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2004 Endangered Buildings List
Utica State Hospital "Old Main" Building
Guard (was Watch) • Greek Revival, ca. 1843
The Mohawk Valley Psychiatric Center’s “Old Main” building has been undergoing some remedial work over the past several months. The completion of the first floor renovation and conversion into the Records Archive for the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH) is expected to be completed sometime this year. In the fall of 2003 the Landmarks Society published the booklet, Old Main - A Landmark Reborn to help celebrate and inform of the building’s significant history and future potential. The Old Main Redevelopment Advisory Committee will continue to work to help find compatible uses for the remaining two floors.
Rutger-Steuben Park Historic District & Vicinity
The elegant mansions of the Rutger-Steuben Historic District, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, reflect the prosperity of Utica between 1830 and 1890. The District includes properties around Steuben Park and Rutger Street from Steuben Park east to Taylor Avenue and Second Street.
1 Rutger Park
Threatened • Italian Villa, ca. 1854
Designed by A. J. Davis and known as the Munn House. Some repairs have been made but more needs to be done. The Landmarks Society will continue to encourage the owner to develop a long-term plan for ultimate restoration.
3 Rutger Park
Threatened • Greek Revival, ca. 1830
Designed by Philip Hooker, the Miller or Roscoe Conkling house is one of the most significant structures in Oneida County. It is listed as a National Historic Landmark. The house’s exterior surfaces and their components still suffer from severe deterioration. It appears to be vacant. Landmarks and the City are very interested in preserving this structure intact and will make it a top priority. We will continue to try to work with the owner to ensure that much-needed repairs are made.
4 Rutger Park
Watch • Italian, ca. 1854
Bagg House or, as it is known today The Swancott Home for Women, is currently well cared for. Operating a facility such as this is always a challenge in today’s economy. The Landmarks Society wishes the owners well and encourages them to keep up the good work.
7 Rutger Park / Former Teamsters' Building
Watch • Italian, ca. 1854
Built in front of 5 Rutger Park is the former Teamster’s Office Building. Designed by the late local architect Edmund Booth and opened in 1977, it has been vacant for the past three years. Once despised for intruding upon the unspoiled greenspace, it is now considered to be among only a handful of significant modern Utica-area landmarks. Hidden beneath the spandrel glass façade is a huge box truss that supports the cantilevered wings. Landmarks will monitor.
Rutger Park Greenspace
Watch • Landscape, ca. 1830
The deep setback of Nos. 1,3,4 & 5 Rutger Park indicated the prominence of these strucures at the time of their construction and continues to do so today. But time and deferred maintenance have taken a toll on the park-like setting that complements the character of these architectural and historic treasures. The Landmarks Society encourages the owners to work toward re-establishing the Park as a preeminent urban greenspace.
215 Rutger Street
Watch (was Threatened) • Italianate, ca. 1869 Vacant
The new owner must develop a plan for restoration and preservation. (See related story on sale of Rutger and Miller street properties, page 6.)
217 Rutger Street
Watch (was Threatened) • Italianate, ca. 1869 Vacant
The new owner must develop a plan for restoration and preservation.
219 Rutger Street
Watch (was Threatened) • Second Empire, ca. 1870 Vacant
the new owner must develop a plan for restoration and preservation.
223 Rutger Street
Watch (was Threatened) • Queen Anne , ca. 1880 Vacant
The new owner must develop a plan for restoration and preservation.
1001 Miller Street
Watch (was Threatened) • Shingle Style, ca. 1885
Vacant and stripped of many architectural features, is in imminent danger of being lost. The City has gained ownership and has added this structure to the Rutger Street renovation project.
401 Rutger Street
Saved! (was Threatened) • Italianate, ca. 1886
A fire in the winter of 2002 threatened its stability, but it has been repaired and is occupied.
22 Steuben Park (priority #3)
Emergency • Queen Anne, ca. 1872
The City of Utica has taken over this property for nonpayment of taxes. The rear masonry wall previously reported to be in urgent need of repair has collapsed. The City has advised that it sold the building and the new owner intended to renovate the structure and use it for an office, but this has not materialized. Immediate action needs to be taken to prevent further collapse. Landmarks will monitor.
Corner of Hobart and Oneida Streets ("Oneida Street Castle")
Watch • (was Threatened)
The City, under the direction of Mayor Tim Julian, has put on a new roof. The cost, approximately $48,000, was far less than an estimated $600,000 for demolition. The City’s Urban Renewal Agency has boarded up the building, effectively mothballing it until it can be included in the next phase of work in the Mayfield District or an alternative plan can be established.
1005 Park Avenue
Watch • Italianate, ca. 1885
With help of the City of Utica and personnel from the DPW and Urban Renewal Agency, Landmarks sponsored a clean-out in November 2002. The building is structurally sound and Landmarks hopes to assist in its marketing through our expanded web site.
