Main Street Historic District (Medina, New York)
Encyclopedia
The Main Street Historic District in Medina
, New York, United States, is the downtown commercial core of the village. It is a 12 acres (4.9 ha) area stretching south along Main Street from the Erie Canal
to the railroad tracks.
Its buildings, all but three of which contribute
to its historic character, reflect the development of Medina from the early days of the canal, where a bend in the route made it a natural harbor, in the 1830s to the 1920s. They are brick or stone buildings in a variety of architectural style
s from the 19th century, primarily Italianate
. Many of them have been renovated after a period of decline in the mid-20th century. In 1995 it was designated a historic district
and listed on the National Register of Historic Places
. Two years later, a rail freight depot at the south end was added when further research established that it was historically related to other buildings in the district.
and 31E
/63
respectively. South of the Main-Center intersection, Main Street is also itself part of routes 31 and 63). Its boundaries are defined by lot lines and streets. The terrain is level with a slight descent to the canal and creek at the northeast.
At the north, the district includes the properties on the east side of Main north of Pearl Street that back on the canal just north of the bend it takes after crossing the Oak Orchard River
to the immediate east. Its boundary continues along the rear property line of the east side of Main, excluding the parking lot at the canal basin, then expanding westward at East Center to include some properties on both sides of the street east of Manilla Place, stopping just short of St. John's Episcopal Church, the "Church in the Middle of the Street" and one of Medina's oldest public buildings. It then returns to the rear lines of the east side of Main, following the CSX railroad tracks back to the street.
On the west side of Main it includes all the properties down to North Avenue. The district takes in the large railroad complex, excluding the hardware store on the corner with West Avenue, which it follows north to just past the tracks. The 1997 boundary increase added the Medina Railroad Museum
across the street, extending the southwest corner of the district to Gwin Street. After that the boundary crosses the street again and takes in the old train station building, then turns north at the back of City Hall to follow rear property lines on the east side of Main, including the buildings with frontage
on the east side of Proctor Place. One lot south of Pearl Street, it turns east to exclude a house and vacant lot along that back to Main, which it then follows back up to the north end of the district.
This tightly drawn boundary encloses an area of 12 acres (4.9 ha). Of the 52 buildings within it, only three are too modern to be considered contributing properties
. There are no houses; most are multistory commercial buildings with a few having apartments above street level. The railroad-related properties, First Presbyterian Church and City Hall and its fire station are the few exceptions. It excludes Medina's Register-listed post office
and St. John's, found eligible.
. At the time what is now Main Street was known as Shelby Street. None of those buildings are extant, mostly wood frame
structures, are extant, having been demolished to make way for the current buildings. The foundation
of the former Arcade at 343–347 Main Street is the only remnant of the village's early years still extant.
In 1823 the Holland Land Company
, the original European
owners of much of Western New York
, sent Ebenezer Mix to survey and lay out a village at the Ridgeway
-Shelby
town line. He completed this by 1826. This, combined with the settlement around the docks, became Medina. At that time, it was a way station along the canal for barges and an overnighting point for passengers. Many of its early buildings were hotels.
Medina grew quickly. In addition to the canal it had good waterpower on Oak Orchard Creek (two mill race
s, one of which is reportedly still intact underground, ran along today's Main Street) and fertile land surrounding it. The settlement incorporated
as a village in 1832, just seven years after its establishment. The 1840 census
recorded 700 inhabitants. By the middle of the century the southwest portion of the village was being developed as a residential area.
In 1855 the village's oldest extant hotel, the Paddock at 500–506 Main Street, was built. Around that time the Rochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad
, the "Falls Road", was built through the village, at the southern end of the district. It took some, but not all, of the canal's traffic. By providing easier access to raw materials and markets for finished goods the railroad, which eventually became part of the New York Central Railroad
, spurred industrial development along Main Street. The former main station, at 615 Main Street, built early in the 20th century, is one of the district buildings using locally quarried Medina sandstone
, enjoying its peak usage as a building material at the time. At the same time the Rochester, Lockport and Buffalo Railroad offered electric trolley service that passed through Medina on tracks running along East Center, up Main and then to Commercial Street and east along a private right-of-way to Salt Works Road and then to West Center.
