By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 30 October 2013 at 12:00 am
Photos by Tom Rivers
ALBION – Contractors have the shell of a warehouse knocked down less than two weeks after a massive fire destroyed the three-story building on Hamilton Street and Route 31.
After the fire at Orleans Pallet, the four walls of the structure remained. The east and north walls came down a day after the fire. But the other walls on the south and west sides had to be chipped away by hand. A demolition contractor needed to use a lift for more than a week to manually remove chunks of the sandstone walls.
Most of those pieces have been pushed into the rubble – the twisted steel and charred beams – from the building.
Orleans Pallet owner Shawn Malark has said he wants to save as much of the sandstone as possible for reuse in the community.
The Environmental Construction Group of Albion has been the lead contractor on the demolition. It was assisted by Empire Wrecking of Rochester.
Here is how the building looked on Oct. 18, before demolition crews went to work on the remaining walls from the site, which was built in 1901. The smaller sandstone building won’t be knocked down.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 October 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – The county jail received about $1 million in improvements that should mostly pay for themselves in increased efficiency costs, county officials said.
ALBION – The county has completed about $1.5 million in energy conservation upgrades, work that officials expect will pay for itself in the coming years through increased energy efficiencies.
Most of the work, about $1 million worth of projects, was focused at the county jail. But the initiatives included energy upgrades at the County Clerk’s Building, Courthouse, highway garage, mental health building, nursing home, public safety building, central hall (treasurer’s office) and veterans office. In the six of the nine buildings, new more energy-efficient lights were installed.
The county spent $1,474,371 for the projects. State and federal grants paid $111,200. The upgrades are expected to reduce the county’s utility bills by $63,853 a year at the current market prices, said Keith Krug, the project manager from Wendel Energy of Buffalo.
The projects could pay for themselves in about 15 to 20 years with the reduced energy costs.
Wendel worked with county officials, especially highway superintendent Jerry Gray, for about two years in making the improvements. The highway department helped bring the projects in under budget by $82,000, Krug told legislators.
“Jerry Gray and his staff are the most committed DPW department we’ve ever worked with,” Krug said. “They did everything on time. In the end you were able to do more with your dollar.”
The improvements have given the county jail extended life by at least another 20 years, and stopped the pressure from the state Department of Corrections to build a new facility, legislators said.
“The $1 million in jail improvements saved the county $30 million by not having to build a new jail,” Legislator Lynne Johnson said.
Wendel did an energy audit of 10 county buildings about two years ago and worked with the county to identify projects that would have a payback through grants and energy savings.
The jail on Platt Street, built in two stages around 1970, was crowded and falling into disrepair mainly due to water infiltration. The state was pressuring Orleans to build a new facility.
But a series of improvements, plus a drop in the inmate population, have quieted talk that the jail is inadequate.
The jail used to have a problem with water infiltration from the roof, with a leaking expansion joint the main culprit. But contractors put on a new tiled roof and sealed the expansion joint. The roof is on top of a rubber membrane with a drainage system.
The jail also has a new boiler system, and a series of energy efficiency improvements, including new caulking around about 100 windows and also on the seams of the building. Crews sprayed insulation inside the concrete panels on the building.
The project upgraded showers and gate motors in the cell blocks. The showers now have water timers and a raised concrete pad on the floor, which will reduce water migration.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 October 2013 at 12:00 am
Team plays Albion teachers in fund-raiser for PTA
Photos by Tom Rivers – A Harlem Wizard named BP cheers on Alyson Snow, 6, of Albion while she balances a spinning basketball in front of a crowd of about 700 people in the high school gym.
Before the game, during the contest and at halftime the Harlem Wizards liked to stop and mingle with the crowd in Albion.
The Harlem Wizards played the Albion All-Stars, a group of teachers and administrators. When one teacher made a jump shot, teacher Alec Sherman raised both arms in the air from the Albion bench. The event was a fund-raiser for the Elementary School PTA.
ALBION – Recently the Five Star Bank building at the northwest corner of Main and West Bank streets in Albion was freshly repainted. (Click here for a previous article.)
In this photo from about 1890 we see much more detail in the architecture. Here the brick has not yet been painted, which is in contrast with the decorative stone trim, making the building much more lively than today.
This large three-story block was built in 1882 by William G. Swan and boasted two-story corner tower. To the right appears the Sickels Block, which conformed in the same style known as Eastlake.
The corner store was operated by George Barrell, a druggist – hence the mortar and pestle symbol on a post in front.
The name James Bailey & Son appears on the awning next door where they operated a grocery store. These store fronts are now all a part of Five Star Bank.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 29 October 2013 at 12:00 am
The Orleans County Farmers’ Market was going to end its season in Albion last Saturday, but the market day was cancelled due to high winds.
Farmers aren’t going to call it a season yet. They will be back for a final day this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Save-A-Lot parking lot.
