The Village of Scotia is considering whether to demolish its oldest building in the face of budget woes. It’s a decision that localities across New York have faced before.
According to a 1976 New York State Department of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation report, The Flint House in Scotia was initially built sometime in the early 1700s.
Deputy Commissioner for Historic Preservation at New York State’s Parks Department, Daniel MacKay, says the building’s historical value extends beyond the village.
“Houses of that vintage are relatively rare right, they’ve been lost to time, lost to demolition, have continued to be built upon and expanded and so the original core structure and materials from the 1700s timeframe may be long covered up or may have been long lost,” MacKay said.
But in July, the house was condemned after a May report conducted by Enginuity Engineering and Design found that “The Flint House has several structural concerns that need to be addressed to ensure its preservation and continued serviceability.”
The report outlined issues like cracks in the basement’s original foundation walls, a roof that doesn’t meet current building codes, and moisture and insect damage alongside deterioration in the first-floor framing.
In addition, the report recommends a comprehensive renovation repair and reinforcement program.
Mayor David Bucciferro says the repairs the structure needs are expensive, but he doesn’t know the exact cost.
He spoke last week with WAMC on a windy day outside the Flint House.
“There’s been estimates, it’s in the hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Bucciferro said.
The mayor says the village does not have enough room in the budget to make the recommended repairs without increasing the taxpayer burden – even if the village were able to secure grants.
Meantime, Bucciferro plans to conduct a survey aimed at garnering residents’ input on whether the village should attempt to preserve the building.
“For me, at this point, where it comes down to is I really need to hear more from all the residents about what they see the future of this would be,” Bucciferro said.
The mayor says that if village residents decide to preserve the historical residence on South Reynolds Street, future use of the structure would still need to be defined.
Village Trustee Justin Cook says he and his cohorts are doing their due diligence to make the right decision about the house.
“I more than anyone would like to see a path forward for the Flint House, however I don’t see a path forward with the village being able to take the lead on it, the deterioration to the building is just too far extensive,” Cook said.
Cook says if there is a clear voice from the community in support of preservation, the village would have to work out the numbers during next year’s budget process.
However, Cook says he and the board are of one mind when it comes to using taxpayer dollars to support a potential renovation:
“Taxpayer dollars funds cannot necessarily be used, that’s not a sustainable path forward for the village,” Cook said.
He also questions what the structure would be used for even if it were saved and whether there would be additional resources to support educational programming centered around the Flint House’s history.
“While buildings do kind of add character and old buildings do need to be preserved, if we don’t have resources to be able to do programming to actually educate the public about our shared story and to really support our history, the building can’t do that alone,” Cook said.
Parks Deputy Commissioner MacKay says the decision in front of Scotia is one municipalities across the state often face.
“Reallocating funds to undertake this project as opposed to affording some other project, those are decisions that a village or town board has to make on a weekly basis, in this case its about a historic resource,” MacKay said.
Jessica Rossler is a Scotia resident who wants to see the Flint House saved.
“It’s a witness to generations and a keeper of our stories in the village, it dates back to the early settlement era when broomcorn grew in the fields and shaped the very identity of Scotia in the 1800s. That history is not distant, it lives in the Flint House, in its walls and the land around it,” Rossler said.
Rossler said she first got involved when her daughter, who assists the village historian with cataloging artifacts, told her the building had been condemned.
Rossler says her daughter has been helping the village historian digitize documents related to the Flint House and return donated historical items back to their original owners after the building was condemned.
“Since I have lived in Scotia my entire life, to me, it is a sacred place, it’s a very historical spot,” Rossler said.
She wants the village to pursue grant funding in addition to conducting a survey.
MacKay says his office could provide resources Scotia needs to register the Flint House on a state and national registry – a path that could provide the village with state funding to preserve the site.
MacKay said the Village of Scotia or the Town of Glenville would need to provide a 50 percent match for a Historic Preservation grant – in 2025 the maximum grant amount available for that program is $675,000.
He says that maximum can change year-to-year.
“There is a minimum of $500,000 dollars available that would require a local match,” MacKay said.
MacKay says the village did not reach out to the parks department, but he had a brief conversation with Bucciferro Tuesday to make him aware of the resources and expertise that the parks department has available to inform the Flint House decision.
While the final call will ultimately be up to the village, McKay says it would be a shame to see the Flint House go.
“It’s in a strong position to be saved, its publicly owned, there are funding grant sources that can be applied to this,” MacKay said.
The Village Historian is set to hold a meeting Thursday at 5:30 p.m. in the Scotia Library to brainstorm fundraising ideas and future uses for the Flint House.
