Susquehanna Station/Starrucca House

Does anybody know the status of the Starrucca House restaurant in the Erie Susquehanna station?

I was up there recently and it looked like it had not been open in at least a few weeks. The parking lot had not been plowed in a while as well. It looked like it may have been decorated for a Christmas party, but in general, the place looked a little shabby. And it's hemmed in by the NYSW junkyard on the eastbound track.

Place has been for sale for some time..asking price $380,000. According to the real estate agent....original owner ran the restaurant / catering business / reception hall. Original owner died or gave control to the children who ran the business for some time, but now want out. Supposedly, when the original owner put time into the business, it did well. Local church rents space for services...generates about $10,000 a year. Tons of square footage at a low price (compared to NJ). However, area is lightly populated and at the lower income scale. Some work is needed on the upper floors / roof as well. Any work would likely need to follow historic guidelines given the status of the structure.

If the following link works...you will see the listing....

http://www.classicproperties.com/listin ... op_id=1080

Starrucca House station is back on the market after an absence. Same list price ($380,000), however the new listing has some great interior shots. Follow the link....

http://www.northeastpamls.com/content/S ... erties.htm

This will bring you to the Scranton MLS service. Enter 380000 for the min and max price and select Susquehanna from the "City (Postal Center)" menu. Click on the listing; the top banner of the listing provides options for viewing "Full Information" and "Photo Tour".

I am the grandson of the late Mike Matis, The structure is up for sale, but it is not due to his children losing interest. The building needs some work, and without financial investments, it would be nerely impossible to keep the business running. We are always looking for ideas. Any support would be greatly appreciated.

Michal Matis

What comes around goes around (or however the quote goes!). In the early days of railroading, before diners, there used to be meal stops. The train would stop and passengers could go into the depot and have a meal. Susquehanna was one of those facilities and I have seen a interior picture much like the previous post with the majority of the building full of tables. Wish I could remember where I saw it.

Mr. Matis-

My only suggestion would be to try to tap into some kind of grant program or other funding source, or perhaps some sort of loan program, for preservation/renovation/stabilization of historic buildings. These things do exist, but it may take some hunting to find.

If you are looking to continue to operate some sort of business in the building, but don't have the money upfront that would be required to perform the renovations that are in turn required to continue business operations, that may be a possibility. You might also be able to find ways to get some help with your taxes if you play off of the historic preservation aspect of running a business in the building, or by finding creative ways to make the use and preservation of the building a win-win for the local economy in Susquehanna.

To erie2521
That picture can be found in the book called "The next station will be..." There is a picture of the station on the cover of the paperback book and on the next to the last page is the picture of the grand ballroom. The picture is credited to Bill Young who is from the Susquehana Area.

Just thought I would throw out the sad news that the Starrucca House will be let go due to unpaid taxes. The business just couldn't survive and the family doesn't have the funding to put back into the building. My grandfather passed away a broke man and far in debt just to help save this great structure.

Mike Matis

Mike,

That is sad to hear, but understandable with the current economic climate and the investment the structure requires to stay in good repair.

Thank you and your family for having invested your time and money to preserve it so that it still stands today.

Sorry about the loss to your family Mike. I visited Susquehanna and stopped at the station last month. I was never there before. Something about it made me want to visit again, soon. If the rail activity was frequent enough the station could become a trackside hotel and restraunt.

Some of the locals restoring an Erie car for the Chemung Railroad people were at the Susquehanna station when I went for the first time today. They said the station is going for at least 6 digit prices. Any local know how much that $ is?

This is too bad, and I notice that the bench and Erie crossing signs from the station are on eBay. "1800s Erie Railroad Bench Starrucca YMCA Railroad RR" "Erie RR Railroad Crossing Signal Light Signs" Understandable, but sad for pieces of this great building to be scattered. Thank you Mike, for what your family has done to keep Starrucca House alive, I enjoyed so much visiting the place my great-grandfather, and his father, and his father! worked. I really wonder what will happen to the station and hope for the best.

I see the information about the Starrucca House is a couple years old. I am looking for information on using the hall for an event and I was hoping to at least get a contact name and number. If anyone has any information I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks!

Corey wrote:I see the information about the Starrucca House is a couple years old. I am looking for information on using the hall for an event and I was hoping to at least get a contact name and number. If anyone has any information I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks!

The station's still up for sale I believe, and definitely not in the condition to use as far as I know.

Hello all,
I was reading all the posts from the past. I had a piece of my art work displayed here during the Harvest of the Arts festival a few years ago. I was just wondering the status of this amazing building? I have not seen any recent news on the property. Thank you so much.
-Sarrah