1003 Park Avenue
Watch • Italianate, ca. 1885
Adjacent to 1005, Landmarks also hopes to help market.
1025 Park Avenue
Watch • Italianate, ca. 1885
The new owner had begun exterior painting. Further updates will be forthcoming.
100 South Street
Threatened • Queen Anne, ca. 1885
While some progress has been made at repairing the front porch of this important building, there is considerably more that needs to be done.
Lower Genesee Street and Bagg’s Square Historic Districts
Mechanics Hall, 100 Liberty Street
Guard • Federal and Italianate features, ca. 1836
Designed by J. McGregor, this building is owner-occupied and stable, somewhat underutilized and certainly under appreciated.
Railway Express Agency (REA) Wing of Union Station
Guard (was Watch) • Ca. 1914
Has attracted new interest as a potential antiques mall or international market. Congressman Sherwood Boehlert has expressed his commitment to its renovation and reuse. The northside canopy was rebuilt last year and this is most encouraging. Brick repointing and roof replacement are long overdue.
Main Street
Threatened
This building, in the 400 block of Main Street, is among the last vestiges of the once thriving “Meatpacker’s Row” where meat, fish, poultry, fruit, vegetables and the like were brought into the city and processed, packaged and shipped. It has been left standing on a block where virtually all other buildings have been lost. If/when the REA wing is renovated, it may be targeted for demolition to create a parking lot. Landmarks encourages the County and City to include this structure in any long-term plan formulated for the REA building itself.
3 Hopper Street (Priority #4)
Threatened • Neoclassical, ca. 1895
Thanks to roof repairs and other actions taken by the City of Utica, this building is stable. Landmarks encourages the owner to develop a plan for its renovation or else sell the structure to a party that will.
Cathedral Church Of The Theotokos Of Great Grace
Saved! • Gothic Revival, ca. 1870-72, corner of South Street and Howard Ave.
The roof of this familiar structure, designed by English-born Thomas Birt and located at the corner of South Street and Howard Avenue, has finally been repaired and the Church has clear title to the building.
“Genesee Streetwall”
Watch
While the destruction of downtown buildings has slowed dramatically, there remains the ongoing threat of demolition that destroys the urban fabric. The resultant facades resemble what former Landmarks President Rand Carter refers to as “bad dental work.” A successful downtown urban environment depends on density; not only should additional demolition be resisted except for dire emergencies, but strong consideration should be given to new, architecturally and contextually compatible “infill” buildings to replace those that have been ill-advisedly removed.
Lafayette and Columbia Street Commercial Districts (Priority #7)
Threatened
Many of these once-grand structures are underutilized or vacant - and are threatened with demolition for parking or to “provide opportunity” for new development. This “urban renewal” model of wholesale destruction without a clear vision or commitment to replacement structures has proven to be devastating to cities across the United States and has largely been abandoned by these municipalities. The end results tend to be much less than desired or hoped for, and the replacement buildings, if any, lack character at best and are clearly more appropriate for a suburban commercial boulevard at worst. Among the more impressive of these are the former Utica Plumbing Building on the northwest corner of Lafayette Street and Cornelia Place, and the Jones-Habererr Building on Columbia between State and Cornelia streets. The former is threatened as part of a proposed expansion of parking for the Utica City Courts. The latter has been vacant for many years and has suffered the ravages of time. The roof is in very poor condtion and one wall is crumbling. Immediate action is required to save this structure.
Neighborhood Commercial Districts (Priority #9)
Threatened
The “suburbanization” of the City’s neighborhood commercial districts continues to be an ongoing concern of the Landmarks Society. The proliferation of the “big box” stores erodes large areas of the neighborhoods with their oversized scale, massive amounts of barely occupied parking, and underutilized drivethrough facilities. When confined to the already established commercial areas, these developments are marginally acceptable, but the desire for “individual corporate identity” (which is a fallacy, as they all look basically alike) threatens the surrounding residential properties with their thirst for larger parcels of land. Neighborhood commercial districts are a good thing, but they must be controlled through good and well-established planning practices, in much the same way that urban sprawl into the suburbs must be regulated, monitored and confined.
Parkway
Swan Memorial Fountain
Threatened • Sculpture, by Frederick William MacMonnies, ca. 1910.
Landmarks is pleased report that an effort is underway to save this important piece of Utica’s outdoor sculpture and announce that CONMED Corporation has donated $5,000 toward the restoration. What’s more, the City of Utica has agreed to match private-sector donations dollar-fordollar. For more information about supporting the “Adopt a Monument” campaign, visit Landmarks’ website, www.uticalandmarks.org.
Valley View Vista (Priority #10)
Watch (Was Guard)
The water tank that mars the scenic view of the southern reservoir is an eyesore that should never have been allowed. The reservoir being filled and possibility of additional tanks being constructed are equally disturbing.