Village Hall due for evaluation

Village Hall may soon go through a major overhaul.

The Village recently approved a contract with JRS Architect of Mineola for an engineering evaluation of Village Hall not to exceed $24,420, with a contingency allowance of $5,000. The evaluation will help village officials pinpoint the problems in the building, which is well over 100 years old.

“When we came into office we looked around the building, inside and outside, and it’s in terrible disrepair,” said Mayor Francis X. Murray. “There’s water inside the coating that’s on there now, that got in between the coating and the brick, the gutters are rotting on the roof, one of the skylights flew off. The inside really needs to be re-done.”

The entire building will be analyzed inside and out, with special focus on the mortar and electric and HVAC systems, which are more than 40 years old, and which the mayor described simply as “shot.” The architects will also provide suggestions as to how to restore some of the building’s historical aspects.

The building, which used to hold classrooms and operate as a schoolhouse, has been changed dramatically since its erection in 1892, and even since its conversion into Village Hall in 1924. In 1978, the ceilings were dropped in order to allow for more office space, and the rooms were repurposed for political activities.

“The inside use to be classrooms, but I never saw it like that, and obviously we can’t bring it back to that because now it’s an office building,” Murray said. “The building’s been butchered, compromised. I don’t know how much of the historical thing is left.”

The mayor added that his predecessor, Mayor Mary Bossart, had put money aside to fix the building, but ended up using it to lower taxes. Murray’s own office was renovated shortly after he entered office, but at his own expense.

“We looked into getting historical money, but when you do that, they decide what you can do and when you do it,” said Murray. “There may be grant opportunities, but we have to identify what’s wrong first.”