THIS PLACE MATTERS!
Important Public Hearing on the Fate of
Winans-Crippen House – 66 Franklin Street
Tomorrow, Wednesday, August 15 at 7pm
City Council Chambers, City Hall
Please attend and show your support for preserving
Saratoga Springs’ rich architectural history!
(If you are unable to attend, please see below what you can do to help.)
After a three year delay, the fate of the historic Winans-Crippen House at 66 Franklin Street is back in the hands of the city’s Design Review Commission (DRC). The building owner has revived his 2009 application to demolish the house which is a contributing building to the Franklin Square – West Side Historic District listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Before the DRC can make its final decision to allow the demolition, it must first prepare an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that identifies and discusses the potential adverse impacts of the demolition and possible alternatives or measures that can mitigate any negative impacts.
A draft EIS has been prepared by the applicant and is posted on the City’s website:www.saratoga-springs.org.
The Foundation has reviewed the the EIS and finds it to be incomplete and inaccurate. The Foundation is preparing comments for the DRC on how the document should be corrected and improved. The hearing on the environmental impact statement is being held tomorrow. This is one of at least two public meetings that will take place. The next important meeting when the DRC will vote on the owner’s request to demolish the building will most likely take place in September.
The Foundation encourages you to attend this public hearing and future meetings to support the Foundation’s effort and to offer your own comments.
The Foundation is Advocating for the Preservation of 66 Franklin Street
- The Foundation believes the 1871 building is a significant building because it is one of the last remaining examples of J. D. Stevens, the architect of the United States and Grand Central Hotels. The Second Empire building contributes to the architectural history of Franklin Square, the oldest residential areas in Saratoga Springs that documents the growth of the city as one of America’s most important resort destinations.
- The building is not in danger of collapse. It is not a public hazard nor is it any more of a fire hazard than the other 50 vacant buildings located in Saratoga Springs.
- Although the interior of the building has been gutted, the exterior still retains most of the rich architectural features that originally qualified it to be listed as a contributing building on the National Register of Historic Places. The State Historic Preservation Office recently affirmed its status as a contributing building.
- With work the building can be stabilized and the exterior brought up to code to allow time for a new buyer to be found to rehabilitate the interior of the building.
- Buildings in the city that were in far worse condition have been restored in past years. Examples include: Adelphi Hotel, Adirondack Rail Station, Batcheller Mansion, Marvin-Sackett-Todd House, and Milligan Mansion.
- The owner has no plans to build a new building. He is proposing a vacant grass lot, which is of no benefit to the neighborhood or the community.
- The owner could have provided the Environmental Impact Statement as requested by the Design Review Commission in 2009 rather than attempt to bypass the Design Review Commission through actions in both City and NYS Supreme Court. Both courts denied the applicant’s requests for demolition and said the proper procedure was for him to return to the DRC for a decision.
- The owner used bad judgment in spending nearly $275,000 in legal fees to fight the Foundation’s efforts to have him follow the proper process to seek demolition. That money could have been used to stabilize, maintain, and rehabilitate the building. From the time the owner purchased the building he did not do any work to stabilize the building or protect it from the elements until he was ordered by City Court.
- Many in the community fear that if the DRC does not allow the demolition of the structure it will continue to deteriorate and be a blight on the neighborhood. That will not happen. The City Court has ordered the owner to bring the exterior of the property into compliance of the New York State Property Maintenance Code if he is not granted permission to demolish the structure.
- The Foundation feels the owner did not make a sincere effort to find a new buyer who would preserve the house. He listed it for an unrealistically high price and discouraged all sincere inquires. He also rejected all of our efforts to help him market the building.
- The Foundation has proof that the cost of building a new house of the nearly the same size is comparable to the cost of rehabilitating this historic building.