A series of fires in the 1860s and 1870s led to the construction of most of the district's extant buildings between 1870 and 1900. As a result they are visually cohesive and uniformly scaled. The most architecturally distinguished building in the district, Bent's Opera House at the northwest corner of Main and Center, is an early product of this period.
The village had a diverse group of industries and retailers in the first decades of the 20th century. The fruit orchards in the farms around the village created a need for cold storage
facilities near the railroad tracks. Three buildings, the warehouse at 630 Main Street that is now a carpet store, the 613-615 Main Street building and the railway museum building on West Street, reflect the importance of fruit growing at that time. So prosperous was Medina during this period that residents named the new municipal building in 1908 City Hall, out of the expectation that the village, now with a population of 5,000, would eventually become one.
Most of those industries declined and eventually closed down over the next few decades. The canal, by then carrying a small fraction of its former traffic, was widened and incorporated into the New York State Barge Canal system in the late 1910s. It continued to decline. The railroads were affected as well. In 1931 the trolley service was discontinued; the tracks themselves remained for another 30 years. After World War II
the market for Medina sandstone dwindled as well. Freight and passenger traffic across the state began using the New York State Thruway
, 10 miles (16 km) to the south, and eventually the Central discontinued passenger service along the route before going bankrupt itself.
The buildings of downtown Medina have remained. Many were restored
and renovated with state and federal grant programs. The village has continued to benefit from the canal, which is now mainly a recreational resource but still carries some freight.
code. The village's district includes some areas outside of the Register-listed one, such as an extension north to Eagle Street and more of East Center Street along the canal basin. It is meant to protect the district's historic character within the context of Medina's commercial zoning.
In 2009 the Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning Commission, with the cooperation of the village and representatives of its downtown business community, drafted a revitalization plan for the district. Business and consumers were surveyed to get data as to what they thought downtown's issues were. Consumers were also asked where they came from and how they used downtown.
Businesses, many of which were independent and owned the space they operated from, represented a diverse group of activities, primarily retail goods and services. They employed about 222 people. Most indicated that what they would be most interested in to improve downtown was grant or loan programs to assist with business improvements. Half of them thought parking was an issue for their customers.
The customers surveyed were primarily older women. Most were residents of the area who drove downtown to shop (usually at the grocery or drugstore) and attend to personal care needs. They came to downtown a few times a month and were most likely otherwise to go to a big box retailer, shops in nearby towns like Albion or Middleport
or malls in the Buffalo
area to the southwest. They liked the small-town feel of downtown, but felt it could use more parking and more attention to the appearance of vacant buildings.
The plan recommended that the village add a section to its comprehensive plan
dealing with downtown. Specific measures that were suggested to address the issues were several measures to instill pride in the historic downtown, such as the redistribution of sections of the Register application to promote awareness of the district's historic qualities, a window display program in vacant storefronts, making property owners aware of the tax credit
s available to them for renovating income-producing property, and the creation of a Business Improvement District
. A separate parking overlay was suggested, based on recalcuated demand, to address that issue.
Medina, New York
Medina is a village in the towns of Shelby and Ridgeway in Orleans County, New York, United States. The population was 6,415 at the 2000 census, making it the second most populous municipality in the county after Albion, the county seat. The village was named by its surveyor...
, New York, United States, is the downtown commercial core of the village. It is a 12 acres (4.9 ha) area stretching south along Main Street from the Erie Canal
Erie Canal
The Erie Canal is a waterway in New York that runs about from Albany, New York, on the Hudson River to Buffalo, New York, at Lake Erie, completing a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes. The canal contains 36 locks and encompasses a total elevation differential of...
to the railroad tracks.
