The “old” High School in the Village of Holley is getting some new help in the effort to restore and revitalize the deteriorating structure which is a prominent feature of the village’s business and historic district.
The village has received a $5,000 Preserve New York Grant and a special ceremony is planned Wednesday, October 29 outside the school for a presentation of the check to the village.
Holley Mayor John Kenney says officials are thrilled to be receiving the funds which will “be used to get the building on the National Register of Historic Places,” he says.
The ceremony is planned for 4:30 p.m. on the front lawn outside the school which sits at the intersection of Routes 31 and 237 in the village.
The school was built in 1931 in the Neo-Classical Revival style. In 2013, it made the Landmark Society of Western New York’s “Five to Revive” list of historically significant properties in need of preservation. It has not been used as a school since the mid 1970s.
Kenney says Bero Architecture is acting as a consultant to the village on the preservation/revitalization project. Achieving landmark status would help in obtaining tax credits to encourage development of the building.
Restoring the old high school would, “… remove a lot of blight in a critical part of the community,” Kenney said.
