Bay extending delay on sale of building

ALEXANDRIA BAY — The village Board of Trustees on Tuesday extended a moratorium on the sale of the former Chamber of Commerce building on Market Street.

The extension gives the Alexandria Township Historical Society six more months to seek funds for a proposed $500,000 renovation project that would repair the bathrooms, roof and interior of the deteriorating building.

The initial six-month moratorium on the sale is set to expire Aug. 26.

Patricia Tague, Historical Society president, said the society does not have a timetable for the project, but it recently hired a professional grant application writer to seek funding for the repair work on the village-owned building.

"There are all sorts of grants available for historic preservation projects," she said.

The Historical Society hoped to secure a $100,000 grant from the state Upstate Regional Blueprint Fund but was unable to submit its application before the June 15 deadline.

Mrs. Tague said the society had little time to raise the money needed to pursue the matching grant.

Village trustees initially tried to sell the downtown property, but rescinded the decision when residents and members of the Historical Society argued that the building should be preserved.

Since the moratorium was enacted in February, the village has used its own funds to repair the building.

The village spent $6,200 in March to fix the leaking roof, which was causing water damage to the wooden floors.

The village hired Felder's Roofing & General Construction Corp., Redwood, to make the repairs.

"We would hate to see that building removed," Mrs. Tague said.

Once all the renovations are completed, she said, the Historical Society would be interested in housing its collection at the building.

The 924-square-foot stone building dates to the 1940s and has housed several organizations, including the Alexandria Bay Chamber of Commerce and the Lyman Boat Society museum, according to the Historical Society.

The building has been vacant since 2005, when the Lyman Boat Society moved out; the Chamber of Commerce left in 1997.