ESSENTIAL SERVICE Livingston Manor’s only laundromat, the Washing Well, has been purchased by Tanya Kalivas and her family. Renovations to the facility are underway, and its dormant car wash will be turned into a commercial space later this year. Manor Ink photo
Main Street continues to add businesses
New owners have plans for town’s laundromat
By Michelle Adams-Thomas | Manor Ink
Livingston Manor, NY – The “small town with a big backyard” is getting bigger every day.
There are additional developments taking place on the newly-populated upper portion of Main Street. In addition to Long Weekend, Jitterbug, the Neon Croissant, the Walk In, Barnfox, Bà & Me and One Grand Books, the Washing Well laundromat and its adjacent car wash, located at 81 Main Street, are under new ownership. Manor Ink sat down recently with owner Tanya Kalivas to discuss her renovation and expansion plans for the business.
Kalivas has had a home in the area for seven years, and moved up to Livingston Manor full time in 2020. After relocating, she had a desire to put down roots.
“We wanted to be so much more tied to the community and businesses on Main Street,” she said. “I really felt like there was something special here.”
“We wanted to be so much more tied to the community and businesses on Main Street. I really felt like there was something special here.”
Kalivas felt the laundromat and shuttered car wash offered a chance to do just that. “I saw the business as an opportunity to become a part of the fabric in this town. A laundromat, in that way, can be so essential to the people.”
Kalivas will keep the clothes-washing facility open. With upgrades to it already underway, the plan is to give it a fresh new look.
“For the laundromat, we have started doing small interior renovations,” she said. “We’ve introduced some pops of color, and have done clean-up and touch-ups on the walls. And we have more plans for branding and design. On the exterior, we’re planning an extension on the side that is now the car wash. For the outside of the building there will be new wood paneling.”
As for the former car wash next door, it will be closed. “We plan on expanding the car wash portion. It will no longer be a car wash, but a commercial space that we plan to lease out,” Kalivas said. “We have no plans to run our own business there. We plan on knocking down the wall between the two carports and creating one big open space.”
As of right now, negotiations with potential tenants for the new space are going well, but what that business will be, and when it will open, are still under wraps. Kalivas said they are in the process of getting permits and expect to see renovations begin once the winter weather permits.