SCRANTON, Pa. — Its age is what makes this building special, but it's also its biggest flaw.
Scranton's City Hall is getting a much-needed facelift.
'"Anything that, you start seeing things get revamped and renovated is great. I think it's good for everybody," said Renato Luongo from Abe's Deli.
At Abe's Deli, just down the street, people we talked to say it's a sound investment.
"I think it's a very good idea. It's essential to the redevelopment of the community. It's been way too long, and not done as nicely and as properly as it should have been done. Let's do it once, get it done right, and it'll stay in that condition for a considerable period of time," said Jack Nogi who works in Scranton.
It's a big project that's going to take time and money, and one that's been a long time coming.
"This predates our administration, the need, I mean it's really decades, I believe, that the South Tower has had issues. To the point where there's moisture coming in through the walls into those offices," said Mayor Paige Cognetti.
Work has begun on the building's South Tower which has the most damage.
The entire roof needs to be replaced, and all of the towers need repairs.
It's costing the city millions of dollars, part of which will be paid for with state grant money.
"Yeah, it's gonna be expensive but it costs to do things the right way," added Luongo.
"Listen, I'm not in favor of spending taxpayer money, but the fact remains you have to do that sometimes to expand the community's investment product and things like that," said Nogi.
"It's gonna take a while, and it's certainly very noisy, and parking is disrupted, and there's all those headaches, but at the end of the day, we'll have that fixed. It'll be the beginning of what is a very lengthy process to rehab city hall, but we're excited to get started. We like to see scaffolding, we like to see cranes in the city of Scranton," added Mayor Cognetti.
The work here on Mulberry Street next to city hall is a separate utility project.
That work is expected to be complete by next week.