Batavia looking to keep historic buildings from falling apart

The probable demise of two historic buildings in downtown Batavia due to neglect has city officials looking for ways to prevent any more.

The discussion is spurred by a request to knock down the Batavia Bowl on First Street, parts of which were built in the late 1800s. It once housed wagon-building and paper-bag companies. The city council will vote on the demolition Monday, at the request of a potential buyer who estimates it would cost more than $2 million to fix it up.

"I think it is a really unfortunate situation that a building was neglected for so long," Alderman Linnea Miller said. Its roof, floors, walls, foundation, plumbing, heating and electrical system need repair, and the city has declared it uninhabitable.

Not even a block away, a former theater has been awaiting the wreckers since last fall.

"We have a lot of tools, but we still see a number of older buildings, particularly our 'significant' masonry buildings, that are experiencing deterioration," said Jerry Swanson, the city's community development director. "Significant" is an official preservation term used to describe a building's historical relevance. These buildings were made with limestone mined in Batavia.

The town has a historic preservation ordinance, set guidelines for historic properties and established a historic preservation commission.

The city offers grants for downtown landowners to improve facades and for interior repairs and renovation. But that doesn't seem to be enough. Alderman Several older are along the Fox River, including the Old City Hall on Shumway Avenue. Alderman Forrest Nelson said the back side is in "rough shape.

"We're lamenting the lack of maintenance of a building," Nelson said this week. "We're going to end up in the same position ... with other buildings downtown. I'm not trying to force owners out of their buildings, but we want them to maintain these limestone buildings."

A building's "skin" needs to be maintained to avoid structural damage, said Dan Stellato, president of Batavia Enterprises. The real estate firm has restored and maintained old buildings throughout the Tri-Cities, but is seeking permission to tear down Batavia Bowl.

The skin is the roof, windows and walls. If water penetrates them, such as through crumbling mortar, decay ensues. Limestone is a particularly soluble stone.

"Water will just destroy everything," Stellato said. "Some of the water penetrations along the back of the buildings there along the river are scary."

The community development committee this week informally gave staff the go-ahead to see what can be done. One idea it will investigate is making property owners prove they are maintaining buildings adequately, requiring them to periodically submit reports by experts. In addition, the city could step up inspections, getting warrants to check inside of buildings. It could also consider using city money, raised through a downtown tax-increment financing district that overlaps much of the historic district, to stabilize buildings.

"We have to be really, really aggressive," said Alderman Jim Volk, who doubts just fining owners will work.