by Kristina Gabalski
Those working to save the 1836 Clarendon stone store say significant progress is being made in their efforts.
The Clarendon Town Board recently agreed to sell the stone store, located at the intersection of Route 237 and Route 31A for one dollar to the person who presents the best plan meeting their criteria. Town board members also authorized the Old Stone Store Preservation Committee (OSSPC) and the Landmark Society to begin marketing the property.
“I’m pleased that the town board is willing to make this possible by cooperating with anyone who comes forward with an appropriate plan,” Clarendon resident and OSSPC chair Erin Anheier says. “The Landmark Society is working with us to market the building and I am hoping we reach the person who is willing and able to bring the building back to use. I like to say that this building isn’t empty, it is filled with opportunities.”
The stone store, which contains approximately 3,200 square feet, operated as a general store until 1975. It was then used as an apartment building and has been vacant since 2007.
Landmark Society officials say it is one of the oldest structures in the town and a unique surviving example of an early 19th century commercial building, executed in Medina sandstone.
“There are very few buildings like this left in our entire region, let alone in Orleans County,” Caitlin Meives, a preservation planner with the Landmark Society says. “It’s an important part of the community’s history and culture. It served as a general store and social gathering spot for the hamlet for almost 150 years. It sits at a prominent, heavily traveled intersection and, because of its historic character, really has the potential to serve as a unique marketing tool for the town/hamlet.”
Anheier says the town has already lost the beautiful stone Universalist Church, the stone school house, the stone blacksmith shop, the stone mill – all within the hamlet. “The more I learn about this building and the varied and important roles it has played in the history of Clarendon, the more I am convinced it should be saved,” she says. “If the building is demolished, it will be an irreversible and sad moment. Clarendon will have lost its most well-known landmark and people in the future will forget, or never know, how important it was to the growth of our community.”
The town owns the building and plans were made to demolish it, but in July 2011, the town board granted local citizens in partnership with the Landmark Society one year to market the property and find a new owner to rehabilitate it and bring it back to the tax rolls.
Since last July, the OSSPC has spearheaded local efforts to clean out the building, make immediate necessary repairs and have the property surveyed. With a $500 donation from the Landmark Society and funds raised by OSSPC, Bero Architecture, PLLC, was hired to prepare a report of the building’s condition and recommended repairs.
Meives says Anheier and Town Historian/Code Enforcement Officer, Melissa Ierlan, “have been absolutely instrumental in rallying the troops to get things done and bring increased attention to this property.”
“I am gratified that many residents came forward last July to tell the Town Board that they felt the stone store was important to them,” Anheier says. “Since that time, I have spoken to so many people who don’t live in Clarendon but have driven by the building. It has made an impression on them and they tell me they also hope it will be saved. A small group of volunteers have given countless hours to help reach that goal.”
With assistance from the Landmark Society, OSSPC members also completed the research and paperwork for a nomination to the State and National Registers of Historic Places. The nomination has been submitted to the NY State Historic Preservation Office and is pending approval by the NY State Review Board, which meets in March.
“I am very optimistic that the building will be placed on the State and National Register of Historic Places,” Anheier says. “The tax credits this will make accessible can make the rehabilitation of the Stone Store more attractive from a financial standpoint. But mostly, I hope to see the building rehabilitated so that it will once again be a focal point of the hamlet, and remind people of our proud past.”
For a plan to be considered by the Clarendon Town Board, it must include the planned use of the building, details of the rehabilitation plan and the timeline for the completion of the plan. It must return the front facade to a more historically appropriate appearance and restore the building to a condition allowing a Certificate of Occupancy, officials say.
The town board will give preference to a plan which includes commercial space or offices on the first floor and the same or storage on the second floor. Commercial or office space on the first floor and an owner occupied apartment on the second floor would be an alternate use. Town board members say it will also consider conversion of both floors to a single family home. Multiple apartments will not be considered.
The Landmark Society will assist with marketing the property, Meives says, through its own outlets and also through a national website that markets historical properties and will also lend expertise as the town considers offers from potential buyers.
