SCRANTON, Pa. — An old Beach Boys record and a box full of buttons sitting on display inside of a pharmacy may seem a bit random, but both were made right within these walls—products of a bygone era when the manufacturing industry boomed in Lackawanna County. This building in South Scranton was once a button factory in the 19th century and later became a Capitol Records plant.
Pharmacist Mike Ruane found the record and the buttons online.
"That record, on the back of it, it says Scranton, PA, so that's pretty neat. And then I have the original box from the Scranton Button Company, which was here, and manufactured millions of buttons throughout the world. The box that I have actually contains the original buttons, and it's from 1910," said Ruane.
The building on Cherry Street is now the new home of the Scranton Counseling Center, the second location for the Prescription Center, and one of several locations for the Wright Center.
For the Scranton Counseling Center, this move is more than six years in the making.
"The building on Adams Avenue served us well for the years; then it was time for us to get a bigger space. This is a 100,000 square foot building, so certainly plenty of room for our staff and consumers, and plenty of room for expansion," said CEO Salvatore Santoli.
The Prescription Center is open to the public, but it's especially convenient for the clients of both the Scranton Counseling Center and the Wright Center; all three are accessible through one entrance.
"It's like a one-stop-shop for health care, basically," said Ruane.
The massive building has sat empty for years, and the new tenants are thrilled to be part of the effort to bring it back to life.
"I walked through here probably about two years ago, and the building looked like it was on the verge of being condemned. The roof was nonexistent in some parts. There was rain coming in. It's a state-of-the-art building now. So from on the verge of being condemned to state of the art, it's pretty remarkable," said Ruane.
"Our staff is happy. Visitors here are happy, and our consumers have space now instead of worrying about downtown. And it's a pleasure to see lots of smiles walking into the building every day," said Santoli.