CAZENOVIA — On April 26, the Cazenovia Town Board will hold a special meeting to consider the future of the town offices, which have been housed in the historic Gothic Cottage at 7 Albany St. for over half a century.
The town board began exploring the options of either renovating the Gothic Cottage or relocating the town offices over a decade ago.
During the upcoming special meeting, the board will begin weighing the advantages and constraints of both “Plan C” — the town’s preferred plan for remaining in the Gothic Cottage — and building new offices at an offsite location, such as along Route 20 or in New Woodstock.
“As of today, we have [Plan C] and two sites to put up a new building,” said Cazenovia Town Supervisor Bill Zupan on April 1. “We have not had any discussions on any of the options at this time. With Ms. Johnson joining the board in January, I hoped that the board could start with a clean slate and look at all options between the two plans. . . All meetings [during which] this will be discussed will be noticed.”
On Feb. 18, 2022, former Cazenovia town councilor Kristi Andersen submitted a letter to Andrew Roblee, president of the Preservation Association of Central New York (PACNY), to provide his organization with additional information regarding Plan C.
Andersen, who served on the town board from 2006 through the end of 2021, reached out to Roblee in response to his Jan. 22, 2022, letter to Zupan advocating for an alternative plan for the Gothic Cottage, which was put forth by Cazenovia Heritage — an independent community organization that seeks to conserve the area’s cultural resources.
Both Plan C and Cazenovia Heritage’s “Compromise Plan” call for the construction of an addition to the rear of the building to house a new public meeting space. However, Cazenovia Heritage’s proposed addition is larger to also accommodate two large offices for the town clerks and to avoid converting the front rooms — two parlors and central hallway in the south portion of the first floor — into office space. Those rooms would instead become small conference rooms or public spaces for meetings of non-profits, chamber of commerce displays, and other tourism or cultural exhibits.
In December of 2021, the town board voted against Cazenovia Heritage’s plan, in favor of moving forward with either some version of Plan C or building a new town hall elsewhere.
In his letter to Zupan, Roblee expressed the views that Cazenovia Heritage’s plan preserves the integrity of the building by avoiding irreversible demolitions and alterations to its interior and historic fabric; provides a higher level of handicap accessibility; and meets the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for New Additions to Historic Buildings.
“In contrast, ‘Plan C’ would make irreversible changes to the overall form, massing, and volumes of the building when viewed from the outside and make permanent changes to the historic features inside through demolition,” Roblee wrote.
He also warned that “such a drastic change to the integrity of the building” could result in the removal of the Gothic Cottage from the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), which would disqualify the building from any current or future grant opportunities or other economic benefits associated with the NRHP listing.
“PACNY’s letter of support was based upon materials made available for review by its board members,” said Roblee on April 4. “The matter was discussed with the PACNY board, and the letter represents the collective opinion of our board rather than any single member.”
In her response to Roblee, Andersen wrote that she believes PACNY’s endorsement of the plan was based on “partial knowledge of the situation as well as some exaggerations and falsehoods.”
She began her letter by providing some historical context. She explained that after interviewing several architectural firms in 2012 and 2013, the town board selected Holmes, King, Kallquist & Associates (HKK) — a Syracuse-based firm with a record of restoring and preserving historically significant buildings — to conduct a thorough analysis of the Gothic Cottage.
“[In 2014, HKK] produced a detailed analysis of our space needs [and] developed options that sought to preserve and enhance the historic character while modifying the building to allow for more efficient workflow, more room for public meetings, better accessibility, and more secure storage,” Andersen said.
A citizens’ advisory committee, which included representatives of the Cazenovia Preservation Foundation, the Greater Cazenovia Area Chamber of Commerce, and other groups, helped the board decide between multiple renovation design options presented by HKK.
Initially, the board chose “Plan F,” which called for a modest addition for the clerks’ offices on the north side of the building, accompanied by improved and more accessible entrances; a small elevator; and alterations to the front rooms to create a more functional public meeting space.
“The plan that was selected in 2014 envisioned public meetings continuing to take place in the three [front rooms],” said Andersen. “To provide more usable space and better sight lines, this plan did involve modifications to the pocket doors in the front room, essentially pushing the partial walls back substantially to make the space more suited to large meetings.”
Andersen explained that once the COVID-19 pandemic hit and meetings were being streamed via Zoom, it became clear that it would be impossible to create a meeting room in the historic parlors that would both allow the public to see and hear the deliberations and/or presentations of the town board, planning board, and zoning board of appeals and maintain the integrity of the rooms.
