

Section 18-49C lets the Commission push public art funding: for new construction begun after the Article's effective date that is publicly funded, in whole or in part, and sits in a historic district, the Commission may recommend that 1% of the total public funding go toward works of art. This sits alongside § 18-50, which requires the same Commission review before any building, bridge, fence, lamp or other structure is erected on City property in a historic district, and § 18-51, which resolves boundary disputes by reference to the official Historic District Map. A certificate of appropriateness carries a $150 fee under § 18-58, payable to the Building Code Official.