Crews began setting up scaffolding in front of a historic downtown Auburn building Wednesday due to debris falling from its fa莽ade.
The scaffolding is going up on the sidewalk in front of 120 Genesee St., a six-story building whose last major tenant was Chemung Canal Trust Co. The bank moved聽next door to 110 Genesee St. in 2017.
The scaffolding will replace metal guardrails set up outside the building about two months ago, when material from the parapet wall near the roof crumbled and fell to the sidewalk below.聽
Auburn City Manager Jeff Dygert told 人兽性交 the city's fire department recently used a ladder truck to inspect the wall, and discovered that it's "not in good shape." The city has been in communication with the building's owner, Felipe and Katherine Martin of Sacramento, California, and its property manager, Flaum Management of Rochester, to resolve the problem.
About a month ago, Dygert said, Flaum removed a sign box from the parapet to relieve stress on the fa莽ade. The owners are also working with an architect on more long-term repairs.
Dygert said no additional material has fallen from the building since the first time. Still, the city "hasn't been thrilled" about the metal guardrails outside the building, which have covered five parking spots on Genesee Street. The scaffolding will continue to keep pedestrians safe and maintain traffic flow while making those coveted spots available once again.
Along with repairs, the city hopes another long-term solution to the problem comes in the form of a new use for the building. Neo-classical in style, with four Doric columns at its entrance, the building opened in 1927 as the new headquarters of the National Bank of Auburn. It was later used as a branch of Bank of America, and then Chemung Canal Trust Co.
Flaum has the building's 6,522-square-foot first floor, which includes a bank vault, for rent as office or retail space on real estate website LoopNet.
Dygert said the city has been aware of some developers being interested in the building in recent years.
"We'd like to see the owner do something with it, either redevelop it or hand it off to someone else," he said. "It would be nice, and help tie some things together downtown."
Lake Life Editor David Wilcox can be reached at (315) 282-2245 or david.wilcox@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter .
