By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

A downtrodden building at Main and 2nd Sts. in Marion is getting new life now that it’s been purchased by owners of a beauty shop and boutique that will relocate downtown in September.

Brent and Robin Miles bought the building at 125 E. Main St. that now houses a coin laundry and upstairs apartments. The building recently housed a dry cleaning shop that ceased operation after its owner, Donna Rosiere, became too ill to operate it, and a Junction City-based drug counseling center that closed its Marion branch.

The coin laundry at the rear of the building and the upstairs apartments will remain — with renovations to both — and the front of the building that faces Main St. will house Silk Salon, the Mileses’ salon and boutique, now operating at 1240 Commercial Dr.

Target date for the beauty shop to begin operation in its new location is Sept. 1.

Brent Miles is completely overhauling the front section of the building. The floor is being removed and replaced, walls will be redone, and much other work will create a clean, shiny interior.

The rear portion of the front section will be for spa procedures, Miles said.

Miles will replace some of the coin laundry machines with new ones. Floor tiles will be removed and replaced with a finished concrete floor, but the coin laundry will remain in operation while that work is done. That part of the building also will have a fresh look when it’s finished.

Miles plans to remodel a center portion of the building, where a dry cleaning shop formerly operated, into an office space that he intends to rent out.

The town likely won’t be without dry cleaning service forever. Miles said after all the renovations were done, he’s contemplating starting a dry cleaning business that would feature pickup and delivery service.

The outside of the building will get a complete facelift, he said.

The Mileses also bought 210 E. Main St., where J. R. Hatters Mercantile operated before owner Johsie Reid moved her business to the 300 block of Main St. Miles said he would renovate it as well and rent the space for retail.