Considering these restrictions, the board turned its attention to HKK’s “Plan C,” which features a larger addition off the back of the existing building to accommodate a meeting room and a universally accessible restroom. The plan also includes accessible entries and a more appropriate space for the codes enforcement officer.
“Under this plan the front parlors can be easily preserved — with no need to alter the doors or moldings, bookcases, fireplaces, windows, or other elements — and used as offices for the town’s clerk and deputy clerk,” Andersen said.
She then expressed her belief that PACNY’s evaluation of Plan C was based on a description that included some “misrepresentations.”
She first addressed the suggestion that Plan C would require a larger amount of demolition and would pose more threats to the building’s integrity than the Compromise Plan.
According to Andersen, the proposed Plan C addition is less than a third the size of the Compromise Plan addition — 838 square feet compared to 2,698 square feet. Therefore, she said, Plan C would require less demolition of the Gothic Cottage’s exterior and be less expensive.
“. . . The projected use in Plan C for the front rooms is offices – they would house desks, chairs, and file cabinets, all movable, nothing altered, no built-ins, and no disturbance to any of the historic fabric of those rooms,” she wrote. “Nothing in Plan C alters the integrity of the front parlors. We are confident that our current plan for these rooms maintains our eligibility for historic preservation grants. The ‘disqualification’ mentioned in your letter would have been accurate had we continued with our initial plan to renovate the front rooms so they could continue to be used for meetings. That would have involved changes that would disqualify us from some grant opportunities.”
Andersen next stated that Cazenovia Heritage President Anne Ferguson has consistently referred to the plans for a small elevator or lift as “destruction.”
Andersen noted that although the town is not required to install an elevator, the board aims to make the town offices as accessible as possible. She also stated that, according to HKK, the proposed small elevator can be installed without extensive disruption in a space that is now being used as a closet.
Finally, Andersen contested the claim that Plan C would make irreversible changes to the building when viewed from the outside. She argued that the smaller Plan C addition would be barely visible from Albany Street and the sidewalk, while the proposed Compromise Plan addition would protrude to the north and west and be “quite visible.”
She concluded her letter by asserting that while the Compromise Plan aims to preserve the existing Gothic Cottage as a “static museum,” Plan C represents a “true adaptive re-use,” where the historic building would continue to be used daily by staff and citizens and remain part of the entryway to Cazenovia.
“If we believe the Gothic Cottage is a building that is significant to our community, it is important that members of the community see and experience the historic Gothic Cottage, not just when periodic ‘events’ occur to display the historic interior, but whenever they come in to attend a meeting, license their dog, get a marriage license, or meet with the code enforcement officer about a building project,” she said.
The letter was compiled with assistance from the following individuals:
Dr. Liz Moran, the founder and principal scientist of EcoLogic LLC, who served as Cazenovia Town Supervisor from 2006-2009 and then town councilor until 2015.
Town Councilor Jimmy Golub, who has been on the board since 2016 and serves as the primary liaison between the town and HKK.
Town Councilor Kelli Johnson, who formerly served as interim director of Stone Quarry Hill Art Park and was elected to the town board in November 2021.
Cazenovia Area Community Development Association (CACDA) Executive Director Lauren Lines, who has served as a grant writer for the town since 2008 and worked with Senator Rachel May’s Office to obtain a grant to help support a Gothic Cottage renovation.
CACDA President Jocelyn Gavitt, who is a landscape architect and a professor at SUNY ESF.
In response to Andersen’s letter, Ferguson disputed the assertion that the Compromise Plan calls for the front rooms to become static museum spaces.
“On the contrary, these spaces would be actively occupied, but for low impact/low intensity use, such as smaller town and public meetings — much like the front parlors are used at the Cazenovia Library,” she said.
Additional information on Cazenovia Heritage’s proposed plan is available in the Gothic Cottage edition of “The Advocate” newsletter at cazheritage.org.
On April 6, Roblee reported that the PACNY board has reviewed Andersen’s letter and has no additional comments.
Cazenovia Town Board’s April 26 meeting to consider Plan C and the off-site options will begin at 6 p.m. in the town offices.
During the special meeting, the public will have the opportunity to listen to the board’s conversation; however, at that point, they will not be invited to provide feedback.
Once the board has weighed the pluses and minuses of both plans (some version of Plan C and building new), it will present options to the community and seek input during multiple public forums.
According to Zupan, all voices will be heard and carefully considered before the board makes its final decision.
For more information on the town board, visit towncazenovia.digitaltowpath.org or call 315-655-9213.
