Lansford Alive welcomed Carbon Career & Technical Institute students to start brainstorming ideas for a vacant lot along Route 209.

The group purchased the corner lot at Patterson and Center streets at a county repository sale in 2023, and hope to transform it into park dedicated to first responders.

Lansford Alive members are considering calling the park, which would serve as a gateway to the community, First Responder Square, an idea birthed in the pandemic to honor those who serve, said Bob Silver, vice president.

“Most of the areas where you see monuments are for deceased people,” he said, adding this would be for the living — police, fire, EMS, doctors, nurses and those lost. “This is not a memorial square at this point in time, but it might change.”

The group is open to ideas from the drafting and design technology students, who were taking measurements and evaluating the slope of the property to better design the small lot on Friday, Silver said.

Lansford Alive wants to hear from the students about how to level the property or work with the grade, he said.

The group has discussed an electronic sign, which could display community events; a brick walkway, benches, landscaping, possibly a statue of a first responder or similar monument; and an evergreen that could be decorated for the Christmas season, Silver said.

“Hopefully, we can get a grant to make it happen,” he said. “If not, we’ll do something else, but we are going to try our best to make it into Lansford’s showpiece.”

They also want to hear what students come up with on their own, Silver said.

The students’ teacher, Jeremy Pease, said that he wants to see what fresh ideas his students have as well.

Pease wants this to be a real-world experience for them, coming up with ideas and incorporating them into the client’s vision, he said.

One of the students, Edison Mitchell of Coaldale, would like to see something to welcome people to area.

“It’s my community. It would be nice to see,” he said.

Another student, Varick Peiffer of Lehighton, would also like to see something welcoming to the town, where he hangs out with friends.

“There’s a lot of improvement that could be done here, and I think we’re up to the task,” he said.

Peiffer hopes to be able to put his stamp on a project that will endure in the area, and get experience that will help him as he enters the workforce.

Lansford Alive doesn’t have a time frame on the project, and will work with the students on ideas, and then seek funding and approvals from the borough moving forward, Silver said.