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<\/p>\nScranton\u2019s Historical Architecture Review Board rejected Fidelity Bank\u2019s request to demolish the condemned, former Mattes & Mattes attorneys\u2019 building at 324 N. Washington Ave. downtown to make way for a bank parking lot there.<\/p>\n
The recommendation by HARB on Feb. 12 against demolition now will go to Scranton City Council for upholding or overturning, according to an Electric City Television simulcast and video of that meeting posted on YouTube.<\/p>\n
Fidelity Bank is renovating the iconic Scranton Electric Building at 507 Linden St. into a headquarters, completion of which is expected in April. That will result in the Fidelity branch at 334-336 N. Washington Ave. being vacated and sold to the city, which intends to use it as an annex to City Hall at 340 N. Washington Ave. The bank branch will remain open until Fidelity completes its headquarters at the eight-story landmark topped with the iconic \u201cScranton, The Electric City\u201d sign.<\/p>\n
As part of the Scranton Electric Building renovation project and move, Fidelity bought the Mattes & Mattes building at 324 N. Washington Ave. to raze it to make way for parking there for bank employees relocating to the Scranton Electric Building.<\/p>\n
Fidelity already owns the parking lot off North Washington Avenue between the Mattes building and the building at 312 N. Washington Ave., as well as the parking area behind Abe\u2019s Deli at 326 N. Washington Ave. Fidelity also owns the parking area behind the Scranton Electric Building. Those parking lots are accessed via Dix Court.<\/p>\n
But in rejecting the demolition of 324 N. Washington Ave., HARB members said they were learning for the first time that the Mattes building had been condemned by the city and Fidelity did not demonstrate it was beyond repair. They also don\u2019t want a larger gap in the streetscape of North Washington Avenue that would result from the razing of the Mattes building, and there also is ample parking available in the Linden parking garage across the street from the Mattes building.<\/p>\n
Charles Breig with L.R. Costanzo Construction Services, the contractor for Fidelity Bank, explained how the bank intends to demolish the Mattes building, refinish the party wall \u2014 a shared wall at the boundary between two properties \u2014 of Abe\u2019s Deli, improve a retaining wall, and upgrade and extend the fence and pillars of the existing parking lot along North Washington Avenue. The bank sought demolition approval and intended to return in March with the rest of the designs.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd they\u2019re not considering keeping the (Mattes) building at all?\u201d HARB member Katie Kearney asked.<\/p>\n
Breig replied, \u201cNo, not at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
HARB member Bill Lesniak asked if Fidelity considered razing only the rear of the Mattes building, to keep the front section fronting on North Washington Avenue.<\/p>\n
Breig said, \u201cNo. The building is in disrepair. It\u2019s not worth anything\u201d to the bank to keep.<\/p>\n
Fidelity\u2019s facilities manager, George Czajkowski, also said, \u201cWe wouldn\u2019t have any use for the building. Obviously, the remodel of the eight-story Electric City Building will house all of our headquarters and our staff, so we won\u2019t need an additional building to take care of,\u201d and added, \u201cit would cost quite a lot of money to fix\u201d the condemned building. Removal of the Mattes building would extend the current gap along North Washington Avenue by only 16 feet, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand what you\u2019re saying that the building is condemned, which we didn\u2019t know,\u201d Kearney said. \u201cI would like to see more information about that, the building being condemned, before I would feel comfortable \u2014 if I ever would feel comfortable \u2014 approving a demolition. So for me, I\u2019m going to make a motion to deny the application because I think that the importance of having storefronts in the downtown and that visual walkability and welcomingness on that block is so important.\u201d<\/p>\n
The board voted 4-0 \u2014 with Kearney, Lesniak, Jodi La Coe and Vito Scocozzo all in favor \u2014 to deny the demolition. Board member Katie Gilmartin, acting as chairwoman, did not cast a vote.\n<\/p>\n
In a phone interview Friday, Fidelity Bank President and CEO Dan Santaniello said the bank bought the dilapidated Mattes building at a sheriff\u2019s sale with the intent to raze it for more parking for the restoration of the Scranton Electric Building. That\u2019s a significant investment in the city by the bank and will move the bank\u2019s headquarters from Dunmore to downtown Scranton, he said. A bank engineer determined the Mattes building is beyond repair, as part of a side wall fell off onto parked vehicles of employees, and the roof and a sidewalk also have caved in, Santaniello said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHaving a blighted property adjacent to our parking made no sense, with the side of the building falling off,\u201d Santaniello said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to do the right thing for the city of Scranton, just like taking the blighted Scranton Electric Building and restoring it.\u201d<\/p>\n
He expects HARB\u2019s recommendation against demolition to go before Scranton City Council at its March 3 meeting.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn fairness to HARB, we didn\u2019t present all the facts because we didn\u2019t anticipate there being any opposition to this. We thought it was obvious it had to come down,\u201d Santaniello said.<\/p>\n
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Dumpsters from RLE Enterprises occupy the parking lot of the former Mattes and Mattes Attorneys building on N. Washington Ave. in downtown Scranton Friday, February 20, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n
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A condemned notice is placed on the front door of the former Mattes and Mattes Attorneys building on N. Washington Ave. in downtown Scranton Friday, February 20, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n
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The former Mattes and Mattes Attorneys building, far right, is now condemned on N. Washington Ave. in downtown Scranton Friday, February 20, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n
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Dumpsters from RLE Enterprises occupy the parking lot of the former Mattes and Mattes Attorneys building on N. Washington Ave. in downtown Scranton Friday, February 20, 2026. (SEAN MCKEAG \/ STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)\n<\/p>\n