2005 PAST Awards

AWARDS FOR COMMERCIAL BUILDINGS

The Bundy Museum, Gallery and Showroom
Michael Weinstein
129 Main St., Binghamton, NY 13905

Awarded to Michael Weinstein for the extensive renovation of the Harlow E. Bundy Mansion. This three-story Queen Anne/Shingle-style house was designed by Elfred Bartoo and built in 1892 for the founder of the Bundy Manufacturing Company. Mr. Weinstein purchased the house in 2002 and restored both the interior and exterior. Over a two-year period, craftsmen carefully re-plastered and repainted decorative ceilings, restored four of the home’s decorative fireplaces and refinished the floors and extensive woodwork. Exterior painting used period colors. New stonework, rebuilt porch and balcony railings, and new landscaping completed the project. The home is furnished with period furniture and currently houses an art gallery, showroom and museum, which includes an interesting collection of Bundy time recording clocks.

Timber Creek Sportsman Club (Rounds House)
David M. DiLello
1 Pumphouse Rd., Vestal, NY 13850

Awarded to the DiLello Family for the restoration and adaptive reuse of the F.L. Rounds house (Click image for larger view). Designed by the famous Lacy architectural firm, this Queen Anne house was built in 1894. In 1911, the same firm designed interior and exterior modifications. Current owner David DiLello served as the general contractor. Exterior painters were Stu Stamos & Associates with consultation by Bert and Nancy Schere, Daniel’s Paint. The exterior carpenter was Kris Buck Construction and interior carpenter were Dan Ackley Construction and Sean Nolan. Plumbing was done by MRL Plumbing. The DiLello family gave critical attention to detail, retaining all original light fixtures, molding and windows, several fireplaces, some of the original wallpaper and the original sink in the downstairs washroom. They used period wallpaper, period paint colors and UL approved replica electric push button wall switches when needed. The building now houses Timber Creek Sportsman Shop.

Dillinger’s Irish Pub
Monarco DiFrancesco
77 State St., Binghamton, NY 13901

Awarded to Bearcats Development principal Monarco DiFrancesco, Drew Peters and crew for the adaptive reuse of a commercial building at 77 State Street (Click image for larger view). This building dates to the late-19th century and had tenants ranging from a union hall, to tin smiths, Harris’ Army-Navy and a stitching and embroidery shop. Bearcats Development and Tom Haines Quality Renovation completely sand blasted the exterior, repointed the brick and repainted it with an historically accurate Victorian color scheme. Bearcats Development completed the interior renovation. They removed the interior to the walls and subfloor and installed a Victorian era custom stone-faced bar made by Rufus T. Hall and Burns Masonry. The renovation also includes a new tin ceiling and a Victorian era fence around the back patio.

Ninnie Building
(East of the Sun & West of the Moon and Awakenings)
Eugene Ninnie
206-208 Front St., Owego, NY 13827

Awarded to Eugene Ninnie for an excellent restoration of this historic mid-nineteenth-century commercial building that was significantly damaged by fire (Click image for larger view). The building is located along the Susquehanna River at 206-208 Front St and is an important part of the nearly intact historic commercial district in Owego. When the building next door burned down, this severely compromised the structure of the Ninnie Building because it lost the mutual support of the neighboring building. The fire damaged what is now an outside wall and also caused significant smoke damage in 206. The owner chose to rehabilitate this historic building. This required reinforcing the foundation, inserting steel supports and repointing the wall. They poured new floors in the basement, installed new double-pane windows that matched the historic character of the building, and remodeled the upstairs apartments.

AWARD FOR PUBLIC BUILDINGS

St. Mary’s Orthodox Church
Very Reverend Father Michael A. Kleban
1907 Jennings St., Endicott, NY 13760

Awarded to the congregation of St. Mary’s Orthodox Church for reconstructing and applying gold leaf to their tower domes (Click image for larger view). Built in 1937, St. Mary’s original towers were wood and covered with copper. The church bells proved to be too heavy for the domes. This led to significant damage to both the towers and church. In the early 1970’s, the bells were removed and the domes replaced with decorated structures of corrugated aluminum styled to replicate open “domes.” Beginning in 2003, new aluminum towers and domes covered with 24 carat 12 gauge “German gold” leaf were erected at a cost of approximately $300,000. This restored the church closer to its original design. Architect for the project was Steven Kirk Mason of Realms Architectural of Afton, NY. Petersen Construction of Owego, NY built interior support. Braut Studios of Swoyersville, PA completed the exterior.

CERTIFICATES OF APPRECIATION

Memorial Bridge over the Chenango River
City of Binghamton.
Mayor Richard A. Bucci

Given to the City of Binghamton for the superb restoration of the Memorial Bridge. The restoration achieves modern safety standards while maintaining the historic integrity of the bridge (Click image for larger view). Originally completed in 1925 at a cost of $581,000, the bridge’s dedication was a major event, marked with thousands of spectators cheering a parade of 9,000 ex-soldiers. The reconstruction cost 6 million. It was completed in thirds, as was the original construction. The consulting engineering firm was McFarland Johnson. Gary Holmes, city engineer, Laurie Kimball of the city planning department, and the New York State Office of Historic Preservation worked with the engineering firm to preserve the historic integrity of the bridge during the project design. The reconstruction maintained the original concrete arch structure and replicated the historic concrete walls and lighting.

Gehm Barn
Lanny and Marjorie G. Gehm
Route 79, Center Lisle, NY 13797

Given to the Gehm family for saving this important agricultural landmark by replacing the roof, even though the barn has no current agricultural use (Click image for larger view). Without a new roof the barn would have deteriorated quickly within a few years. The barn was constructed by an unknown builder for James Lucus in 1902 and designed to house 30 dairy cows and 4 horses. Unlike most New York barns, it has received very few additions over the years and is almost identical to several other barns that were built in the Town of Lisle. Thus it is an excellent example of the area’s early-twentieth-century agricultural technology.