The Pajama Factory - the old Raytowne complex - has been added to the historic registry by the National Register of Historic Places.
Owner Mark Winkleman made the announcement Friday at a small reception at the site, 1307 Park Ave.
The process began last spring, Winkleman said, when he hired Kyomin Lee, an intern from the New York University Schack Institute of Real Estate, to file a claim for historical significance.
"We received a letter Aug. 21 from the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission that the property is elgible for listing in the National Register for Historic Places," Winkleman said.
To obtain a spot in the national listing, management had to provide comprehensive photographic coverage of the complex and tout the merits of the buildings, one of which is that the factory is made out of brick.
"That style of factory building was really never built again," Winkleman said. "After this, most factories were built with concrete."
The move makes the building eligible for tax credits, which can be sold to fund the restoration project.
"It's really our goal to restore the building," Winkleman said. "And we want to do it in a way that is in line with the Historic Preservation Act and in line with the goals of the National Trust for Historic Preservation."
This means that any renovations to the exterior have to be up to historic standards and must be done with consideration for the original architecture (built between 1883 and 1919). As far as the inside is concerned, "It's not going to change anything," Winkleman said. "There are no requirements for specific construction inside."
Project Manager Marshall Harris sees the historic status as a chance to collect stories and artifacts from the building's history, using the memories of local people who have a relationship with the complex.
"We want to gather information from people who have connections to the building," Harris said. "We want to reconstruct its tapestry through the stories people have."
In the next year, Harris hopes to work with the Lycoming County Historical Society and people in the community to piece together the building's history and present it to the city.
"The plans are that a year from now, in 2011, we will unveil a year's worth of research and archives to display throughout the building," Harris said. "That way, as you walk through, you get a history of the building."
Harris wants to find things that represent specific points in the timeline of the site to use in the displays, creating a visual narrative of the property.
"We're hoping to find some machinery or artifacts from the different iterations of the factory," he said. "Maybe (we'll get) some galoshes from when it was a rubber factory."
The historical buzz is making its way through the historic halls to the factory's many tenants as well.
Among the groups that call the factory home are seven established businesses employing 47 people; 18 start-up businesses that employ 23 people; five nonprofit organizations; 21 artisans; two publications - The Williamsport Guardian and Susquehanna Life Magazine - and two church groups, which represent more than 50 members.
Chad Andrews, owner of Paper Plus, one of the factory's businesses, said, "artists are always trying to make work of significance and working in a space that has historical significance enriches this experience."
Tenant Robert Bower, who is a graphic designer and an artist, said, "I'm just happy that the building - which has such a rich history - is getting the recognition it deserves."
