Who is No Skook Detention?

No Skook Detention

01 Feb 2026 — 1 min read

No Skook Detention is a coalition of Schuylkill County residents, business owners, and families who are opposed to the 7,500-bed detention center proposed for the vacant Big Lots warehouse in Tremont, PA.

It's bad for Tremont.

It's bad for Schuylkill County.

It's bad for Schuylkill County businesses.

What we know

Schuylkill County, Pine Grove Area School District, and Tremont Township stand to lose approximately $1 million annually in property tax revenue (Source: WVIA Public Media) if the federal government purchases the warehouse. Federal property is tax-exempt.

Tremont Township alone would lose $400,000 per year in tax revenue (Source: Times News Online), with additional county and state tax losses bringing the total near $1 million annually.

That's $1 million every year that won't go to our schools, our roads, our emergency services, or our community.

We also know that there will be:

Demand for water and sewer capacity that Tremont can't handle
Increased demand on State Police (Tremont has no local police)
Strain on emergency services from increasing Tremont's population by 2500%
Heavy traffic on local roads

What you can do

Have your voice be heard. Public pressure works!

Email our County Commissioners.

Chair Larry Padora: lpadora@SchuylkillCountyPA.Gov
Commissioner Boots Hetherington: bhetherington@SchuylkillCountyPA.Gov
Commissioner Gary Hess: ghess@SchuylkillCountyPA.Gov

Call our State Representatives.

Rep. Joann Stehr: (570) 653-2018
Sen. Dave Argall: (570) 621-3400

Call our Congressman.

U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser: (570) 871-6370

Call our Senators.

U.S. Senator John Fetterman: (570) 820-4088
U.S. Senator Dave McCormick: (570) 941-0930

Go to Commissioners Meetings and speak up.
The meetings are held at the Schuylkill County Courthouse. The next few meetings are listed below:

February 11, 2026 - 10:00 AM
February 25, 2026 - 10:00 AM
March 11, 2026 - 6:00 PM
March 26, 2026 - 10:00 AM

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