A fixture in downtown Irwin for nearly a century is being booted from its Main Street building to make way for municipal offices accessible for those with disabilities.
Borough council this week decided not to renew the lease of Rosendahl’s Appliance Center when it expires March 31 so the administrative officers can be moved from the second floor of the building at 424 Main St., to the street level storefront where the appliance store is located.
It wasn’t immediately known how long Rosendahl’s was a tenant in the building, but a booklet published for Irwin’s 75th anniversary in 1939 has an advertisement from Rosendahl’s. It states the business was founded in 1883 and was a jewelry store and electric store in a buildings on Main Street — neither of which are at the current borough building. Justin Rosendahl, the great-grandson of the founder of Rosendahl’s, said the appliance store has been at its current site since the 1960s.
Rosendahl’s Appliance owner Gary Proctor wouldn’t share his plans were he may relocate when the lease expires.
He said he is upset with the borough’s decision.
He didn’t learn about it until this week, he said, despite asking borough officials for months about renewing his lease.
The borough disputes this and council President Rick Burdelski said Proctor was made aware some time ago about that plan for the offices to move downstairs.
It is necessary so Irwin complies with the Americans With Disabilities Act, Burdelski said.
The law requires that government buildings constructed before 1990 be made accessible to those with disabilities. The borough building was constructed in 1911, according to the date etched in stone on the second floor of the facade.
To begin the project, council hired Civil & Environmental Consultants of Monroeville to create the architectural design and do the engineering work for converting the appliance store into offices.
That design work, to be done at a cost of no more than $97,000, will be funded from Irwin’s money from the federal CARES Act of 2020 and Irwin’s property account.
The borough’s goal is to do the project for about $750,000, said Scott Maritzer, an architect and project manager for Civil & Environmental Consultant of Monroeville. If necessary, some alterations may have to be made to meet that cost estimate, Maritzer said.
To fund the project, Irwin will apply for a $450,000 grant from the state Department of Community and Economic Development, said borough manager Shari Martino.
“We could not give a definitive answer until council voted on it,” Burdelski said.
Irwin hired Ulery Architectural of Unity in April 2023 to draw plans for the possible renovation of the borough building to make it accessible to those with disabilities. The architect was to provide schematic designs for possible renovations.
Sizing up the existing floor plan will begin soon and then there will be a design of the office, Scott Maritzer, an architect and project manager for C&EC.
The project should be ready to be advertised for bids in April and then a contract awarded, possibly in May.
Maritzer characterized that time frame as an aggressive schedule. The construction and renovation is expected to begin in the second half of next year and take about six months.
The new offices on the street level would be about the same size as the current offices, Maritzer said. Residents will have a public waiting area, Maritzer said.
One of the biggest goals is to have the front door at the street level and make the offices visible to those along the street, Maritzer said.
An entrance to the police department will be created in the back of the building, which is space the department occupies, Burdelski said.
The administrative offices and the former council chambers at the rear of the second floor will remain vacant, Burdelski said. Council meets in a room that is on the ground level of the public works building at the bottom of First Street.
Borough officials in 2021 had talked with Irwin Volunteer Fire Department about the possibility of creating a municipal complex on Chestnut Street at the site of the former Sixth Street.
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Council considered applying for a $1.2 million state Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program grant in March 2021 for the complex, but that idea was scrapped because of the limited time to file an application for the grant.
The fire department still is planning to have a new fire hall constructed at the site and then sell its current facility on Western Avenue.