Its buildings, all but three of which contribute
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
to its historic character, reflect the development of Medina from the early days of the canal, where a bend in the route made it a natural harbor, in the 1830s to the 1920s. They are brick or stone buildings in a variety of architectural style
Architectural style
Architectural styles classify architecture in terms of the use of form, techniques, materials, time period, region and other stylistic influences. It overlaps with, and emerges from the study of the evolution and history of architecture...
s from the 19th century, primarily Italianate
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
. Many of them have been renovated after a period of decline in the mid-20th century. In 1995 it was designated a historic district
Historic district (United States)
In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...
and listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. Two years later, a rail freight depot at the south end was added when further research established that it was historically related to other buildings in the district.
Geography
The district is an irregularly shaped area whose axis is Main Street for a block and a half north and south of East and West Center Street (NY 31New York State Route 31
New York State Route 31 is a state highway that extends for across western and central New York in the United States. The western terminus of the route is at an intersection with NY 104 in the city of Niagara Falls. Its eastern terminus is at a traffic circle with NY 26 in Vernon...
and 31E
New York State Route 31E
New York State Route 31E is a state highway located in Western New York in the United States. It serves as a northerly alternate route of NY 31 between the village of Middleport in eastern Niagara County and the nearby village of Medina in Orleans County...
/63
New York State Route 63
New York State Route 63 is a state highway in the western part of New York in the United States. The southern terminus of the route is at an intersection with NY 15 and NY 21 in the village of Wayland in Steuben County. Its northern end is at a junction with NY 18 in the town...
respectively. South of the Main-Center intersection, Main Street is also itself part of routes 31 and 63). Its boundaries are defined by lot lines and streets. The terrain is level with a slight descent to the canal and creek at the northeast.
At the north, the district includes the properties on the east side of Main north of Pearl Street that back on the canal just north of the bend it takes after crossing the Oak Orchard River
Oak Orchard River
Oak Orchard Creek is a tributary of Lake Ontario in Orleans County, New York in the United States.Oak Orchard Creek rises south of Oak Orchard Creek Marsh at the border of Orleans and Genesee Counties...
to the immediate east. Its boundary continues along the rear property line of the east side of Main, excluding the parking lot at the canal basin, then expanding westward at East Center to include some properties on both sides of the street east of Manilla Place, stopping just short of St. John's Episcopal Church, the "Church in the Middle of the Street" and one of Medina's oldest public buildings. It then returns to the rear lines of the east side of Main, following the CSX railroad tracks back to the street.
On the west side of Main it includes all the properties down to North Avenue. The district takes in the large railroad complex, excluding the hardware store on the corner with West Avenue, which it follows north to just past the tracks. The 1997 boundary increase added the Medina Railroad Museum
Medina Railroad Museum
The Medina Railroad Museum is a railroad museum located at 530 West Avenue in Medina, New York.The museum is housed in one of the largest standing wooden freight depots, built in 1905...
across the street, extending the southwest corner of the district to Gwin Street. After that the boundary crosses the street again and takes in the old train station building, then turns north at the back of City Hall to follow rear property lines on the east side of Main, including the buildings with frontage
Frontage
Frontage is the full length of a plot of land or a building measured alongside the road on to which the plot or building fronts. This is considered especially important for certain types of commercial and retail real estate, in applying zoning bylaws and property tax...
on the east side of Proctor Place. One lot south of Pearl Street, it turns east to exclude a house and vacant lot along that back to Main, which it then follows back up to the north end of the district.
This tightly drawn boundary encloses an area of 12 acres (4.9 ha). Of the 52 buildings within it, only three are too modern to be considered contributing properties
Contributing property
In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing resource or contributing property is any building, structure, or object which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic district, listed locally or federally, significant...
. There are no houses; most are multistory commercial buildings with a few having apartments above street level. The railroad-related properties, First Presbyterian Church and City Hall and its fire station are the few exceptions. It excludes Medina's Register-listed post office
U.S. Post Office (Medina, New York)
The U.S. Post Office in Medina, New York, is located at West Avenue and West Center Street . It is a brick building erected in the early 1930s, serving the ZIP Code 14103, covering the village of Medina and neighboring portions of the towns of Ridgeway and Shelby.Its Colonial Revival style design...
and St. John's, found eligible.
