Call this business work of art
10/13/2005Published in The Times-Leader Oct 13, 2005
By RENITA FENNICK rfennick@leader.net
Working artists, a gift shop will call South Franklin Street home at Arts Youniverse.
WILKES-BARRE – A for-profit arts center featuring working artists and a gift shop will soon be unveiled in the historic Mary Stegmaier mansion, 156 S. Franklin St.
The Wyoming Valley Chapter of the American Red Cross sold the tan brick Colonial Revival structure to the Quinary Group for $375,000. The Red Cross moved its headquarters to North Sherman Street earlier this year.
Arts Youniverse, the brainchild of accountant Kathleen Godwin, will occupy the second and third floors of the mansion and operate an artists gift shop on the first floor.
Godwin’s business is one of two arts centers proposed for downtown Wilkes-Barre. The other is a nonprofit undertaking by the Cultural Council of Luzerne County, Wilkes University, King’s College, Luzerne County Community College and others. The Cultural Council is working with Artspace Projects of Minneapolis, a national nonprofit organization, to develop a feasibility study of the project. The difference in the two centers is money. Godwin’s venture is a potential revenue maker, while the Cultural Council’s proposed nonprofit center would rely on governmental and community support. The building’s owners are still looking for tenants for the rest of the first floor, said Janet Flack, one of the five women who comprise the Quinary Group. The others are Godwin; Pat Finan, a health-care consultant and former Wyoming Valley Health Care System chief executive officer; attorney Mary Louise Faber; and bank official Maureen Straub.
Flack is an interior designer.
“The Quinary Group is excited to have acquired an historic building in Wilkes-Barre and to having Arts Youniverse as a tenant,” Flack said on behalf of the group. “We look forward to continuing with our participation in the downtown development.”
In a press release issued this week, Godwin said she envisions Arts Youniverse as an “environment where people of every age, economic level and every level of experience can bring the arts into their lives.”
The home was built in 1907 as the residence of Mary Stegmaier, who was married to George J. Stegmaier, son of Charles Stegmaier, founder of the brewing company.
In 1943, Mary Stegmaier’s children – Kathleen, George and Edward – presented the home to the American Red Cross in memory of their mother.
Another Stegmaier property, at 304 S. Franklin St., is owned by Joseph Matteo who is converting the 1870 building into a bed and breakfast inn.
