The following is a letter to the editor submitted by Maggie Mahr, Karen Hindenlang, and Rachel Snyder. If you have a letter you’d like published on FingerLakes1.com send it to news@fingerlakes1.com.
We write with a sense of urgency and deep concern regarding an imminent threat to the historic buildings at Wells College in Aurora, NY, which announced its closure on April 29. Last month, the Wells Legacy Society, Inc., learned that the college’s current leadership plans to shut off the water and keep the buildings unheated all winter. This decision will have catastrophic consequences for these irreplaceable historic structures and their contents, which are an integral part of central New York’s cultural heritage.
Without heat, the buildings and their contents will be vulnerable to severe damage. Mold and mildew will rise dramatically and ruin the college’s extensive holdings of historical artifacts, art works, archives and books. The adverse conditions will also impact the buildings themselves, damaging walls and woodwork.
Furthermore, winter’s cold weather will cause pipes to freeze and crack. The cracks will leak when the water is turned back on, causing immediate damage as well as unseen deterioration with seepage behind walls which will lead to a loss of structural integrity. Maintenance professionals have informed us that the large campus buildings served by a single antiquated steam heat system cannot be adequately “winterized” against damage. The system is simply too big to be completely drained. The remaining water will freeze and the pipes will crack, leak, and cause damage.
More than a dozen buildings on the Wells campus are listed in the National Register of Historic Places, including the l852 limestone Tuscan villa Glen Park (the home of founder Henry Wells), the 1858 Gothic revival Pettibone House, and the iconic 1890 four-story brick Main Building. In addition, the award winning library designed by Walter Netsch and built by Skidmore, Owings and Merrill in 1968 is listed as a local historic landmark.
The college’s trustees are responsible for protecting these very valuable assets. Recklessly refusing to heat the buildings demonstrates a blatant dereliction of duty. We must act now to prevent irreversible damage. Please contact your elected representatives and ask for state intervention to protect these historic buildings for future generations. For more information, go to www.WellsLegacySociety.org.
Maggie Mahr (Hammondsport), Karen Hindenlang (Aurora), and Rachel Snyder (Rochester)
Officers of the Wells Legacy Society
This content is brought to you by the FingerLakes1.com Team. Support our mission by visiting www.patreon.com/fl1 or learn how you send us your local content here.