History
The settlement of what became Medina began with the announcement of the canal's construction in 1817. Within a few years some houses had sprung up for canal workers near the bend, and by 1825 the area in the northeastern portion of the district known as the docks, had been well developed, with a general storeGeneral store
A general store, general merchandise store, or village shop is a rural or small town store that carries a general line of merchandise. It carries a broad selection of merchandise, sometimes in a small space, where people from the town and surrounding rural areas come to purchase all their general...
. At the time what is now Main Street was known as Shelby Street. None of those buildings are extant, mostly wood frame
Timber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
structures, are extant, having been demolished to make way for the current buildings. The foundation
Foundation (architecture)
A foundation is the lowest and supporting layer of a structure. Foundations are generally divided into two categories: shallow foundations and deep foundations.-Shallow foundations:...
of the former Arcade at 343–347 Main Street is the only remnant of the village's early years still extant.
In 1823 the Holland Land Company
Holland Land Company
The Holland Land Company was a purchaser of the western two-thirds of the western New York land tract known as the Phelps and Gorham Purchase. This tract was known thereafter as The Holland Purchase...
, the original European
European colonization of the Americas
The start of the European colonization of the Americas is typically dated to 1492. The first Europeans to reach the Americas were the Vikings during the 11th century, who established several colonies in Greenland and one short-lived settlement in present day Newfoundland...
owners of much of Western New York
Western New York
Western New York is the westernmost region of the state of New York. It includes the cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Niagara Falls, the surrounding suburbs, as well as the outlying rural areas of the Great Lakes lowlands, the Genesee Valley, and the Southern Tier. Some historians, scholars and others...
, sent Ebenezer Mix to survey and lay out a village at the Ridgeway
Ridgeway, New York
Ridgeway, New York is a town in Orleans County, New York, United States. The population was 6,886 at the 2000 census. The name of the town is derived from "Ridge Road," an important highway in the 19th century....
-Shelby
Shelby, New York
Shelby, New York is a town in Orleans County, New York, United States. The population was 5,420 at the 2000 census.The Town of Shelby is located in southwest corner of Orleans County.- History :...
town line. He completed this by 1826. This, combined with the settlement around the docks, became Medina. At that time, it was a way station along the canal for barges and an overnighting point for passengers. Many of its early buildings were hotels.
Medina grew quickly. In addition to the canal it had good waterpower on Oak Orchard Creek (two mill race
Mill race
A mill race, raceway or mill lade is the current or channel of a stream, especially one for conducting water to or from a water wheel or other device for utilizing its energy...
s, one of which is reportedly still intact underground, ran along today's Main Street) and fertile land surrounding it. The settlement incorporated
Municipal corporation
A municipal corporation is the legal term for a local governing body, including cities, counties, towns, townships, charter townships, villages, and boroughs. Municipal incorporation occurs when such municipalities become self-governing entities under the laws of the state or province in which...
as a village in 1832, just seven years after its establishment. The 1840 census
United States Census, 1840
The United States Census of 1840 was the sixth census of the United States. Conducted by the Bureau of the Census on June 1, 1840, it determined the resident population of the United States to be 17,069,453 — an increase of 32.7 percent over the 12,866,020 persons enumerated during the 1830...
recorded 700 inhabitants. By the middle of the century the southwest portion of the village was being developed as a residential area.
In 1855 the village's oldest extant hotel, the Paddock at 500–506 Main Street, was built. Around that time the Rochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad
Rochester, Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad
Incorporated December 14, 1850. This company rebuilt and opened in July 1852, the road originally incorporated April 24, 1834, as the Lockport and Niagara Falls Railroad. The original line was opened in 1838 and sold June 2, 1850. Consolidated into the New York Central Railroad under the act of 1853....
