Carbondale native Frank “Chauncey” Zazzera donated four handmade models of historic Carbondale buildings to the city to honor his late best friend and share the history of his hometown.
While the 81-year-old who now lives in Fell Twp. hoped the city would display the replicas — the former Carbondale viaduct, a Delaware and Hudson Gravity Railroad roundhouse that was once in the city, Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church and the Pugliano building at Enterprise Drive and Dundaff Street — his donation inspired a renovation project to give Carbondale’s 130-year-old-plus City Hall a revitalized foyer.
The replicas were all handcrafted by fellow Carbondale native Harold Ort, and Zazzera donated them to the city in honor of his longtime best friend, Roy Miley of Carbondale, who died in 2023.
“I’d just like the people of Carbondale to really enjoy it. I just don’t want them to stay in my attic. Who’s going to see them up there?” Zazzera said. “This way, everybody can see them and reminisce.”
Models that were inspired by churches in Carbondale will be displayed in the foyer of Carbondale City Hall Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Built in 1892-1894, Carbondale City Hall at 1 N. Main St. is a Romanesque Revival-style brick and bluestone building that has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 1983, according to a building study in January by Martina Bacarella Architect, a Scranton-based architecture studio.
City Hall underwent a comprehensive renovation project in 1996 that included upgrading the fire-suppression system, redesigning the council chambers, installing an elevator and enclosing a staircase in the rear of the building for accessibility, but the improvements didn’t touch the foyer aside from adding the current oak doors into City Hall, Mayor Michele Bannon said.
The front of Carbondale City Hall Tuesday. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
When Zazzera approached her about donating his collection of replicas to display in City Hall, Bannon thought it would be the perfect opportunity to upgrade the foyer.
“When you walk into a grand building like City Hall … you want it to be beautiful. You want it to be opulent,” she said. “I thought that’d be a great way to show off our history, but at the same time, make it an elegant piece of the building.”
Now, work is underway to upgrade the foyer’s interior, with Bannon hoping to finish the improvements by the end of the month using a $3,000 grant from the Lackawanna Heritage Valley Authority. The city is also in the engineering phase of a project to upgrade its police station, which is in City Hall, including upgraded workstations for officers and enhanced security, she said. The police station project will use $300,000 in funds from the state’s Redevelopment Assistance Capital Program, or RACP, Bannon said. She hopes to complete the police station project this year, though it could spill over into 2026.
A view of the interior of Carbondale City Hall Tuesday, June 10, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
City Hall’s foyer is currently being repainted, with other work including new furniture like railroad-style benches, displays for Zazzera’s donations, revitalized tile flooring and potentially more lighting, said Bannon, who lauded the donated labor the city has received. For interior design, a local woman, Lynn Wallis, toured the foyer and gave the city suggestions for color palettes, furniture and displays. Adams Cable donated large, framed prints of historic Carbondale scenes to display; Councilman Walter Martzen refurbished and re-plastered a water-damaged wall; city zoning and code enforcement officer Doug Calzola, who is also a contractor, is overseeing the project; residents Margie Famularo and Marjanie Hellman provided technical assistance and support; and inmates from SCI Waymart are painting the interior, Bannon said.
“Everything is volunteer — the only thing we’ve paid for are materials,” she said. “Every single person has donated their time, their treasures and their talent.”
For Zazzera, displaying the replicas will showcase pieces of Carbondale’s history that younger generations never got to see, especially regarding the D&H Railroad and its history.
“It’s part of our history, and it’s never going to go away,” Zazzera said.
Zazzera recalled Ort, who he knew since the 1960s, building the models himself as part of a sprawling Lionel model train collection. Ort was a master electrician, Zazzera said.
“He was a very clever fellow,” he said, noting the viaduct and roundhouse were both made to scale. “He had so many switches and components in that roundhouse that the actual turntable inside the roundhouse would turn.”
After Ort died in 2018, Zazzera and his late best friend, Miley, approached Ort’s wife to buy some of the buildings from his collection.
When Miley passed away in 2023, Zazzera reached out to the Carbondale Historical Society about donating the items, but with the society tucked away on the third floor of City Hall, he hoped more people could see them, prompting him to contact Bannon.
“I want them someplace that people could see and appreciate what this is,” he said.
The displays will be in memory of Miley while crediting Ort for making them, Zazzera said.
In the future, Bannon wants to seek grant funding to address City Hall’s exterior, with the largest expense being to replace its single-pane windows, which are original to the building. Several years ago, the city received an estimate that replacing the windows would cost nearly $1 million, she said.
“How can we expect developers and investors and existing business owners to make improvements in their properties if we’re not willing to do them in ours?” Bannon said, emphasizing the need to use grants, donations and volunteerism to avoid overburdening taxpayers. “I can’t embellish enough how blessed we are to have so many people who want to see us thrive.”