Vendors will also be in Medina in the Canal Basin from noon to 5 p.m. on Thursday for the last time this season. Trick-or-treaters are welcome to stop by around 5 to visit the farmers, said Ann Nice, one of the vendors.
“We continue to have plenty of farm fresh fall produce and products,” Nice said. “Thank you to all our customers. We look forward to growing for you in 2014.”
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 October 2013 at 12:00 am
ALBION – An Albion man was sentenced to seven years in state prison today for second-degree rape.
Scott D. Stanley, 33, pleaded guilty to the crime during a July court appearance. He was accused of having sex with a 14-year-old girl in his apartment at 220 East State St. between Feb. 1 and Feb. 28, 2011.
As part of a plea deal, Stanley faced two to seven years in state prison. Judge James Punch gave him the maximum sentence today. Stanley will be registered as a sex offender and could face civil confinement when his prison time is over.
Stanley is already a Level 3 sex offender, considered the most serious. He was sentenced to 22 years in state prison by a Genesee County Court judge on Aug. 1. Stanley victimized a 14-year-old girl in Albion and then in Pembroke. He also raped the girl’s 11-year-old sister in Pembroke, according to the Orleans District Attorney’s Office.
The sentence from Orleans County will run concurrent with the Genesee sentence, meaning the seven years won’t be added to 22-year sentence.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 October 2013 at 12:00 am
ALBION – When Paul Mann thinks of historic downtown Albion, he longs for the Main Street of the early 1970s, an image captured in this post card. The photograph shows Main Street, looking north from near State Street.
“Notice the parking meters, awnings, signs, the Rialto Theater,” Mann wrote in an email. “Shell Gas station is now the municipal parking lot. This is the Historic Albion that I remember.”
There is also a nice hitching post in the bottom left corner, in front of the former Swan Library. Mann also notes the photo includes a nice-looking 1969 Plymouth Fury.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 October 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers – Brown’s Berry Patch is selling the new RubyFrost apple that is being released to the public for the first time this fall. Several other local farm markets are selling the apple.
WATERPORT – A month ago local apple growers introduced consumers to the new SnapDragon apple. Those farmers quickly sold out of the variety, which has been promoted heavily in the media.
Growers have another new apple, RubyFrost, which matures later in the season. That apple has been picked and many growers are selling it at local markets. RubyFrost is a red apple that tastes sweet and tart. It is compared to Empire and Granny Smith varieties.
RubyFrost is a hard apple to bite, I can attest to that. I tried one for the first time today at Brown’s Berry Patch. Growers are excited about the apple because it stores well. Nutritionists say it will provide a boost of vitamin C well into winter.
RubyFrost and SnapDragon have been more than a decade in the making. They were developed by Cornell researchers. A new organization that consists only of New York apple growers, NYAG LLC, was formed to sign up farmers to grow the crop on limited acres so there wouldn’t be an oversupply, leading to crashing prices for growers.
The new apples are being released through farm markets this fall and next year. The apples won’t be readily available in grocery stores until 2015 when recent plantings have a full crop.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 October 2013 at 12:00 am
ALBION – An Albion man was sentenced to state prison today for drunk driving and also for selling cocaine in the Albion area.
Felix Onofre-Rojas, 61, of 14691 Zig-Zag Rd., Albion, was charged with DWI on May 4, when he was stopped with a BAC of 0.21 percent. Onofre-Rojas has a prior DWI on June 24, 2008 in Hamlin.
Orleans County Court Judge James Punch sentenced him to 1 to 3 years in prison for the DWI charge. Onofre-Rojas also was arrested on June 20 and charged with two counts of a criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree, four counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, and two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fourth degree.
He pleaded guilty to attempted criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree and received 1 ½ years in state prison for the crime, time that will run concurrent with the DWI.
Patricia Nava-Chavez, 44, is married to Onofre-Rojas. She also faced several drug charges. Her attorney, Shirley Gorman, argued in court that Nava-Chavez wasn’t involved in her husband’s drug sales.
Police, however, said she was an accomplice in the activity. She pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree. Judge Punch today sentenced her to time served in jail. She had been in the county lock-up since June 20.
By Tom Rivers, Editor Posted 28 October 2013 at 12:00 am
Photo by Tom Rivers
ALBION – A new bus shelter was installed about two weeks ago on South Main Street, near Route 31. Mayor Dean Theodorakos thinks it was a bad spot.
“It’s a horribly congested intersection,” Theodorakos said.
The shelter is the second one installed in Albion since August. The first one was put by the County Administration Building, well off Route 31.
The Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority and Orleans Transportation Service picked the spots for the shelters. The second one is next to Rite Aid.
Funding for each bus shelter in Orleans County totaled $15,000, and was provided by the Federal Transit Administration.
Theodorakos said the shelter by Rite Aid was approved without input from the village. He said he was surprised the state Department of Transportation allowed it at the location on Route 98. The village has struggled to get approval from the DOT for street-scape improvements and other projects.
“The DOT puts the screws to us on everything but they allow that to happen,” the mayor said.
