Fiona's Olbiston article in the OD

[Clipper]

Fiona alerted me a while back that she had been asked to write an article about the Olbiston. She definitely did a remarkable job of providing a historically accurate synopsis of the history of the building given the limited space that would be allotted in a single newspaper article.

www.uticaod.com/opinion/20190616/historical-perspective-olbiston-once-jewel-on-genesee-hill

I for one really enjoyed the long running series on local history, including a the "On Genesee Hill" story that Dave and Fiona coordinated to write and post on the forum. Dave Griffin, Fiona O'Downey, and Jon Hynes put a lot of work into sharing the local history with us. I am one hundred percent behind ANY effort to save the Olbiston and to preserve that history.

[clarencebunsen]

I just finished reading it. It brought back many memories of their project.

[Deleted]

Have ya'll been following the proceedings against the Olbiston. The place has become a totally run down. The Mayor has taken the owners to court and now they have until Nov.1st to install a new roof and fix the walls and ceilings on two of the floors or the place will be condemned. I think the building will be declared uninhabitable and all the people evicted to other places in the City. That is if landlords will take them some are not what you would say are all there upstairs. Be best to demolish the building a make a parking lot.

[Clipper]

I have tracked it daily. That is what precipitated Fiona's article. She brought it to their attention that there were many inaccuracies in their original writings about the building's history. I hate to see the demolish it and make a parking lot idea. It should be placed on the historic registry and preserved. The architecture alone makes it worth saving.

[Deleted]

It is a nice building but with the roof ready to collapse and no one with the money to actually build a new roof it will only become a hazard if left to stand. Beside's they would need security around the clock to keep out the many migrants who occupy the building at night for a place to sleep.

[Clipper]

A parking lot would be a great idea if the building ends up being torn down, but a parking lot for WHAT?? The laundromat doesn't need that much parking and it is a long walk to Burger King. LOL

[Deleted]

I am being proactive. The lot would become a tent city as the economy eats up the lower and middle class. Just like San Francisco. Up the street is The Salvation Army.

[Clipper]

lol. Hey a tent city? I will have a place to stay when I come up on vacation. It will save a ton of money over paying for a site at the RV park. We can just bring a sleeping bag and a pup tent.

[clarencebunsen]

I can save you more than than that. We almost always have a bedroom available. Free Folger'savailable in the morning.

[Clipper]

That would certainly be an upgrade, haha. We are limited in where we can stay because of the dog. She is a spoiled brat. She is familiar with our trailer and does fine alone while we go around during the day as long as we walk her and tire her out before we leave, and leave the tv on for her to distract her from any outside noise.

[clarencebunsen]

The guys are here to sand the floors on the last 2 rooms today. Those are the 2 smallest bedrooms so the should go fast. One has only a futon, computer desk, another desk,a bookcase and a couple file cabinets. We will see how Barb wants to set the other one up. Both have already been repainted.

It's amazing the stuff you find when you clean out closets which have mostly used for storage. We have a huge collection of Disney movies on VHS. Remember writing checks for everything? The bank would send us copies of all our checks for the month, 3 to a page, and we would faithfully compare them to our register and then file the copies in a 3 ring binder. Found 2 binders of check copies from an account we don't have anymore issued by a bank which no longer exists.

[Clipper]

When my mom died and the house was sold, we came upon several of the carboard files under my mom's bed. Some of them were filled with cancelled checks, and two were filled with paid utility bills, some of which went back to when they still lived in NY. They included Niagara Mohawk bills from the 60's and 70's and Bristol Electric bills through the year that she died. Dad said he had no idea why she insisted on filing that stuff, but he humored her and just kept buying the carboard files, haha. She was very organized and took care of their bills and checkbooks.

[Clipper]

It will be nice to have the floor sanding project complete and to be able to put everything back in order. I bet the floors look fabulous. Going back to the comments about the checks and such that you saved. I am guilty also. I still have a tote up in the storage building full of checks and sales tax records from my carpet cleaning and floor maintenance business that I shut down in 1999. I ran across them a short time ago while looking for something else. I shall have to dedicate a few hours to shred all that stuff. I actually was able to talk my mom and dad's bank into taking all of the stuff my mom had hoarded and put it with their bulk shredding that they have "Shred-it" come in and shred with a truck mounted system. They banked there for years and the branch manager went to their church.

[clarencebunsen]

Yes, my hands and knees would never stand up to running sanders like that even for a day. The young guys doing it are very polite and very tidy doing what could be a messy job.

Barb is having a good time shopping for area rugs and bedding. She always wants some input on things like that. Problem is I have slightly defective color vision. Some shades o green look grey to me. Asking me if this goes with that is a useless exercise.