Times Observer photo by Josh Cotton Development officials are seeking state funds to help continue rehabilitation of the PNC Building in downtown Warren. An application for funds would facilitate several infrastructure repairs as well as renovate part of the second and all of the third floor.
The PNC Building at the corner of Second Avenue and Liberty Street has come a long way in the last few years.
Now the Warren County Development Association is looking to push the building restoration forward even further.
The proposed funding stream is state Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program dollars.
The City of Warren agreed to apply for up to $1 million on behalf of the WCDA. RACP funds come with a dollar-for-dollar match requirement.
When the WCDA acquired the building, the first floor and half of the second floor were still operational.
That left the other half of the second floor as well as the third, fourth and fifth floors in need of what amounted to a total gutting. The Northern Pennsylvania Regional College occupies the top two floors.
This funding stream looks at some building-wide improvements as well as the rest of the second and third floors that need work.
When Warren City Council agreed to apply for the funds, the stated purpose was for the development of a workforce and community training center.
But that focus is not set in stone.
“The true details of how the space will function and who would be a tenant of the space is frankly undefined at this point,” Jim Decker, WCDA president/CEO, explained.
“Our vision for the funding requested is to first secure the structural integrity of the building itself through replacement of the 30 year old roof membrane,” he explained, “repair the decorative cornice around the parapet wall and eliminate the water leakage off the exterior gutters over the main entrance doors, clean and repoint the exterior masonry and repair the ground floor window sills.”
With those infrastructure items taken care of, the second and third floor would come into focus.
Decker said that would include adding restrooms, HVAC systems (for the first floor too) and “finish the spaces in an open-concept fashion that would provide flexibility in usage.”
“We have had preliminary discussions with NPRC, Warren-Forest Hi-Ed, (and) WCSD regarding the need for centrally located adult training/education facilities,” he explained, “but have no defined agreements or commitments relative to occupying or utilizing the space at this time.”
The broader concept is to ensure that the building is prepared for whatever that use might be which, he said, would be “defined over time.”
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