We accept:
The Laundry
(Formerly The Casey Laundry Building)
Marquis Art & Frame Develops Scranton Landmark
A long vacant Downtown Scranton landmark will soon house loft apartments and several commercial ventures!
Ken Marquis, owner of Marquis Art & Frame, has announced plans to develop the former Casey Laundry Building, a long vacant, six-story brick building.
This 15,000 square foot building is located within a Keystone Opportunity Expansion Zone and will be developed into a gallery, framing shop, café and luxury apartments.
Constructed in the 1920’s, the Casey Laundry building served as an annex for the historic Casey Hotel. The Casey Laundry building is the only remaining structure still standing from the historic Hotel Casey complex.
Marquis Art & Frame, located in Wilkes-Barre, PA, was founded in the 1960’s. Today the shop manufacturers more than 10,000 custom frames annually and offers an extensive collection of original artwork.
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This great project, although it is behind us on Center Street, may be the start of a renaissance . The idea of loft apartments in the downtown has long been discussed, but never realized until Mr. Marquis's pioneer effort. In the picture above you can see the fifth floor windows of the old Hotel Casey laundry building above and behind our building.
The Picture Story
This project is now complete. All three loft apartments are occupied and the business floors are full of customers. We at Coney Island Lunch welcome our new neighbors and thank them for allowing us to photograph their project! Go back in time to the bottom of this page and relive our experience.
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24 June 2004
An original Gurney Elevator totally restored and modernized take you to your destination!
The final touches on the third floor loft are added. Floors will be cleaned and given a glossy clear coat.
Bathrooms are complete!
Appliances in the third floor loft are installed and ready to go!
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14 June 2004
Here's a shot of the third floor loft's master bathroom sink.
The cabinets are in place and countertops are readied for installing.
On the third floor loft appliances await their turn for instalition.
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2o May 2004
If your walking by the Laundry with your dog, he or she will have a cool drink waiting!
The forth floor of the Laundry is now complete and occupied. Last floor to finish is the third, which is already leased. Here's a couple shots from up there-
All the drywall and painting is done. Trim and floor finish remains to be done. The windows in this hall are originally from the outside. they allow light to enter the middle room from the hallway.
In the master bedroom, tiles in boxes on the floor await installation.
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27 April 2004
Decorative flower pots now adorn the 500 block of Center Street!
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19 April 2004
I got a chance to do a walk around the Laundry today. Take a look with me and see what's going on today!
It won't be long before the hot summer weather comes to Scranton. It won't be a problem at the Laundry. A HVAC worker installs a bank of AC's and with two more going on the roof, they will keep all floors cool!
Inside on the fourth floor, the kitchen is coming to life. New cabinets and HVAC tubes are being installed.
Here's a shot of the large closet in the one of the smaller bedrooms on the fourth floor.
On the third floor, all the drywall is up and spackled half way up the walls. This is the view from the master bedroom walk-in closet looking out with a view of Lackawanna Avenue.
Here's an interesting idea. On the third floor there are no windows facing the Courthouse Square. To bring light in to the interior rooms, window openings are made in the hallway and old restored original windows from the exterior of Laundry will be installed!
This view is of the kitchen area and atrium from the great room on the third floor.
Also on the third, the fireplace is up and running.
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24 Mar 2004
Took a hike up to the third & forth floor, as the fifth is now finished & occupied, here is what's going on:
Although I need the exercise, I'm glad the elevator is finished.
I took the staircase anyway, because they look so good. Scroll down to the beginning of this project and see the difference.
On the forth floor all the drywall is up and spackling is under way. This view is looking towards the kitchen from the living room.
In the living room the fireplace is in.
Here is a photo of the small bed room at the far in of the apartment. Nice view!
On the third floor framing is done as well as insulation. It's hard to describe unless you've been here, but it's nice and toasty warm as well as soft feel to this once hard concrete and brick space.
This shot is from the living room looking towards the atrium.
