Old brick building on Grand Ave
The old brick building on grand ave near the college has alot of construction going on. I think its the old Lackawanna leather factory. Rumour is that they are putting stores in there..can anyone confirm or deny?
Bug3Best bet would be to attend the Land Use Board meeting tonight at 7 and ask during the public comment portion. As you saw there is chatter on social media as to what is going there but we know how that goes! LOL. Hit or miss information at best.
Greg The property owner is fixing the building up to attract new tenants so there is nothing involving the LUB. Nothing is changing with the footprint of the building so there is no need for them to go before the LUB.
As for what potential tenants are moving in, when they are ready to announce it, they will announce it.
Jim L. In truth that's what I figured, Jim as there has not been anything discussed at LUB meetings or anything in minutes posted regarding work there. Like a broken record I took the opportunity to state go to the meetings for all information regarding the town et al. LOL.
Nice to see that site repurposed for sure.
A lot of towns require site plan approval for change of use, even if no site improvements or building expansion are proposed. (Usually it's to verify that existing parking can handle the new use(s).)
ianimal Has anyone noticed that they are covering the beautiful old brick up? That building was so charming. Such a shame.
Yes - a brick building covered with cement. Good place to be in if a tornado comes through town.
Stucco my dears. I think it’s stucco.
Paint it pink and turquoise and we can be in Margaritaville. I hope they alternate some brick with it, hiding all the brick with stucco seems a waste. Coulda just painted the brick at that point.
Still hopeful.
Babit Surely not an improvement or upgrade. They ruined it. Who approves of such ridiculous things?
The cement holding the brick together in those buildings is getting weak. Stucco over the outside is the more efficient way of binding the brick together than chipping out the old cement and then pointing it back up. I agree the brick looks nice, but this is the more efficient and least costly option. I know those buildings well.
Mr 4Paws 
Steve Perhaps after the stucco dries, an artist can be commissioned to paint a lovely mural on the wall.
Something appropriate to the town, after all we are known for the M&M factory and also for the fish hatchery. Or something else appropriate. There’s opportunity here.
JBJSKJ 
3wbdwnj 
Stymie Actually, the most appropriate mural, in my opinion, would be something to honor the Lackawanna Leather Works Company's outstanding work as a part of the war effort in World War II! It earned Meritorious Gold Stars for its production and quality. Many kudos to the workers and managers there!
Phil D. I think it's a mistake, but I agree, hold until completion. If the whole thing is all stucco, probably not gonna be better. Personally, I would have repointed it all and then painted it: but I like painted brick, and it's so fast to paint.
I can understand the structural part. My foundation is "quick lime" finished and it was falling out above ground. Fixing quick lime is a pain so I just used a special mix to parge over it, color added before application. I did not think "retain the historic look" for even a second. Looks great too. Another house I had featured "soft mud" bricks that would degrade in the elements unless painted. You almost could put your finger through them (if you were Jet Li). I loved that I could change colors in about three day or less of effort. Roller on a 16 foot pole covers a lot of ground, fast.
It's stucco, they can paint it. Although, if it twas me, I would have mixed the color in before application --- or at least close to the final color.... And like I said, I just hope they retain some brick to break up the surface with a couple of finishes. Worse case would be one long, grey, cement thingee.
A mural for the M&M / Mars factory?
Mars continues to do business in Russia. They deserve ZERO recognition and should be boycotted.
Ian
I think I recognize that "voice" too. I also agree with Babit in thinking it's a mistake, but hey, I don't own the building. It looked as though they put more energy efficient windows in, which is good, Most historic structures used lime-based mortar and using modern mortar mix (not cement, btw, as I'm sure Babit knows) is a recipe for disaster, whether you're repointing brick or stone, as it's harder and expands and contracts at a different rate from the original mortar. I saw a corner towards the front where it looks as though the new material may have already failed at the intersection with the second story, but then that was just while driving by today.
M&M already has their tribute in the front of their building, but as I mentioned before, something to honor the original company would be pretty cool. I was incorrect at first, they didn't earn a gold star, but rather the Army/Navy "E" for excellence in production and the "Busy Bee" award from Beech Aircraft!
