SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — The iconic Penn Paper Tower seen in the opening credits of the hit television series “The Office” is in need of donations to help with repairs.
Officials with the Pennsylvania Paper and Supply Company stated they need help preserving the tower, located on Vine Street in Scranton, for all “The Office” fans to continue to enjoy and visit.
The iconic tower, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, is nearly 167 years old. While the integrity of this historic building remains strong, said officials, the tower is in need of serious repairs in order to preserve it.
“The tower which is very old is battling a need for extensive refurbishment. So we had a company out of Philadelphia come and they’re actually going to replace brick by brick, many of the bricks in the upper layers,” stated Douglas Fink, the building owner and general manager of the Pennsylvania Paper and Supply.
Fink says these repairs should help preserve the building for 50 to 100 years to come. Just like paying an entire group of third graders college tuition, the cost of these repairs isn’t cheap.
That’s why Penn Paper is asking fans to help save the tower.
“We created a website called scrantontower.Com and people from all over the world can actually purchase a piece of the tower, a brick that’s being replaced,” said Fink.
The shot featured in the intro of “The Office” was captured by John Krasinski, aka Jim Halpert, on his first trip to Scranton back in 2004, officials stated. Since then, the family-owned building has found its place on the worldwide map, with hundreds of visitors weekly from all over the world stopping by just to get a glimpse of Scranton’s real paper company.
Fink says as soon as the show premiered in 2005 on NBC. People began stopping by to check out Penn Paper and didn’t slow down when the comedy hit streaming sites.
“We have people coming from almost every country you could possibly imagine that wanna have their picture taken in front of the tower or visit our little shrine here in the lobby. It’s been the third most recognizable TV landmark after the “Seinfeld” diner and “The Brady Bunch” house,” explained Fink.
If you are interested in helping to #SaveTheOfficeTower, visit the paper company donation site, then click the “contribute” button to see how you can help. Donations will go towards all physical repairs required to save the tower benefiting Vine Realty LLC.
