Massena Eyesores Still Stand; Downtown Business Owners Hope Progress Made Tonight

MASSENA - Main Street business owners are counting on the village board to do something about the crumbling, condemned Slavin and Shulkin Furniture and Jewelry buildings.

They're hoping the village board of trustees makes significant progress deciding the fate of the parcels during a 5:30 p.m. special meeting tonight in the Town Hall.

The buildings at 2-4, 10-12 and 14-18 Water Street will soon become property of the village once St. Lawrence County officials complete foreclosure proceedings and hand them over to the community. The county Legislature agreed Monday to turn over the property to the village at no charge.

Taxes on the buildings have gone unpaid for a decade while those who own businesses nearby have had to contend with what they feel has become a black eye on the downtown community.

For the past six years, the view from the wide picture windows of Sharon I. MacCue's Main Street dress shop has been the abandoned buildings, which have deteriorated from a state of general disrepair to a potential threat to public safety.

Customers who visit Mrs. MacCue's shop from communities like Malone, Gouverneur, Ogdensburg and parts of Southern Canada often ask the Lasting Memories owner why she doesn't move the bridal store to a better location.

"A lot of people tell me 'I don't know why you would stay down here with the way it looks,'" she admits.

Like many business owners here, Mrs. MacCue says she's committed to keeping her store downtown, despite a lack of adequate customer parking and the declining presence of business and enterprise along the Main Street corridor.

But the blight across the street simply must go.

"It's awful," she said of the Slavin's buildings. "It's the biggest eyesore around. I'm hoping someday it will be gone."

Timothy D. Alguire, owner of two bars located across the street from the abandoned buildings - Friar Tucks and Auggie's Speedway Inn - said the whole community would benefit from seeing the Slavin's buildings torn down and the property cleaned up.

"When we're open late at night, in the summer when we have the doors open, you can see the rats and other animals crawling around over there," Mr. Alguire said. "It's bad. It will look so much better down there if they knock that down."

At least a half dozen business owners located near the condemned buildings say they are dreaming of the day when the dilapidated structures are demolished and the area opened up for development, or at least extra parking.

Until that happens, though, they are hoping the village finds a way to reopen the section of Water Street closed after one of the Slavin buildings suffered a roof collapse and officials feared a potentially compromised brick facade could fall into the street.

Realtor Paul L. Post and his staff normally park behind their building, located at the Water and Main street corner adjacent to the Slavin's buildings, to leave the few on-street parking spaces open for customers, shoppers and patrons at nearby restaurants. But with Water Street closed, they have had to park out front, whittling down an already scarce number of parking spots even further.

"I hope they can figure out a way to stabilize it, especially if they're going to be waiting for grants or something to knock it down, so they can reopen the street and the sidewalk," Mr. Post said. "With our downtown the way it is, if something could be done it would be advantageous for the whole community. We're always looking for positive things."

Other nearby business owners like J. Benjamin LaValley of Seaway Web Design say the street closure is a big inconvenience and the uncertainty surrounding the future of the Slavin's buildings a growing worry.

"My concern is, how long are they going to talk about it before they take action," Mr. LaValley asked. "It hasn't affected my business so far, but I've got to think it's going to in the future."

The dilapidated structures and the closed roadway are not only impacting existing businesses - entrepreneurs working on renovation and construction projects nearby are also feeling the impact.

Kathleen Novosel of Novosel Associates told the village board she is planning to rebuild structures at 15 and 17 Main Street destroyed by fire in January 2008, but she may not be able to continue with her construction plans if the Water Street area is still blocked off to traffic once the winter weather breaks.

"I'm hoping that you will take action on the Slavin's buildings sooner rather than later," Ms. Novosel told the board during last week's meeting. "We're scheduled to start construction at 17 Main, but by having [the road] blocked off it may pose a problem getting into the back lots to proceed with construction."

After recently purchasing and renovating the former Dee's Bar on Water Street, entrepreneur Tom Portolese is concerned how his plans will be impacted by ongoing deliberations and how secure his structure will be if the village decides to demolish the Slavin's buildings.

"My building is about four feet away from that last Slavin's building," he said. "I'm concerned about the safety issues."

Tonight's meeting is open to the public.