The Wilkes-Barré Preservation Society held its 4th Annual Preservation Awards ceremony on Wednesday night. They honored D&D Realty for their “preservation and readaptive use” of the building at 116 S. Main St.
According to a press release from the society, 116 S. Main St. was designed by the Wilkes-Barre architecture firm of Welsh, Sturdevant & Poggi in 1914 and was originally the home of C.F. Murray-Smith Co., a furniture store.
D&D Realty restored the building and prepared it for its current uses: an early learning center — operated by Building Blocks — and 34 luxury apartments in Downtown Wilkes-Barre.
Nick Dye, a partner at D&D Realty, sees a positive impact in the neighborhood of Wilkes-Barre in which the project is included. According to Dye, much of the neighborhood’s newfound brightness is thanks to Building Blocks being the building’s primary, ground-level tenant.
“This used to be kind of a dark part of town back here, and now we’ve flipped it upside down. And now it’s bright,” Dye said, specifically referring to the alley that borders the renovated building. He said that Building Blocks has already hosted a number of activities and events in the alley space.
As for the apartments in the buildings higher floors, Dye was encouraged by the vibrant atmosphere that comes with an apartment building on Main Street.
“We need to find new uses for these buildings, and I think that residential convergence is a viable answer,” said Dye.
The preservation society’s board of directors determines the award recipients based on a number of criteria, including their historical, architectural, or restorative merits.
“What’s really exciting about Wilkes-Barre now is, in the last decade, there’s been about 20 different major, historic restoration projects, and we want to see more,” said Tony Brooks, director and curator of the Wilkes-Barré Preservation Society. In the four years that the preservation society has given out awards, seven restorative projects have been honored.
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