Project needs to be completed

Let’s do this.
The vision is there. The will is there. And — with a little help — the means are there.
For the past few years, Dunkirk residents have been dreaming of a new future for their community, a future built around preservation of the town’s historic Gas Boom era downtown and the remarkable resource that is The Glass Museum.
Before long, attention focused on the Stewart Brothers building, a Gas Boom structure that was home to a venerable furniture store business for several generations.
The store had closed. The building’s future was uncertain.
But at the same time, The Glass Museum was trapped in an inadequate space and the Dunkirk Public Library was bursting at the seams.
It didn’t take a genius to see the logical answer: Rescue the historic Stewart Brothers building, transform a portion of the old two-story structure into a new home for the library, and use a more modern, steel-framed one-story addition as the site for The Glass Museum.
That, of course, was easier said than done.
For a couple of years, Dunkirk chased after the Stellar Communities jackpot run by the Office of Community and Rural Affairs. But that turned out to be an exercise in wishful thinking.
Now, it’s a matter of figuring out how to take on the challenge without winning the Stellar lottery.
And during the time lost chasing the Stellar payoff, the building has deteriorated.
The roof needs to be replaced. Worse than that, the roof should have been replaced years ago. There’s damage to wooden joists all the way from the roof to the floorboards of the first floor.
But the brickwork is sound, and the foundation is sound.
The challenge at the moment is to secure the building’s perimeter. That will mean starting from the ground floor up, replacing wooden framework as needed. And once that wooden framework is stable, it will be time to replace the roof.
The price tag: An estimated $175,000.
Dunkirk Industrial Development Corporation has committed $100,000 of Dunkirk’s on-hand Economic Development Income Tax funds toward the project. And Dunkirk mayor Dan Watson has asked the county to kick in the additional $75,000 that’s needed, either through an outright grant or as a low-interest loan.
Given the fact the county is now sitting on about $890,000 in EDIT funds, that sounds like a very smart bet on the future of a community that is doing its best to reinvent itself.
Private investors have already poured in significant dollars to restore and renovate key buildings in Dunkirk’s downtown. A clear strategy — capitalizing on Dunkirk’s Gas Boom and glass manufacturing heritage — is in place.
Asking the county to kick-in the necessary dollars to save a historic building seems like a modest request.
Of course, stabilizing the perimeter of the Stewart Building is only the first step. There will be a long road ahead when it comes to making it the new home of the library and The Glass Museum.
But the hard fact is, the building’s condition is perilous. Now is the time to act boldly. Now is the time to assure its survival so it can be transformed.
Let’s do this. —J.R.

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