LEWISBURG — M-C Federal Credit Union has launched the first redevelopment of the former Pennsylvania House property with its $1.3 million renovation of the manufacturer’s former showroom near Lewisburg Area Recreation Park.

The credit union unveiled its new office along St. Mary Street last week. The office features three drive-through lanes and nearly 5,000 square feet of office space, most of which was renovated by local labor.

Jim Barbarich, M-C Federal’s president and chief executive officer, says among the highlights of the new office are many energy efficient features, including a geothermal heating and cooling system.

“This is an extremely (environmentally friendly) building,” Barbarich said. “We have 12-inch foam blanket insulation. We replaced all of the old lighting with florescent energy-efficient lights and installed a geothermal heating pump, which reverses its cycle in the summer to cool the building.”

Barbarich said the credit union hopes to save $5,000 a year in energy costs.

“We’re looking at a three-year pay back on this (geothermal) system,” Barbarich said. “This building also has programmable thermostats and automated lights, which shut off 50 percent of the lighting during off-hours.”

Another highlight, according to Barbarich, is the amount of local work that went into the renovation.

“If you think about what a credit union stands for, it’s cooperation,” Barbarich said. “There is an identity there that makes this project really special. In addition to the local contractors, a lot of the laborers were father-son duos.”

Some of the local work included carpentry, installing granite, laying marble floors and planting a nursery that is incorporated into an outside water control system designed by Mid-Penn Engineering Corp. in Lewisburg.

There is local work also displayed on the walls of the credit union, Barbarich said.

“The Susquehanna Valley Artists Association is featuring local artists’ paintings throughout the new office,” Barbarich said of the more than 25 original paintings. “We wanted to be able to share the local culture and talent of people who live here.”

The credit union is continuing to renovate the rest of the 15,987-square-foot showroom building, which will include 11,000 square feet of space available for lease, according to Barbarich.

The 45-acre Pennsylvania House property, anchored by Route 15 and St. Mary Street, was vacant for more than a year before Meridian, a New York City based development firm, purchased the site two years ago. Approximately 425 jobs were lost when La-Z-Boy, the owner of Pennsylvania House, closed the plant and moved its facilities to China.

M-C Federal’s new office joins its other offices in Bloomsburg, Danville, at Cherokee Pharmaceuticals in Riverside and at Evangelical Community Hospital in Lewisburg.

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