SCRANTON -- A century-old train station turned hotel in Scranton is getting the modern update it's needed for many years.
The Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel is in the middle of a multimillion-dollar renovation.
From its balcony, the transition from train station to the Radisson Lackawanna Station Hotel is seamless. But for years, the transition from the lobby to the hotel rooms wasn't so.
"While they were standard hotel rooms before, they are truly something special now," said Radisson general manager Michael Kearney.
Kearney says the hotel is about two months away from finishing a $3 million renovation of its rooms.
They include marble accents, all new furniture, bathrooms, and the little things that make the room more modern.
"We love preserving the train station, but yet we're operating a hotel, so how do you combine both? And our designers came up with a pretty special package to pay tribute to the whole rail era and make the rooms very functional and modern but yet tie in beautifully with the lobby and the exterior of the hotel," said Kearney.
Kearney says the next thing on the to-do list is fixing some parts of the original exterior that's more than a century old, including the iconic eagles on top. Their wings have been covered for a few years now in an attempt to preserve them until they can be repaired.
The hotel is working with the Lackawanna Historical Society to find grants to fix the eagles and more.
It's those accents that brought Kathy Chrzan back to the hotel almost 30 years after her first visit.
"When I booked his room, I wanted to book it here," said Chrzan. "I always wanted to come here when I was at the University because it was just beautiful, even back then."
She and her son will stay in one of those brand new rooms. It doesn't take much to bring her back to the grand hotel but the upgrades don't hurt.
"If he ends up coming to school here, we'll probably be back a lot," she said.
Radisson officials expect all the finishing touches will be in place sometime in March.