Mayfield’s 115-year-old Municipal Building has a new look.
The borough unveiled its revitalized municipal headquarters on Wednesday, celebrating the completion of a nearly yearlong, $360,000-plus project to modernize the interior and the exterior of the building at 739 Penn Ave.
“It’s been much improved to modernize it and bring it up to the 21st century,” Mayor Al Chelik said during a tour of the building Thursday.
Work began on the Municipal Building in August, Chelik said.
The project received a $338,000 state Local Share Account grant and a $5,000 Lackawanna County Community Re-invest Program grant, council Vice President Wendy Bochnovich said.
On the exterior, gray siding and stone replaced the faded yellow facade from the 1970s, giving the building a modern aesthetic. Work also involved replacing the roof and extending roofs over the front and rear entrances.
The front of the Mayfield Municipal Building Thursday, June 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
A view of the front of the Mayfield Borough Building on March 27, 2024. (TIMES-TRIBUNE FILE)
Mayfield built its Municipal Building in 1910, and the new siding matches the color of the original siding, Chelik said.
“We wanted to make it as accurate as possible,” he said.
Inside the Municipal Building, Bochnovich pointed out that the entire first floor was gutted.
Mayfield Mayor Al Chelik and council committee grant coordinator Wendy Bochnovich stand in the renovated council room in the Mayfield Municipal Building Thursday, June 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Mayfield Mayor Al Chelik tests out the new audio system in the council room of the renovated Mayfield Municipal Building Thursday, June 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Mayfield Mayor Al Chelik and council committee grant coordinator Wendy Bochnovich walk down the stairs in the renovated Mayfield Municipal Building Thursday, June 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Council committee grant coordinator Wendy Bochnovich stands in the door in the rear of the renovated Mayfield Municipal Building Thursday, June 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
The reception area in the renovated Mayfield Municipal Building Thursday, June 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Mayfield Mayor Al Chelik shows off the foyer of the renovated Mayfield Municipal Building Thursday, June 12, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Crews made a more secure office for the administrative assistant, Chelik said. They removed the front desk and built an enclosed office space with a glass window and pass-through.
“We wanted to protect our administrative assistant,” Chelik said. “More protection because today, you don’t know.”
The borough also widened its wheelchair-accessible bathroom, with the building now being fully Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant, Chelik said. Down the hall, the borough gave the planning commission its own office after planning officials previously only had a filing cabinet in the council chambers, Bochnovich said. The building also got a new furnace.
On the second floor, the borough completely redid its council chambers, replacing carpet with vinyl plank flooring and wood-paneled walls with Sheetrock, Bochnovich said.
Using the $5,000 county grant, they modernized the chambers, including installing a large television and microphones for each elected official connected to speakers, while new chairs and narrow tables are on the way for the audience, Chelik and Bochnovich said.
Pointing to an HDMI port in the wall, Chelik noted that officials can now plug in their computers to display on the TV during meetings.
The microphones and speakers alleviate issues with audience members not being able to hear during meetings, Bochnovich said, recalling positive feedback from attendees at Wednesday’s meeting.
“With those speakers in the back, the people sitting back there said, ‘Wow, we can hear,’ ” she said.
The borough held a building dedication ceremony Wednesday prior to the council meeting, with state Sen. Rosemary Brown, R-40, Middle Smithfield Twp., and a representative for state Rep. Kyle Mullins, D-112, Blakely, attending, Chelik said.
The newly completed project is now the third major remodeling in the building’s history, Chelik said. It was first remodeled from 1974-75, which is when it received the “harvest gold” siding that was just replaced, then in 1991-92, and now from 2024-25. In 2012, the borough also used a county Community Re-Invest grant to add an elevator, he said.
Overall, Chelik considers the brightness of the building to be the the single largest improvement.
“It’s uplifting. It’s not dark,” he said, later adding, “It’s a 1910 building, modernized.”