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Post by urbanhermit on Mar 26, 2011 16:00:20 GMT -5
Does anyone know the history of the current Adirondack Bank Building in Downtown Utica? Each time I drive by that building and the "258" Building, I always wonder what they were used for originally??
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Post by fiona on Mar 26, 2011 16:13:21 GMT -5
I don't know, but am sure the info is out there. As for the 258 building : I know at one time there was a movie theatre there, then a strip club, then an antique shop...
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Post by Dave on Mar 26, 2011 18:50:42 GMT -5
Urban, I need a little help since I've been gone a while. Roughly where are these buildings? Cross streets, east or west side of street, what they look like, etc.
Jon would probably know, but we haven't heard from him in a while and I don't know if he checks this forum anymore.
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Post by Dave on Mar 26, 2011 19:12:55 GMT -5
Interestingly, a search on fultonhistory turned up only 3 hits on the exact phrase "Adirondack Bank Building," two in the WaterVILLE Times and one in the 1899 Daily Press. But the article below from the Daily Press seems to refer to a bank building in Saranac Lake. As odd as that might seem, there still exists a block of commercial buildings at Saranac and there were more around 1900 when wealthy families stayed for the entire summer (at least wives and children) and wanted department stores, banks, etc. to serve their needs. ![]() www.windsweptpress.com/images/adirondack bank.jpg[/img] |
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Post by Dave on Mar 26, 2011 19:13:23 GMT -5
Also see Joe Kelly's Scrapbook post in Old News thread. Down toward bottom of second column.
Oh! It's where Kresge's used to be. Across Elizabeth from and same side of Genesee St. as Grace Church.
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Post by urbanhermit on Mar 26, 2011 20:29:03 GMT -5
Also see Joe Kelly's Scrapbook post in Old News thread. Down toward bottom of second column. Oh! It's where Kresge's used to be. Across Elizabeth from and same side of Genesee St. as Grace Church. Yes, I was told by someone tonight that it's where Kresge's Dept. Store was. It's 14 Floors and an impressive building, so I was curious as to what was once in there? My lawyer (not that I often need one) moved back to that building from the 258 Building (Greg Hamlin from Kernan & Kernan) so it made me curious as to what could have taken up 14 floors in the past? I haven't had to go to his office since he moved back there, but I can't imagine that all 14 floors are occupied at this time? I don't remember that store, but I do remember the Boston Store, Neisner's and Woolworths. |
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Post by Dave on Mar 26, 2011 23:04:11 GMT -5
Kresge's had a lunch counter and when I was a freshman in UCA ('57-'58) and we discovered we were welcome to eat lunch practically next to the furnace in the cellar of a building erected long before the Civil War, we chose to walk over to Kresge's, buy a coke and eat from our brown bags.
If a business-business owned the building (meaning not a developer), such as an insurance company, I'm sure their intention was to use some of the floors for their endeavor and rent out the others as a business proposition to make a profit or at least pay their expenses. In fact, a building of that size may indeed have been built by an insurance company since they often had lots of cash.
Where is the 258 building?
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Post by fiona on Mar 27, 2011 16:36:33 GMT -5
I believe the 258 building is on the corner of South West corner of Court and Genesee. Across the road from what used to Grant's Book Store and is now, I think, a bank.
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Post by Dave on Mar 27, 2011 16:47:07 GMT -5
Then it was on the same side of Genesee and across Court from the Ft. Schuyler Club. Wasn't that the Niagara Mohawk building years ago? What our Moms called the 'gas and electric building." Not much on that corner in 1907.  |
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Post by Dave on Mar 27, 2011 17:20:44 GMT -5
185 Genesee, the Adirondack Bank Buildingwas known as the 1st Bank Building from at least 1928. WIBX moved their studios there from the Hotel Utica in 1928. Kresge's occupied 1st floor from 1933 to some time in the sixties. Article below says the First Bank Building was built "on top of" the Parker Building, or Parker Store. That might make sense (except for the physics). See below. (Firefox users click twice to make readable.) ![]() www.windsweptpress.com/images/parker 1st bank.jpg[/img] Utica OD, 1976 |
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Post by keith on Mar 28, 2011 13:48:17 GMT -5
The building was vacant when Mayor Hanna soold it to Tom Clarke for $1. If memory serves the city also did something like $600,000 in repairs.
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Post by Dave on Mar 28, 2011 15:56:40 GMT -5
The building was vacant when Mayor Hanna soold it to Tom Clarke for $1. If memory serves the city also did something like $600,000 in repairs. And I'll take a wild guess that the $600 K investment has not yielded much of a return. What a racket. |
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Post by fiona on Mar 28, 2011 18:15:09 GMT -5
yes. it was the old gas and electric building.
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Post by keith on Mar 30, 2011 16:03:33 GMT -5
The building was vacant when Mayor Hanna soold it to Tom Clarke for $1. If memory serves the city also did something like $600,000 in repairs. And I'll take a wild guess that the $600 K investment has not yielded much of a return. What a racket. I'm sure they got free checking & a toaster. |
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Post by Dave on Mar 30, 2011 20:55:37 GMT -5
Haha!
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