A Lawrence landmark is getting a much needed overhaul.

The Castle Tea Room, at 13th and Massachusetts streets, is undergoing some major surgery. The Libuse Kriz-Fiorito Historical Foundation wants to update the building with an elevator, heating and air conditioning, and other much needed repairs.

“The plumbing is all steel pipes and they’re mostly rotted,” said Arthur Anderson, a member of the foundation board.

The building was erected in the early 1900s, leaving workers with some difficult challenges. “Much of the wiring is really antiquated,” Anderson said, “and so we’ll be able to bring all the wiring up to code and all the plumbing up to code.”

Libby Kriz-Fiorito was the last owner of the building, designed by famous architect John Haskell. The building, which is on the National Register of Historical Places, has served as a restaurant, public venue and home in its history.

After Kriz-Fiorito’s death in 2004, she entrusted the building to her foundation, which began remodeling the old structure this month.

“The board, in the years since her death,” Anderson said, “has spent a great deal of time thinking about how to make it a public-use building, a viable project that the public can enjoy in the future.”