Maria Basalyga is an interior architect with a deep passion for giving old buildings new life. Born and raised in Dunmore, she grew up with her mother and brother, and has always felt a strong connection to her community, especially after the support they received following the untimely passing of her father when she was just a young child. Maria graduated from Dunmore High School before attending Brown University and the Rhode Island School of Design. After gaining experience in Miami, she returned to Scranton in the early ’90s, eager to make a difference.

Maria has dedicated over 30 years to revitalizing the region, focusing on sustainable practices and adaptive reuse—taking abandoned structures and transforming them into functional, sustainable and beautiful spaces. She has worked on numerous adaptive reuse projects, including the transformation of Scranton’s Lace Village into modern lofts and businesses, all while involving her students in the process. As Program Director for Interior Architecture, Maria mentors her students at Marywood University, where she was recently appointed Director of Community and Civic Outreach.

Additionally, as Executive Director of the Center for the Living City, a nonprofit inspired by urbanist Jane Jacobs, Maria collaborates with local organizations to provide design solutions for revitalizing the city. Along with her students, she works on projects that support nonprofit organizations, helping to restore and repurpose existing structures.

A newlywed, Maria’s meet-cute with her husband Michael happened in a most unexpected way—literally bumping into each other while working on a project at Scranton Lace. Just six months later, they were married. Together, they have a blended family of nine, including Maria’s two sons: Neil, a genetic engineer, Ethan, a rocket scientist and Michael’s five daughters.

We sat down with Maria in her glass-walled office, which overlooks the open classrooms of Marywood’s architectural school. The building, once a natatorium, is a perfect example of what Maria stands for—adaptive reuse at its finest. As we chatted, it was clear how deeply her work is rooted in her love for this community and we had to know, Why NEPA?

How long have you lived in NEPA?

Well, I basically say my whole life—which, since I’m going to be 58, would be about 50 years.

What do you love about your town?

Oh, Dunmore. I am an obnoxious Dunmore-ian—bleed red and blue. I love my neighbors, the neighborhood, the sidewalks, the streets and just about everything in it. I’m die-hard Dunmore.

What’s your favorite NEPA restaurant?

Calabria Pizza in Dunmore—it’s my favorite. Calabria just has the best pizza. It’s sweet, it’s thin, it’s perfect, and it’s been there forever. I mean, there are so many good pizza places in Dunmore, but for me, it’s Calabria.

What’s your favorite thing to do in NEPA?

I also grew up at Lake Wallenpaupack, so I love going to the lake, honestly—getting on a boat, fishing and just being out in nature. How lucky are we to have all of that right around us?

And really, with all the great things here, I love going out with my friends. I love happy hour. I love trying different places and connecting with my neighbors and friends. And, you know, all the wonderful things NEPA has to offer—our picnics and summer events. I guess I’m just more social that way.

What’s next for you?

Well, like I said, I just started this new role at Marywood, so I’m really interested in developing a Marywood Main Street project which would run a pedestrian walkway through the middle of our campus, out into the neighborhood and community, helping to bring small businesses and more offerings for our students on campus while connecting them more with the area. Right now, we take everything and go down into the city—I want to bring the city back up to Marywood.

I’m going to be working a lot on that over the next few years. We’re opening a campus pub and bar, which we’ve never had before—that’s coming in the spring. We’re also opening a radio station. Well, we have a radio station, but we’re bringing it back on board.

Just bringing more of what we already have. I’m kind of shifting my outreach inward for a few years to look at this campus and see what else we could do here to invite the community in to participate. We have an amazing healthcare program that offers clinics and outreach, so I’ll be working on outreach clinics as well. That’s important to mention because it allows us to serve the community when people come in for services through our healthcare program at Marywood.

I’m going to be super busy working on all kinds of projects to make this its own little city. This new role just happened—literally about two weeks ago—so I’m very excited about it!

Where do you see NEPA heading in the future?

Well, I really hope that people stay and come back. You know, the pandemic changed a lot of things. I’m sure you’ve heard this often—how we realized you can work remotely. I’m already seeing it with one of my stepdaughters, who moved back to the area but still works in New Jersey from here. And that’s wonderful. If we can keep the talent and younger generations in this area, I feel like it’s already starting to happen.

I’m very fond of Max Conway, our mayor in Dunmore and Paige Cognetti, our mayor in Scranton. They’re doing a lot to reinvest in the city and encourage people to stay. Look at what John Basalyga is doing—no relation, but I’m a huge fan.

Just the kinds of things that are attracting people to this area. I feel like I’m in the right profession to help with that. Healthcare is growing here, and the universities are staying strong and united. We’re all starting to work together and collaborate. Marywood, The University of Scranton, Lackawanna College, Penn State and Johnson College are all working together. So, the colleges are coming on strong. Honestly, we’re building housing, and it’s getting filled—that’s a good sign. We want to bring small businesses and younger generations back to this area and help them stay.

Why NEPA?

I don’t want to say by default, but you know, born and raised—homegrown. But if I had to pick, I just think it’s a beautiful place to live. My husband and I often say that when we see things happening in other parts of the country. We say, “We are really pretty lucky.” We have an average temperature, and we’re not plagued by wildfires or natural disasters. It really is just a beautiful place to be.

And thank you to DiscoverNEPA for bringing awareness to everyone. What you do is so important—it’s critical to get the word out, because people don’t always know what’s here. So, more DiscoverNEPA is exactly what we need.