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9 Mar 2004
These signs tell the buildings story. They are on the Center Street side flanking the tenants entrance.
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11 Feb 2004
Insulation arrives for instillation on the third floor.
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25 January 2004
Now that work is complete on the first and second floors, all work is now concentrated on the loft apartments. Here's the latest:
The tenants entrance received its new door replacing the door at the top of this page.
Stair case walls are done with a textured paint that give it a stucco look.
Up on the 5th floor things are coming close to the finish line. Appliances, sinks and furnishings have arrived!
Master bedroom looking towards the bath. Nice color.
Detail of the shower in the master bath.
Master bathroom has a bowl sink.
Carpenters were finishing the master bedroom walk-in closet shelves when I was on the 5th.
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7 December 2003
Gallery Opens
On Friday, 5 December 2003 Marquis Art & Frame opened its doors to the public. It was a smash hit and I got a sneak preview. Here's what I saw:
After entering the gallery one of the first things you see are these neat glass inserts, made of a layer of cracked safety glass sandwiched between two panes of glass. Behind that is the framing area and all around, art work abounds.
Heading up to the second floor you meet a unique grandfathers clock!
Now on the landing, here's a shot looking down toward the framing area.
On the second floor gallery a show is hung , along with unframed prints ready for browsing.
More second floor gallery art work.
Notice the system used to hang the art work. Its made of high strength stainless steel fishing line.
A closer look at the rails and stainless steel fishing line used to hang art work.
If your up on the second floor check out this sweet chair and ask about its storied history. Its been on a couple continents.
Here's a shot inside Mr. Marquis's office. This is an old doctors office cabinet restored to it original shine.
Great minds think alike. Here is Ken's old metal desk, like the ones that many people have tossed out, only he has restored it using stainless steel. Funny thing is I have the exact same desk and light. Except my desk in in its army green motif and a lot more cluttered.
This is the second floor pantry. Nice painting.
Work goes on down in the basement. This room will be used for framing pictures in the future.
The basement received new tile flooring .
One of the upstairs windows is now art work in the basement.
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21 November 2003
OPEN!
The Center Street Coffee Shop is now open for business. I bought my first coffee and it was great!
Meanwhile outside, more new signage!
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19 November 2003
New sign has been installed.
Up on the fifth floor work goes on. I was there just in time to see the fireplace aglow!
Kitchen cabinets are in and counter tops, too.
View of the kitchen cabinets and island, looking towards the laundry room.
Lighting and duct work are up and running in the Great Room.
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12 November 2003
The Laundry Building is getting closer and closer to completion. Check out the latest shots:
Carpenters are nearly done with the storage area platform. Hand rails will be added next, hardwood floor on the deck is complete and paint will complete the picture!
The plywood will support a wall of frame corners. Customers will be able to pick their frames from a large selection.
Meanwhile at the coffee shop, all necessary equipment is arriving and getting put in place.
This view from Outrageous is looking toward the Gallery. The deck leading to the second floor staircase can be seen under all the tools.
Here's a shot of the staircase from the second floor down. The cutouts in the railing will hold unique multilayered shattered glass. Nice idea, can't wait to show you.
View of the Gallery coming down the stairs.
Here's a good look at the hardwood deck
Barely seen in the upper window is another sign of things to come..... an 'OPEN' sign!
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6 November 2003
The entrance to Outrageous on the right and up the ramp to the coffee shop get their respective hand rails.
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30 October 2003
Looking more and more like a art gallery with the sleek track lighting.
This platform on the gallery side of the first floor connects to the stairs to the second floor. The openings will be for storage by use of draws and cabinets.
More track lighting and ductwork on the gallery side.
Center Street Coffee Shop gets its counter area in shape with some nice cherry woodwork.
Second floor on the gallery side.
This window restored from the upper floors gets new life in the second floor gallery office.
The second floor of Outrageous gets a restored window for its office, too.