, the "Falls Road", was built through the village, at the southern end of the district. It took some, but not all, of the canal's traffic. By providing easier access to raw materials and markets for finished goods the railroad, which eventually became part of the New York Central Railroad
New York Central Railroad
The New York Central Railroad , known simply as the New York Central in its publicity, was a railroad operating in the Northeastern United States...
, spurred industrial development along Main Street. The former main station, at 615 Main Street, built early in the 20th century, is one of the district buildings using locally quarried Medina sandstone
Sandstone
Sandstone is a sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized minerals or rock grains.Most sandstone is composed of quartz and/or feldspar because these are the most common minerals in the Earth's crust. Like sand, sandstone may be any colour, but the most common colours are tan, brown, yellow,...
, enjoying its peak usage as a building material at the time. At the same time the Rochester, Lockport and Buffalo Railroad offered electric trolley service that passed through Medina on tracks running along East Center, up Main and then to Commercial Street and east along a private right-of-way to Salt Works Road and then to West Center.
A series of fires in the 1860s and 1870s led to the construction of most of the district's extant buildings between 1870 and 1900. As a result they are visually cohesive and uniformly scaled. The most architecturally distinguished building in the district, Bent's Opera House at the northwest corner of Main and Center, is an early product of this period.
The village had a diverse group of industries and retailers in the first decades of the 20th century. The fruit orchards in the farms around the village created a need for cold storage
Cold storage
Cold storage may refer to:* A form of refrigerated storage* Cold Storage, a musician also known as Tim Wright * Cold Storage , a supermarket found in Singapore and Malaysia* COLD...
facilities near the railroad tracks. Three buildings, the warehouse at 630 Main Street that is now a carpet store, the 613-615 Main Street building and the railway museum building on West Street, reflect the importance of fruit growing at that time. So prosperous was Medina during this period that residents named the new municipal building in 1908 City Hall, out of the expectation that the village, now with a population of 5,000, would eventually become one.
Most of those industries declined and eventually closed down over the next few decades. The canal, by then carrying a small fraction of its former traffic, was widened and incorporated into the New York State Barge Canal system in the late 1910s. It continued to decline. The railroads were affected as well. In 1931 the trolley service was discontinued; the tracks themselves remained for another 30 years. After World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the market for Medina sandstone dwindled as well. Freight and passenger traffic across the state began using the New York State Thruway
New York State Thruway
The New York State Thruway is a system of limited-access highways located within the state of New York in the United States. The system, known officially as the Governor Thomas E. Dewey Thruway for former New York Governor Thomas E. Dewey, is operated by the New York State Thruway Authority and...
, 10 miles (16 km) to the south, and eventually the Central discontinued passenger service along the route before going bankrupt itself.
The buildings of downtown Medina have remained. Many were restored
Building restoration
Building restoration describes a particular treatment approach and philosophy within the field of architectural conservation. According the U.S...
and renovated with state and federal grant programs. The village has continued to benefit from the canal, which is now mainly a recreational resource but still carries some freight.
Significant contributing properties
The district's boundaries contain 54 buildings, one structure (the railroad tracks) and one site (Rotary Park, at the southeast corner of Main and Center). The park and three nearby buildings, as well as one near the train station, are the only non-contributing properties in the district. Among the others, some are notable within the context of the district. None have been listed individually on the National Register.- Austin and Dye Cold Storage Warehouse, 613–615 Main Street. A 1901 three-story Medina sandstone vernacular building that occupies the southeast corner of the district.
- Bancroft Hotel, 343–347 Main Street. Its foundationFoundation (architecture)A foundation is the lowest and supporting layer of a structure. Foundations are generally divided into two categories: shallow foundations and deep foundations.-Shallow foundations:...
dates to 1835, making it the oldest building element in the district. The rest of the building was replaced after a 1927 fire. Today it houses an auto-parts store. - Bent Block, 444 Main Street. Built in 1865, this Medina sandstone building once housed an opera house and was the center of Medina's cultural life.
