Seven to Save 1999

• Remarkable landmarks threatened with demolition by neglect.
• Irreplaceable heritage jeopardized by circumstances of ownership.
• Historic buildings lost to urban decay.
• Scenic landscapes caught in the tentacles of sprawl.

Some of the most significant historic properties in New York State are also the most threatened, and on the verge of disappearing. Striving to protect our most valued resources, the Preservation League of New York State has issued a call for help. Seven historic and visually stunning links to the Empire State’s heritage have been placed on a list of the most threatened properties, the most endangered places, the seven to save. In addition to these seven properties, the Preservation League is highlighting three other threatened sites in New York State – two called out by our national partner, the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and one listed on the World Monuments Fund’s Watch List.

Eastman Dental Dispensary (Rochester)

The Eastman Dental Dispensary, built in 1917 by George Eastman of the Eastman Kodak Company, contributed significantly to the improvement of dental hygiene in America and Europe, and was also the first school in the United States licensed to train dental hygienists. The design of this brick Italian Renaissance Style landmark inspired similar buildings in Stockholm, London, Rome, Paris and Brussels. Four of the five still function as originally intended. Rochester's dispensary has been vacant for about twenty years, and it now faces the threat of demolition by its current owner to make way for a fast food restaurant and "big-box" store. The dispensary is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and a designated local landmark. Its local landmark status requires the owner to obtain approval for its demolition. The local preservation commission denied the permit, and the owner filed suit against the city under Article 78 of the state civil code, claiming the commission's actions were arbitrary and capricious. The future of this internationally significant building must be secured.

New York City Farm Colony-Seaview Hospital Historic District (Staten Island)

The early twentieth century buildings and grounds of the Farm Colony, established as a poor farm, and Seaview Hospital, the largest tuberculosis hospital of its date in the country, face "demolition by neglect," an all-too-familiar threat to properties that have been abandoned and left to the ravages of time. In August 1999, the New York City Department of Buildings issued an emergency order to demolish one building in the district. Many other buildings remain open to the elements and the city has no plans for their future reuse. Forty acres of open space within this district is for sale to private developers, as the city has issued a request for proposals to develop senior housing on the land.

Camp Santanoni (Newcomb)

Camp Santanoni is an excellent example of the large, rustic wilderness estates, now known as "Great Camps," built during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries for the urban elite of America's "Gilded Age." Robert C. Pruyn, an Albany banker, began construction of the camp in 1892, and it eventually consisted of more than three dozen buildings on 12,900 acres. When New York State acquired the Santanoni Preserve in 1971, it became part of the Adirondack Forest Preserve. For more than twenty years the camp remained vacant and deteriorated. Although the state has since made a commitment to preserve Camp Santanoni, greater public attention and financial resources are needed to preserve this landmark. Better investment could help this landmark become a real asset to the region and local community.

Corning Free Academy (Corning)

The story in Corning is echoed in communities all across the state: new schools are being built with available state funds, but often at the cost of abandoning historic and architecturally significant neighborhood schools-- even though state funding is also available for renovations of existing schools. The 1922 Corning Free Academy faces an uncertain future, as the school board explores plans to construct a larger, consolidated middle school. Corning Free Academy is located within the Southside National Register Historic District, and it incorporates elements from the former home of Amory A. Houghton, elaborate terra cotta pieces made by the Corning Brick and Terra Cotta and Tile Company, and decorative glass shades produced by Corning Glass Works.

U.S. Route 20 (Cherry Valley Turnpike)

New York State's segment of U.S. Route 20 developed from Native American trails and New York's earliest turnpikes, and linked many small towns across the state. The first Great Western Turnpike, from Albany to Cherry Valley, is 200 years old this year. But this scenic old road has been losing its historic and identifying characteristics since the completion of the New York State Thruway in 1956. Today, sprawl, development, highway projects, and changes in the tourist economy and in farming practices have compromised the character of historic villages and rolling farmland that make Route 20- our state's Route 66- such a scenic cultural landmark.

Portion of the East End Historic District (Newburgh)

The neighborhood of early and mid 19^th century, modest Federal Style dwellings and rowhouses west of Washington's Headquarters has been spiraling towards blight over the past two decades. This area was once a vibrant African-American neighborhood, but now many of the structures stand vacant. A high degree of vandalism and destruction from exposure to the weather have taken their toll on this historically, culturally and architecturally significant neighborhood. Despite recent efforts to stabilize the East End, the neighborhood continues to suffer from disinvestment.

View From Olana (Greenport)

The Pacific Gas and Electric Company has proposed to construct a gas fired power plant in the Village of Athens, a small community located on the west side of the Hudson River in Greene County. The Athens Generating Plant, if built, would have a significant impact on the surrounding water, land, and numerous historic structures in its proximity. One of the most devastating impacts would be on State Historic Site Olana, located across the Hudson River from Athens. Olana is the 1870-1889 Moorish Italianate villa of Hudson River School painter, Frederic E. Church. Many of Church's famous landscape paintings were inspired by the quintessential views from his 250-acre estate-views that would be marred by the unavoidable impact from Athens Generating.

National Historic Landmark Hospitals (Binghamton, Utica, Buffalo, Poughkeepsie)

These monuments of 19^th century architecture and social consciousness have been offered for sale by the state, but without adequate measures in place to ensure their preservation. The psychiatric hospitals and their grounds were designed by some of America's leading 19th century architects and landscape architects, including H.H. Richardson, Frederick Law Olmsted and A.J. Downing. They now face an uncertain future, especially in Utica and Binghamton where no reuse proposals have been advanced. Unsympathetic development or even demolition could destroy these irreplaceable landmarks and have a profound impact on the communities in which they exist. The importance of these properties is undeniable given their status as National Historic Landmarks, our nation's highest acknowledgment of historic and architectural significance. The threat is clear as expressed this past June by their inclusion in the National Trust for Historic Preservation's "11 Most Endangered List." Six months later, the futures of the 1866 Gothic Style building in Binghamton and the 1843 Greek Temple in Utica are just as uncertain.

The Corner of Main and Main

Another site listed on the National Trust for Historic Preservation's "11 Most Endangered," is the "Corner of Main and Main," the civic and business centers of New York State's downtowns. These locations are often built up with nineteenth and early twentieth century development that frequently contains the communities' most distinguished buildings, including banks, theaters, fraternal organization headquarters, and intact commercial rows. These corners are now threatened as chain drugstores, such as Walgreens, CVS, Rite Aid, and Eckerd, desire to locate their stores at prominent downtown intersections. The construction of new, free-standing stores with large parking lots within historic village commercial districts- at "the corner of Main and Main," as described by both Walgreens and Rite Aid CEOs-requires four to ten parcels to be assembled and cleared. The result is the loss of individual landmarks and an erosion of historic character in many downtowns. Most downtowns welcome investment in any form, but many are now permanently altered because historic corner buildings that once helped define villages and neighborhoods were torn down.

Seventh Regiment Armory (New York City)

The Seventh Regiment Armory, completed in 1881, was designed by regiment veteran Charles W. Clinton, one of many regiment volunteers from well-to-do New York families. Many interior rooms were designed by Louis Comfort Tiffany, Stanford White, or the Herter brothers. The armory is a designated New York City historic landmark, and its 53,000 square foot drill shed remains one of the largest unobstructed interiors in the city and the oldest existing "balloon-shed" in the nation. Decades of neglect and minimal maintenance have left the exterior of the Seventh Regiment Armory suffering from water damage, painting loss, and serious structural cracks. Water infiltration has loosened the interior plaster and is destroying original decorative paint, stenciling and wallpaper.