Plumbing is all connected and the water is flowing.
A sure sign that a building is near completion, a bathroom. Nuf said!
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16 October 2003
Lighting, ceiling fans and duct work are in and on at the future home of Paul Nardone's shop and adjoining cafe.
This is a view of the second floor of Nardone's shop looking towards the stairs down to the first floor. Note the finish on the floor. Nice!
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13 October 2003
The first event at the gallery? Local criminal escape artist Hugo Marcus Selenski, used this method to escape Luzerne County Prison. Mr. Marquis copies his style but in reverse, he's trying to get in after months of delay and construction!
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11 October 2003
The first sign of what's to come!
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9 October 2003
The old building was looking quit young with its new lights shining on.
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8 October 2003
Success! Water lines are finally inside the building. The plumber was on the job as I was leaving, connecting these lines to the wok already finished inside.
In front of our garage workers connect the five water lines that will serve the building.
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3 October 2003
By the end of the day workers reach the alley. The Laundry building is in the upper right background.
On the side of our building workers begin installing an 8 inch water main to serve the Laundry building.
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2 October 2003
In the cafe sheetrock goes up fast.
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1 October 2003
The Gallery gets it's first coat of paint on the finished drywall. That angled frame on the right is for the risers for the stairs to the second floor.
This is a shot of the new door and windows for the Center Street Coffee Shop.
Here is a view of the coffee shop entrance in the court. The ramp will have a railing, too.
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21 September 2003
Work is progressing on all floors now. Took a tour and here's what I saw:
This my friends is a welcome sign to all workers, as well as photographers. It means after hiking up five flights of stairs you can sit down and take a breather! Since the elevator is off for repairs, everyone concerned is getting in some good cardio vascular exercise.
This is a afternoon view in the master bedroom on the fifth floor.
Imagine doing dishes at the kitchen sink and looking out at this window. I love the fifth floor!
Looking down the hall towards the patio, kitchen and great room. The room on the right is either a studio or small bedroom.
In this shot of the master bedroom you can see on the left, the master bath, in the middle is the door to the walk-in closet and on the right, the door to the hall.
Master bedroom looking toward the master bath.
This is the other bedroom looking towards the closet. On the right is that bedroom's bath.
Bathtub is in place in the bathroom off the smaller bedroom.
HVAC tubes are ready to be hung . They are stored in the studio room.
This shot is looking down the hall towards the bedroom from the kitchen. The cubby on the left is for the refridgerator.
Here we are looking towards the kitchen window and the laundry room where the ladder now stands.
Afternoon view out the great rooms windows.
View of the fireplace in the great room looking towards the hallway.
Back down to the second floor space above the art gallery.
This is a view of the first floor upper level gallery area.
Here's a shot looking towards the door of the home furnishings store. Please forgive the lack of a good flashbulb.
This is a shot of the Center Street Coffee Shop area. It will be behind that half wall. The window setup will change to allow a door for entrance from the alley.
This view is from the lower first floor gallery looking towards the Center Street Coffee Shop/Outrageous furnishings shop.
We are looking at the main entrance of the art gallery looking towards Center Street.
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19 September 2003
Sheetrock is inserted in all floors before the all the windows are installed.
Main entrance is complete and all graffiti washed away!
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27August 2003
Ken Marquis, in the black pants, talks with workers from Mesko Glass as they install the gallery's main entrance door.
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25 August 2003
Center Street side of the galley first floor level looking good with new windows.
Dix Court windows at the gallery level are put in place.
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22 August 2003
The fireplace wall is ready for sheetrock.
Windows are in and insulation is being installed on the fifth floor.
Mesko Glass begins installing custom insulated glass in all floors.
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5 August 2003
Glass enclosed patio takes shape on the fifth floor.
View of the patio from the Great Room.
Patio windows await assembly on the forth floor.
One thing I didn't notice on my last trip here was that the masons had resurfaced all the floors throughout the building. Nice job!
