“The bank hierarchy is making a big mistake”
By Kathryn Ross
On May 2nd the Powers That Be at Community Bank in Wellsville announced they will be closing the Wellsville North Main St. branch, located at 113 N Main Street on Friday, September 12th.
I don’t think this was a well thought out decision and is a big mistake and perhaps premeditated. Premeditated because while it was closing banks in Andover and Angelica, Community Bank officials decided to open a second bank location in Wellsville. Why?
As an easy chair historian, citizen of Wellsville and customer of Community Bank. I think the bank hierarchy is making a big mistake by closing this Main St. building. For one thing it is a majestic building in comparison to the facility on the Bolivar Rd. which looks like it should be a restaurant on a lake. Why not close it, and leave the Main Street building alone?
The Main Street office of Community Bank has a venerable legacy and for some of us, that’s reason enough to leave the building alone.
In the April 1st, 2023 Thelma newsletter, a publication from the Thelma Rogers Genealogical and Historical Society and the Nathaniel Dike Museum, a contributor wrote, “Wellsville native, York Renowned Architect”.
It said, “This year marks the 160th anniversary of the birth of Edward P. York, 1863 to 1928, Wellsville’s native son and architect extraordinaire of the Beaux Arts period.
While many aspiring American architects traveled to France and studied at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, Edward P. York graduated from Cornell University in Architecture and went on to study with the renowned architectural firm McKim, Mead and White in New York City, where he would partner with Phillip Sawyer to form the York and Sawyer Architectural firm in 1898.
Architects of the Beaux Arts period borrowed classical elements like iconic columns, rooftop cornices, arched windows and vaulted ceilings. They also used the very latest technology and building materials. iron framing and glass.
The Sawyer and York partnership produced many remarkable buildings in Canada and Hawaii and across American university campuses including Cornell, Vassar, Middlebury, Michigan, Rutgers and Smith, and also essential civic buildings like hospitals, banks, post offices and courthouses.
Wellsville has her own York and Sawyer gem, built in 1906 for what was then the First National Bank. Today it is Community Bank. This imposing structure with its grand arched entrance and large windows is typical of the partner’s work with its massiveness, classical details and light filled interior.
In 1908 the partners planned New York City’s first museum, The New York Historical Society building, a particular favorite of Edward P. York, who valued history and held a life membership in the Historical Society.
York’s last work with Philip Sawyer was designing the Herbert C. Hoover Federal Building, (Department of Commerce) a monumental building which at the time was considered the largest office building in the world.
Wellsville’s great architectural son died at age 65 following an operation. His obituary in the New York Times for December 31st, 1928 includes the following, “No architect of his time was more generally beloved or had contributed more to architecture and the service of the community.’”
Community Bank’s Main Street building is a heritage that should not be abandoned. At the recent Village Board of Trustees meeting, the board dedicated itself to preserving the bank building and to help find a purpose for it. But what does that mean?
Across the nation, old bank buildings have been turned into restaurants, hotels, bars, shops, breweries and homes? Now I know that Wellsville has always been a hard drinking town with several bars on each block and even though in recent years the number of bars has declined, I still don’t think York’s building should be a bar. However, while it could be turned into a business, there is already such a facility on Main Street. We don’t need another Main St. building to become a carousel for revolving businesses
Perhaps the best way to preserve this iconic building would be for the leaders of Community Bank to reconsider not abandoning it. Wellsville advertises itself as a walking community, yet for many of us it’s going to be a long walk to the bank on the Bolivar Rd. If they need to close one building close that one. They need to reconsider their choice and come up with a better solution that will better serve the people of Wellsville.
