Downtown Tarentum E-Newsletter 3rd Quarter 2009

Tarentum Gains New Business & An Old Building Gets An Extreme Makeover

The Tarentum Business Area Advisory Committee has chosen Rabkin Dermatopathology Laboratory, P.C. as its 3rd Quarter Downtown Recognition recipient for 2009.

This new business set up shop in Tarentum this spring, bringing 20 new workers to the Borough's daily mix and one of the town's most beloved historic buildings back to its former glory.

The former site of Second Ward School and, most recently, Highlands Area Senior Center, is now home to Rabkin Dermatopathology Laboratory, P.C., a business that performs skin biopsy analysis and reporting for doctors' offices across the country.

When the company was nearing the end of its 10-year lease on its headquarters in O'Hara's RIDC Park, the company's founder, Dr. Michael Rabkin, and his wife, Beth, the office administrator, began to search for new space that would accommodate the two-decades-old bioscience venture. Employees who live in the area suggested that they take a look at the building on Second Avenue, which served as a school for generations of kids from the 1850s to the late 1970s.

"We knew that we wanted to buy instead of lease," explained Beth. "With 15,000 sq. feet of space, employee parking, proximity to a riverfront park and a real community with sidewalks and nearby restaurants, the location was ideal."

However, the aging building, more than a century past its glory days, was not.

But the couple was undeterred and completely committed to a major makeover that would enhance the buildings functionality while preserving its architectural heritage.

"We were not interested in an anonymous office building. We were attracted to the character of the site and the surrounding area. We were as committed to restoring the building's period exterior as we were to completely modernizing the office and lab spaces."

The remodeling and restoration costs are estimated to be more than 200 times the initial cost of the building, but the results are exceptional, and have enhanced the aesthetic appeal of the surrounding area in Tarentum's four-hundred block.

Blocked window openings and arches have been uncovered; the brick and stone exterior have been cleaned; the property was graded to remove 12 inches of sediment deposited from previous floods, which washes the ground floor in natural light; and an extensive landscaping project is currently underway that will eventually include a rose garden and green space on an adjacent property that the company recently acquired and cleared.

The Rabkins hired local contractors and tradesmen for all the interior and exterior work whenever possible, including several people who had actually attended elementary school in the building.

"Bill Rossey and the Borough have been wonderful in helping us with our relocation and remodeling efforts. Everyone made us feel welcome. This was a great move for us and our employees."

Rossey echoes the sentiment. "Rabkin is a welcome addition to our downtown business mix. It's great to see a company of this caliber recognize the economic incentives and cultural amenities that Tarentum has to offer. We're open for business."