- Building at 415 Proctor Place. Records show that a public right-of-way once went through this former wagon shop with a bricked-over tunnel.
- Building at 435 Main Street. The district's oldest building is a stone structure with brick facadeFacadeA facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
built in 1846. - Building at 512 Main Street. This brick Italianate building has some excellent Art DecoArt DecoArt deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
storefronts with red and black Carrara glass. - Central Bank of Medina, 514 Main Street. The district's only neoclassicalNeoclassical architectureNeoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
building dates to 1890, with a facadeFacadeA facade or façade is generally one exterior side of a building, usually, but not always, the front. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
remodeled in 1926. - City Hall, 600 Main Street. The only government building in the district, built in 1908, is also its only Richardsonian RomanesqueRichardsonian RomanesqueRichardsonian Romanesque is a style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after architect Henry Hobson Richardson, whose masterpiece is Trinity Church, Boston , designated a National Historic Landmark...
, with rockfaced Medina sandstone and round-headed arch moldings. Its name reflects the village's ambitions at the time of its construction. Modern rear addition is home to the fire department. - S.A. Cook Building, 526–540 Main Street. A long, horizontal brick building that was seen as very modern when it was built in 1911.
- First Presbyterian Church, 520 Main Street. The district's only church is an 1872 brick Romanesque Revival structure set backSetback (land use)In land use, a setback is the distance which a building or other structure is set back from a street or road, a river or other stream, a shore or flood plain, or any other place which needs protection. Depending on the jurisdiction, other things like fences, landscaping, septic tanks, and various...
slightly more from the street than its neighbors. - Fuller Block, 428 Main Street. DecorationOrnament (architecture)In architecture and decorative art, ornament is a decoration used to embellish parts of a building or object. Large figurative elements such as monumental sculpture and their equivalents in decorative art are excluded from the term; most ornament does not include human figures, and if present they...
on this 1875 Italianate commercial building includes drip moldingMolding (decorative)Molding or moulding is a strip of material with various profiles used to cover transitions between surfaces or for decoration. It is traditionally made from solid milled wood or plaster but may be made from plastic or reformed wood...
on the round-arched windows, intricate brick corbelCorbelIn architecture a corbel is a piece of stone jutting out of a wall to carry any superincumbent weight. A piece of timber projecting in the same way was called a "tassel" or a "bragger". The technique of corbelling, where rows of corbels deeply keyed inside a wall support a projecting wall or...
ling and a bracketedBracket (architecture)A bracket is an architectural member made of wood, stone, or metal that overhangs a wall to support or carry weight. It may also support a statue, the spring of an arch, a beam, or a shelf. Brackets are often in the form of scrolls, and can be carved, cast, or molded. They can be entirely...
corniceCorniceCornice molding is generally any horizontal decorative molding that crowns any building or furniture element: the cornice over a door or window, for instance, or the cornice around the edge of a pedestal. A simple cornice may be formed just with a crown molding.The function of the projecting...
. Housed the local G. C. MurphyG. C. MurphyG.C. Murphy is a defunct chain of five and dime or variety stores in the United States.- Origins of chain :The chain was founded in 1906 in the Pittsburgh suburb of McKeesport, Pennsylvania, by George Clinton Murphy. Murphy had gotten his start in retail as a manager of a McCrory's store in 1896...
store for many years. - Hart House, 111–115 West Center Street. Built in 1876 as a hotel, this five-bayBay (architecture)A bay is a unit of form in architecture. This unit is defined as the zone between the outer edges of an engaged column, pilaster, or post; or within a window frame, doorframe, or vertical 'bas relief' wall form.-Defining elements:...
brick structure is one of the most accomplished of the Italianate buildings in the district, with full-height brick pilasterPilasterA pilaster is a slightly-projecting column built into or applied to the face of a wall. Most commonly flattened or rectangular in form, pilasters can also take a half-round form or the shape of any type of column, including tortile....
s, segmentally arched windows, stone crowns and a bracketed cornice. - Maher Brothers Block, 116–120 East Center Street. This 1873 building is the only one with a neo-Renaissance facade, added 30 years after construction.
