Kroc Center SpotCould Become Home To Amvets

MASSENA - The long-vacant Water Street parcel once destined to be a Salvation Army Kroc Center may become the future home for Amvets.

Amvets Post 4 is looking to move from its current location at 12 Andrews St. into a larger facility.

The organization is looking at several different locations, Commander Francis "Bud" Byington said, and submitted a letter of intent to the Board of Trustees Tuesday evening to purchase the Water Street parcel for its assessed value of $24,000.

"Our post down there is small, and our membership is a pretty good size, and we need to expand a little bit," he said. "We really can't accommodate a huge gathering."

Mr. Byington said Amvets is having trouble finding enough parking for its members at the current location, which shares the lot with a gym. There are no architectural plans or dimensions in place yet for such a building, he said.

"We first have to figure out how we're going on this," he said. "We definitely have to have an engineer come up with a decent building. And it won't be small."

Mr. Byington told board members to picture an Amvets building large as big as Massena's VFW post on West Hatfield at the Water Street site.

The site is currently used as the village's DPW snow dumping area. Trustee Francis J. Carvel said he wondered about the extra costs incurred by the village if it had to move its snow dumping area from the Water Street parcel to another site.

"It's been used as a snow dump for forever and ever," Mr. Carvel said. "By the village getting rid of that lot, it would cost the village more money per year to dump their snow."

Trustee Patricia K. "Trish" Wilson voiced her concerns about the old Amvets building becoming vacant.

"I love the idea of new buildings in the community," she said. "I hate to see more empty buildings."

Mayor Randy G. DeLosh said he hopes Amvets will plan additional community- centered events if they built on the lot, since the lot currently belongs to the village.

"Not that you already don't do that, I'm just asking you to keep that in mind," he said.

The village board will decide in the coming weeks whether to sell the property to the Amvets, Mr. DeLosh said after the meeting.

Amvets and other military groups have played a key role in the Massena community over the years, he noted.

"In my opinion, the Amvets would be a sensational group to see down there," he said. "I commend them for wanting to move ahead."

The village has not been actively seeking re-use options for the property because it only recently got the property back from the Salvation Army through litigation, Mr. DeLosh said.

"Now the property is back in the village of Massena's hands," Mr. DeLosh said. "We wern't marketing it. This just came up."

Mr. Byington later said Amvets has been looking to expand for several years. The idea to build a new center on Water Street came after the Salvation Army canceled their plans for a Kroc Center on the site last year.

"Somebody said, that might be a nice spot for us," he said. "We're not going to build it tomorrow, that's for sure, but we need the property started."