William J. GoetzAddress:
Old Address: 97 Broadway
Other names: Branch Cottage (1912), Moore Cottage (1912)
Year built:
Other information:
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, April 28, 1988
Owner defends Broadway building
Dear Editor:
In regards to the article on the front page of Wednesday's paper, I wish, as the occupant of one of the blight areas targeted by Mr. MacDowell, to respond to his detrimental statements concerning 95-97 Broadway:
When I purchased the building two years ago, I was impressed by the Roman column architecture of the front of the building containing eight beautiful pillars.
I and my helpers spent two months removing the eight or ten coats of cracked and peeling paint from the front and sides of the building. We also replaced all the broken glass throughout the building and repainted and plastered over ten rooms inside the house. The house was abandoned by the owner five years previous to this and during this time the house had been vandalized by only God knows who.
The property is used by me as a shop engaged in the sale primarily of good used furniture. Half or more of the apartments and homes in Saranac Lake can boast of the good buys and finds purchased from me, including several antiques. So much for the clutter and litter of old furniture on the porch of the house.
I also want to stress the fact that eighty percent of the furniture (i.e. dressers, chairs and tables) have an average turnover of about two weeks. The so-called litter that is there finds a useful place in someone's home. It may seem to Mr. MacDowell that the same litter has been on the porch for months.
Mr. MacDowell's description of my premises as having no running water upsets me when of think of the cost to me in replacing all the water lines and toilet facilities when I first purchased the building. I don't know where Mr. MacDowell is getting his information because I don't believe he has ever set foot in the building. His statements have a demeaning ring to them. Perhaps this is his subtle way of devaluing the property in the eyes of your readers so that the village can purchase the property for a bargain price.
The building is less than forty feet wide with a driveway on each side shared by deed rights by the fire department and Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Leahy. Mr. MacDowell should have more training as a civil engineer. By no stretch of the imagination could this property be used as a parking area. A parking area for whom? What businesses have the need for a parking lot where my building sets. What a waste of taxpayers' money. Of course, it comes from Washington, but who sent it there?
In my opinion, this plan is ridiculous; the brain child of amateur planners who in past efforts have created three parking lots, which are constantly filled by patrons of the local bars and almost never used by local shoppers or buyers. I am in full agreement with the planners' desire to upgrade the facade of Upper Broadway at a reasonable expense, but to demolish perfectly good buildings at a high cost, and to no one's benefit, is a bureaucratic waste.
Orville Paye Saranac Lake
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, January 25, 1989
Improvement to Upper Broadway to begin soon
By PATRICK KEYES
SARANAC LAKE — Improvements to the Upper Broadway section of the village with money from the federal Housing and Urban Development grant program should begin in a matter of weeks, officials said Monday.
The village's community development office will begin negotiations to acquire a building slated for demolition. The entire rehabilitation project is scheduled to start on the blighted area sometime in March.
David MacDowell, community development director, said at Monday's village board meeting that he will begin the process of acquiring the house at 95-97 Broadway, which is to be demolished with the HUD money.
A question remains of who owns the property. MacDowell said.he was told that Franklin County was the legal owner, but Katherine Paye called him and said she has a deed to the property which has never been filed with the county.
"As long as she can provide a legal title to the property I will deal with her," MacDowell said. He will check the title of the lot and will offer the fair market value to the owner. The lot has been appraised at $27,000.
The building, next to the fire station, will then be torn down either by the Department of Public Works or through an independent contractor, depending on the village department's workload.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, April 27, 1989, caption to a photograph apparently showing the house being demolished.
TEAR IT DOWN
Crews from the Saranac Lake Public Works Department demolished the former Goldmine West store at 95-97 Broadway this week as part of the continuing project to revitalize Upper Broadway with money from a federal Housing and Urban Development grant. Village officials said they are also working with contractors to reface other buildings along Broadway and plan to present architects' drawings of the proposed streetscape at the next village board meeting.
