Campbell-Whittlesey museum to close

By Daily Record Staff
Posted: 5:47 pm Fri, February 19, 2010

One of the nation’s finest examples of Greek Revival architecture, Corn Hill’s Campbell-Whittlesey house, will be closed as a museum in July and sold.

The board of trustees of the Landmark Society of Western New York Inc. earlier this month approved a motion to cease museum operations at the Campbell-Whittlesey house as of July 1. In August, the nonprofit will begin actively marketing the property for sale.

In a press release Friday, the society said “the decision to close the house museum … is the end result of over five years of strategic planning and in-depth studies of opportunities for the property’s use.”

The Landmark Society in August 2009 sought ideas from the community for other options for the property, located at 123 S. Fitzhugh St. The society has run the house, constructed in 1836, as a museum since 1939.

Friday’s release included information on an upcoming public meeting to gather ideas to assist the society with marketing the property and its adaptive reuse.

“Our staff and trustees remain committed to the exploration of viable options that support the proper stewardship and the maintenance of the integrity of this historic treasure,” the release also states.
The home was built in 1836.

Last summer, the board acknowledged several challenges presented by maintaining the house as a museum:
Because it had been restored to its original state, modern utilities are limited, and they do not have the capacity to support 21st century needs. Visitation to the home has decreased steadily decreased through the years. In 2008, the museum welcomed just 388 visitors. By contrast, the society’s Stone-Tolan House museum received 2,000 visitors.

“The preservation of Campbell-Whittlesey House is a high priority for The Landmark Society — and within that preservation is the opportunity to consider other uses for the building,” Executive Director Joanne Arany said last year. “We are going to investigate every single option available, with the goal of finding a solution that would sustain the house as a historic landmark, and, conceivably, place the building into active reuse.”

The public input meeting is set for 5:30 p.m., March, in the eighth floor of the Powers Building, 16 W. Main St., downtown.

Interested parties can RSVP by calling (585) 546-7029, ext. 10, or e-mail chaygood@landmarksociety.org. For more information visit www.landmarksociety.org.