- Medina Cold Storage Warehouse, 630 Main Street. Built in 1907, it is similar to the Austin and Dye building across the street. A wood frame packing house was added to the south elevation in the early 1920s.
- Medina Railroad MuseumMedina Railroad MuseumThe Medina Railroad Museum is a railroad museum located at 530 West Avenue in Medina, New York.The museum is housed in one of the largest standing wooden freight depots, built in 1905...
, 530 West Street. A 300 by timber frame clapboardClapboard (architecture)Clapboard, also known as bevel siding or lap siding or weather-board , is a board used typically for exterior horizontal siding that has one edge thicker than the other and where the board above laps over the one below...
-sided structure built in 1905 that is believed to be the largest extant wooden freight depot in the country. It was converted to its present purpose in 1991. - New York Central Railroad Station, 615 West Street. A hip roofHip roofA hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
ed structure presently used as a senior center, it was built in 1908 of mixed materials and remains mostly intact. - Paddock's Hotel, 500–506 Main Street. The oldest hotel building in the district dates to 1855.
Preservation
Medina has made the district part of a historic overlay district in its zoningZoning in the United States
Zoning in the United States comprise land use state laws falling under the police power rights that State governments and local governments have the authority to exercise over privately owned real property.-Origins and history:...
code. The village's district includes some areas outside of the Register-listed one, such as an extension north to Eagle Street and more of East Center Street along the canal basin. It is meant to protect the district's historic character within the context of Medina's commercial zoning.
In 2009 the Genesee/Finger Lakes Regional Planning Commission, with the cooperation of the village and representatives of its downtown business community, drafted a revitalization plan for the district. Business and consumers were surveyed to get data as to what they thought downtown's issues were. Consumers were also asked where they came from and how they used downtown.
Businesses, many of which were independent and owned the space they operated from, represented a diverse group of activities, primarily retail goods and services. They employed about 222 people. Most indicated that what they would be most interested in to improve downtown was grant or loan programs to assist with business improvements. Half of them thought parking was an issue for their customers.
The customers surveyed were primarily older women. Most were residents of the area who drove downtown to shop (usually at the grocery or drugstore) and attend to personal care needs. They came to downtown a few times a month and were most likely otherwise to go to a big box retailer, shops in nearby towns like Albion or Middleport
Middleport, New York
Middleport is a village in Niagara County, New York, United States. The population was 1,917 at the 2000 census. The mail ZIP code is 14105. It is part of the Buffalo–Niagara Falls Metropolitan Statistical Area....
or malls in the Buffalo
Buffalo, New York
Buffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
area to the southwest. They liked the small-town feel of downtown, but felt it could use more parking and more attention to the appearance of vacant buildings.
The plan recommended that the village add a section to its comprehensive plan
Comprehensive planning
Comprehensive planning is a term used in the United States by land use planners to describe a process that determines community goals and aspirations in terms of community development. The outcome of comprehensive planning is the Comprehensive Plan which dictates public policy in terms of...
dealing with downtown. Specific measures that were suggested to address the issues were several measures to instill pride in the historic downtown, such as the redistribution of sections of the Register application to promote awareness of the district's historic qualities, a window display program in vacant storefronts, making property owners aware of the tax credit
Tax credit
A tax credit is a sum deducted from the total amount a taxpayer owes to the state. A tax credit may be granted for various types of taxes, such as an income tax, property tax, or VAT. It may be granted in recognition of taxes already paid, as a subsidy, or to encourage investment or other behaviors...
s available to them for renovating income-producing property, and the creation of a Business Improvement District
Business improvement district
A business improvement district is a defined area within which businesses pay an additional tax or fee in order to fund improvements within the district's boundaries. Grant funds acquired by the city for special programs and/or incentives such as tax abatements can be made available to assist...
. A separate parking overlay was suggested, based on recalcuated demand, to address that issue.