What happens when a business in a house that’s not historic is located on property that has been declared historically significant?
Owners of the Beauty Society Salon at 123 Dunning St. in the town of Malta’s Parade Ground historic district are caught in the middle of the dual classification, with an uncertain future as the town works to create a downtown business district.
Cristine and William Connolly have owned the rural farmhouse for six years, and obtained permission to renovate the rear of the building, opening up space to set up their salon. But the rest of the building remains in a dilapidated state, and now the couple needs permission from the town’s historic review commission before they start any fix-up work. Patching up a building in a historic district comes with hefty price tags, since historically accurate and approved materials such as slate roofing must be used.
We’re zoned commercial, but anything we do on the outside of the building has to be approved, said Cristine Connolly. `They only let us tear the back off the building because it was dangerous; the building isn’t even square and the roof is leaking. We can’t fix this place up with Band-Aids anymore.`
The Connollys also rent out office space to a State Farm Insurance agent. Upstairs, there is space that could be converted to an apartment or office, but because of the leaking roof, is now unusable. There are two other buildings adjacent at the Parade Ground site, a private home and a building formerly used as an attorney’s office. Across the street, the Malta Presbyterian Church, built in 1845, is also on historic property.
According to Malta town historian Teri Gay, the town’s first designated historic district, the Dunning Street Historic District, includes the 18th-century parade ground given in Revolutionary War times to the town by Michael Dunning. Now referred to as the Parade Ground, Dunning set aside this parcel from his land as a common to be used for military training during the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and the Civil War.
The parade ground was also set aside as a public gathering place for Malta residents.
Deeds with restrictions placed on the ground since early times include stipulations the land not be enclosed, fenced or ploughed, and that it must remain a common, without being divided.
Michael Dunning arrived in town in the spring of 1772 from Newtown, Conn., with his family. For many years, both the Rogers Hotel at Dunning Street and Dean Chase’s Tavern at Malta Ridge were major stops for the stagecoaches from Albany to the north. In 1962, a historic marker was placed at the parade ground in memory of Col. Elmer Ellsworth, one of the first Union officers to be killed in the Civil War. Ellsworth was born in Malta, where his father ran a tailoring shop for years before the family moved to Mechanicville.
The Ellsworth name continues to be used in new town developments, such as Ellsworth Commons.
The town’s largest housing development, Luther Forest, has an entrance about a mile from the Connollys’ salon.
`We’re quintessentially downtown Malta; we’re walkable and located near thousands of homes, but our hands are tied as far as being economically viable,` said William Connolly. `We’re held to completely different standards than other businesses in the area; we can’t even put up signs.`
Just behind the Connolly’s property is a connected group of businesses, including a pharmacy, video store, doctor’s offices and photography studio.
The town’s post office was built behind their property as well.
`The point is, we’re a rural farmhouse in the middle of a downtown area, and we’re under tremendous constraints,` said Cristine Connolly.
Gay said in discussions during the development of the new downtown Malta greenspace plan, there is talk about relocating the historic district.
`In the plan, there is a depiction of what the downtown and historic district would look like, and there is a rendering of a Parade Ground historic area that is placed on the north side of Dunning Street,` said Gay.
Gay said the idea of locating the historic district there is that the original Parade Ground includes Dunning Street today, and that a designated area would be more practical for town residents to use.
`In an effort to really celebrate what is truly historic about that area and allow for public celebrations there, there were discussions about setting off a separate area which would include a piece of the original Parade Ground but that would also be large enough to incorporate other historical accoutrements, such as statuary, and historic buildings,` said Gay.
Meanwhile, as plans for Malta’s downtown continue to take shape, the Connollys have attended several public workshops on shaping Malta’s downtown business district, looking for answers on how their salon will be designated.
`The incoming businesses are given so much flexibility, and there’s no equality here; we’re being completely left out,` said William Connolly.
Steve Rutkey, who chairs the town’s historic review commission, said there needs to be an open discussion with the building owners, town planners and the historian’s office.
`We’ll go over all these issues,` said Rutkey. `The thing is, these buildings do have very unique value. They are three buildings grouped together with similar architecture.`
Cristine Connolly said it’s easy for people to admire the buildings when they don’t understand the land, not the structures, have been declared historic.
`People tell us our building is quaint, and that’s their opinion but it’s not what the state has said,` said Connolly. `Progressive towns realize for the vitality of a downtown, they honor buildings like this one with a plaque.`
Teri Gay said the town’s historic review commission will meet Monday, Jan. 28, to discuss the buildings located on the Parade Ground.
`The committee will agree on their official position, and then put it in writing to the town board,` said Gay. `Following that, there will be a workshop to determine how to proceed.`
For now, although the plans for a designated historic district may take years to iron out, the Connollys are hoping answers about what they can do to shore up their building will come soon.
`We need a timeline, because after six years this is still up in the air, but we’ll wait and see,` said Cristine Connolly.“