They're mentioned in the book "We Can Do It! The War Effort in Hackettstown: 1940 - 1945," by Kenneth E. O'Brien. They moved to Hackettstown in 1903 and were the largest leathermaker in America. They made upholstery leather for Officers' quarters on U.S. Navy ships, as well as seats for a number of airplane manufacturers.
Bug3
I'm not sure when they closed, but that info may be available in the file at the Historical Society Museum.
Why don't you wait until it is done before assuming anything? If anyone trying to do work in this town or invest in this town to make improvements sees this forum, some may scram. Opinions on here can be ridiculous and harsh. I do see value in trying to.preserve some history and/or honor it in some way. However, a business could do that as well, not necessarily the redeveloper. It's a huge improvement to that location so far and I'm looking forward to how it turns out and the potential tenants it may bring.
not sure exactly why they are doing this....BUT, they are appling a new brickface on top of the stucco. I'm sure it will look very nice when finished, but I also think the perfect brick will lose some of the historic character of the building that could have been maintained without so much work and money.
More of a question for me is the future use. I had heard briefly that it was being considered for mixed retail use and this made me very excited. It's a great location, with a huge parking area. I could see a gym, a really cool coffee shop (like Kings Gambit in Belvedere) maybe a restaurant or other eatery, perhaps a distillery. If anyone has been to the Silk Mill in Easton, you know what I'm talking about. It would be a great adaptive reuse here in town, much like the Bergen Tool building would have (should have) been.
My one great hope is they leave the main building and especially the old Lackawanna Leather painted signage alone. No new brickface on that one, please!
eperot eperot
Technically, that first coating wasn't stucco, per se, but was a "parge coating." Stucco is usually intended as a final finish and often is textured (though not necessarily). A parge coating is more cement-based and is made to both seal and strengthen the structure (and fill in the spaces between the bricks, which also gives it "tooth" to hold onto the building), either to stabilize what's there, or to prepare for an overlayment, such as the brickface you (and I) saw them applying today.
It's quite likely they had someone evaluate the state of the existing brick and mortar structure and felt this was a quicker, better-looking and safer alternative to repointing the whole structure with the proper, lime-based mortar. Repointing is a very labor-intensive job. As a historian, I'd have preferred the original structure, but repointed, if it was possible. One of the saddest things I've seen was the destruction of the Church in my Dad's hometown that met its demise about 5 years or so ago, due to the brick structure being deemed both dangerous and too expensive to restore. This was due to inattention or lack of funds to properly repoint and reset bricks over the years.
The Church started with a bunch of Polish immigrants buying property and digging a foundation/basement. Every day, after working in the coal mines of Central PA, or the railroad shops they worked on their budding church and held services in their completed basement. They then hired masons to build the rest of the church with stained-glass windows, and an ornate altar in their Polish Catholic traditions. They also had a pipe organ installed. Facing opposition for a bell or bells to complete the tower, they bought one and had it shipped as "machine parts." Raising it into the tower and installing it under cover of night in order to toll important events, as well as too call the people for mass. A picture shows my Great Grandfather as one of those who literally dug and built the base of the church and both my Dad and I (and most of our nearby relatives) received our First Communion there, so it was heartbreaking when I found out it was being torn down.
To me, it's still much better that the original structure continues to exist under this parge coat and brickface, than to see it destroyed and something else put up instead. I worked in Paterson during some of the time when old silk mills were being repurposed into townhomes, rather than being destroyed, which I thought was awesome!
IMO, Centenary should lease or purchase that building. It's a great opportunity to expand their campus, as it's in walking distance for students/staff and is a decent sized property.
If Centenary is looking to expand, this is their best bet as far as location. It's in close proximity to their main campus.
Why Centenary?
They sold their radio station because of declining enrollment. I don't think theyxwill be expanding anytime soon
eapos HSportsfan
Bug3 is correct. Perhaps their suite of "new" majors will help them with enrollment, but they underwent a building boom after being overcrowded to the point they were housing some students off campus and bussing them in from various places. Unfortunately, things changed and the dorms are no longer fully utilized. Hopefully, that will turn around. More students, faculty, and programs mean more money being spent in support of local restaurants and businesses.
They are putting up new veneer brick when I went by there today. It looks really good and I would imagine the most economical way to get it looking nice.
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