Drug Store May Raze part of Corning,
N.Y.
Readers seek help for preservation emergencies
/ Aug. 19, 2003
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Eckerds bought this Corning, N.Y., public
works building and could raze it for a new store. (Paul
Thomas)
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UPDATE: Eckerds demolished
the Water Department building, but the Corning Market Street Restoration
Society has worked closely with Eckerds to design a new store
that will blend in with the downtown area.
Dear Preservation 911,
I spotted your magazine the other day and realized
that activities in my hometown may warrant your attention.
Corning, N.Y., is a historically relevant and concerned
community. Our restored downtown Market Street is a superb example
of how old downtowns can be preserved and made to thrive despite
the encroachment of malls, Wal-Mart and their unimaginative ilk.
I live in one of the many existing homes built around 1890.
However, our town, home of Corning Inc., which has
been particularly hammered by the international economic malaise,
is having a budgetary crisis with no ready solution in sight.
So, when the fine corporation of Eckerds offered
a very handsome sum to buy a hunk of property owned by the city's
Water Department, the town jumped on it. Eckerds now owns it.
No development has begun yet. Situated on this property is a long
abandoned Water Dept building. I do not know the exact nature
or condition of the building, other than that it is quite old
and probably pretty beat. So beat (though it is totally enclosed
and sturdy-looking) that I'm confident Eckerds will raze it so
they can erect a boring, cookie-cutter building.
This land lies at one of the gateways to our community,
so what building goes in here is of exceptional importance to
us, especially since one of our community's most critical industries
is tourism. As a proud lifelong citizen of our community I sincerely
hope that through the combined efforts of organizations like yours
and through the many concerned citizens sensitive to these issues,
an effective solution will be deployed where all of us win economically
and historically.
Thank you,
Paul Thomas
Director of Communications
Corning
Area Chamber of Commerce
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