Former Monessen department store undergoes major renovations
A workman Wednesday removes the Eisenberg’s sign, which will be restored as part of the Monessen building’s rehabilitation.
Jason Hrezo of Elizabeth works Wednesday on framing as the former Eisenberg’s Department Store in Monessen is being converted into apartments
Eisenberg’s Department Store’s side windows were dressed in women’s fashions in this photograph taken circa 1960 from Fourth Street in Monessen.
Abe Wilen, son-in-law of Henry Eisenberg, the Monessen department store’s founder.
The Schoonmaker Avenue facade of the former Eisenberg’s Department Store as it appeared decades ago in Monessen.
MONESSEN – Eisenberg’s Department Store’s storefront windows were always meticulously dressed with women’s and children’s fashions before the landmark building became vacant nearly 15 years ago.
Over time, the two-story brick building’s roof began to leak while its windows were broken and most of the historic architectural elements were stripped away, said Rick Dunn, who is managing a construction project that will convert Eisenberg’s into an apartment building.
“This is going to be drop-dead gorgeous,” said Dunn, a senior construction manager for the Homestead-based Mon Valley Initiative.
“At the Mon Valley Initiative, we take a lot of pride in our work,” Dunn said Wednesday while leading a tour through the building at Schoonmaker Avenue and Fourth Street.
The initiative works with community development corporations in the Mon Valley to unite and restore towns and providing high-quality, affordable housing is one of its objectives.
The initiative was alerted by Monessen Community Development Corp. in 2014 that the Eisenberg’s building was available for purchase, and it initially raised $1.3 million for the project, said initiative spokesman Jason Togyer.
The red brick exterior is being cleaned and repaired. The brick was laid in 1915-16 to create a beautiful herringbone pattern below the roof.
“It’s really coming back to life,” Togyer said.
Construction began Oct. 3 to create 13 mixed-income apartments, including some in the basement, and the work is expected to be completed April 30 by Liokareas Construction Co. of Bethel Park, Dunn said.
He said the Eisenberg’s sign will be restored as the apartment building is being named in honor of the former store that had a special relationship with the community.
“This was the place everyone came to shop,” Dunn said.
He said there is a lot of interest from people who may relocate to the one- or two-bedroom apartments.
Meanwhile, the initiative is also rehabilitating two houses for resale in Monessen and will build another on Graham Avenue.