The new rubber roof is installed with all new flashing. Water tight!
This is the paint scheme in the furnishings shop on the second floor.
Painting continues on the first floor of the coffee shop.
Ceilings are all painted on the first and second floors.
View from the lower part of the gallery looking towards the coffee shop/furnishings shop.
New windows have been installed in the elevator shaft and staircase well.
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23 July 2003
Exterior lighting stats to go up. These lights will illuminate a sign board which will hang in-between the fixture.
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16 July 2003
Center street side of gallery/cafe gets new steps.
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23 June 2003
Plumbing, electrical and framing contractors, are all on the job site as construction swings into high gear! Below are some of the goings on:
Plumbing is roughed in coming down into the forth floor.
On the fifth floor boxes of pipes lay ready for installation. Note that all of the wiring is in at this level.
All wiring and framing is now complete on the fifth floor, as reveled in this shot of the great room. I'm told sheet rock hanging will begin soon.
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9 May 2003
I hoofed it up to the fifth floor for a look at the goings on and things are starting to shape up! The layout of the loft apartments are shone in the plan above. Two bedrooms at the left, studio and kitchen as you come down the hall, and into the great room in the upper right. The aforementioned patio is in the lower right of the plan.
This shot is of the smaller bedroom as I was standing in the studio. Note the electric boxes. The electricians were wiring the fifth when I was there.
Here, I'm in the great room looking towards the kitchen. The open beams in the ceiling will remain and will look great with their final treatments.
The carpenters contemplate stud positions for the positioning of the gas insert fireplace in the foreground. The fireplace is located in the great room.
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4 March 2003
Today I took my first tour of the building since last year and got some pleasant surprises. Above is the first floor plan. It shows the cafe on the left sharing the floor with the gallery on the right. Both will share the same side of the first and second floors.
This is the sliding gate that separates the gallery from the cafe. It slips into a pocket when open. So even if the gallery is closed cafe patrons will still be able to view hanging art.
This is a view of the second floor plans. Rest rooms for the cafe and gallery are here as well as office space for the gallery. That x box in the upper center of the picture is the elevator. I was treated to a ride down from the fifth floor today!
This is the cutout for the gallery staircase looking down from the second floor.
Here is the second floor gallery and on the left is the entrance to the gallery office.
Rough out for the restrooms on the cafe side of the second floor.
Today carpenters were on the fifth floor re-covering windows and getting ready to frame it out. The basics for the elevator is in the background. It's just a open pad right now, but when finished, it will be boxed in.
On the 5th, 4th and 3rd floors, the area where the paint was stripped will be boxed in with glass and the windows will have the glazing removed. The frames will remain giving the effect of windows, but this area will actually be a open patio. Great idea!
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31 January 2003
Looks like things are cooking again at the Gallery. PPL was installing another underground power line into the building.
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21 January 2003
Old Man Winter has blown out most of the window coverings.
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20 November 2002
New brick work on the entrance.
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28 October 2002
The fire escape gets a new coat of paint.
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25 October 2002
The first studs are up on the first floor.
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8 October 2002
The windows were removed to make way for new clear glass pane insulated windows.
The removed windows.
Workers remove metal frames at the gallery level.
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1 October 2002
I can't remember the exact floor plan, but I think the Art Gallery entrance will be here. Let's go in!
Workers are using high pressure washers to expose the brick work for the interior of the gallery/cafe.
One of two rooms on the second floor.
This view of the third floor is about the same on the forth and fifth floor. All three will become loft apartments.
This fine view is from the forth floor looking towards the Lackawanna County Courthouse.
This view is from the fifth floor looking southeast. That silver roof in the foreground is ours.
The future site of a office/parking garage/retail complex?? That's what the city fathers are hoping to put in that hole below! Stay tuned.
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30 September 2002
This is a view of Center Street, behind our garage, in the back of our building. You can see the soon to be finished Hilton Hotel in the background.