The West and North wings of the Lower Crown Mills building on North Street in Marcellus have been condemned by the village of the Marcellus. An order of demolition has been issued to the owner of the property, William Lucchetti.
The village will hold a public hearing today at 1 p.m. in Village Hall to give Lucchetti a chance to respond.
Luccheti can choose to take on the responsibility of demolishing the building or allow the village to proceed at a cost of $125,000. Luccheti would be required to pay the $125,000 or lose the property to the county.
The brick smokestack has also been deemed a hazard to the public. Marcellus Codes Enforcement Officer Bill Reagan said unless Luccheti agrees to install lightning protection on the stack, that will also have to go.
Marcellus Historian Peg Nolan and Reagan agree that while it’s a shame to see the building go, it has to be done.
“I’ve always loved this building,” said Reagan, who used to walk past the Lower Crown Mills every day on his way to school. “I grew up with this building — but it’s got to go.”
The building has been vacant since the early 1980s, when for a couple years it served as a shopping mall. Nolan estimates that it was home to at least half a dozen shops. The owner, Mitch Amadon, was forced to move out of the building when he couldn’t afford to bring the building up to fire code. Before closing down in 1961, the building operated as a woolen mill and provided jobs for a large portion of Marcellus residents.
“The town grew up around those mills,” Nolan said. She noted the former Upper Crown Mill building, where a condominium complex of the same design and name now stands.
Nolan is glad the entire Lower Crown Mill is not being ordered to come down.
Reagan said the North and West wings have the potential to collapse. He added that the building is a hazard to the public because of its proximity to Nine Mile Creek, where fishermen frequent, the highway, as well as the school. All three upper floors of the west wing have fallen through.
“Once the interior goes, there’s nothing left to hold up the walls,” Reagan said.
The village is also responding to multiple break-ins of late.
“It’s a danger to the public because people have been breaking into it, and that has to be addressed,” said Mayor John Curtin.
Reagan said Luccheti has responded to the villages requests to seal up places of entry, but people continue to find ways into the building.
Once the West and North wings are demolished, the village plans to shift its attention to improving the remaining wing, which would include making it “water tight,” Reagan said.
