Public hearing for Lewiston Opera Hall historic designation
Jan. 7—The Lewiston Historic Preservation Commission will host a public hearing on Monday on designating the Lewiston Opera Hall building as a local historic site.
It will take place during the upcoming HPC meeting at 6 p.m. on Jan. 9 at the Lewiston Red Brick Building. Chairwoman Loretta Frankovitch said they thought the building at 732 Center St. already had such a designation, but it does not.
"The village itself has the ability to preserve structures it deems historically significant," she said, with the Frontier House receiving a local historic designation before it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. "Local distinction was a first step and doesn't have to go any further. The owners may seek a federal designation because it gives them extra benefits, like tax credits."
Village Historian Russell Piper said the historic building owners can apply for state historic preservation grants, where they would have to follow certain rules for restoring the architecture the way it was.
The plaque on the front of the building, erected in 1971, states the building was built by Joseph Hewitt around 1840 and became known as Moss Hall. It was the center of the village's social activity at the turn of the 20th century, when it was known as the Opera Hall, and did house a Waterfront Mission.
Frankovitch said that further research by the HPC, Piper, and the Historical Association of Lewiston found new evidence that has them believing that it was built much earlier. Tax records showed that Isaac Colt owned the property in 1835, with the historians thinking it was built at least by 1832. The earliest mention of the site was a mention of a ball given to an assembly room by Colt in 1827.
"Its a little bit older than we thought, and not built by who we thought," Frankovitch said.
Piper added that the upper floor used to hold a ballroom used for social events for Lewiston's elite.
According to Buffalo Business First, the Opera Hall building was recently bought for $400,000 by OH 736 LLC, an investment group out of Mesa, AZ from the Sacarissa Bell Rose Lodge No. 307, Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Frankovitch said the new ownership did not factor into getting this designation, as they were looking into this for the past six months.
"The OOF was receptive to the idea of it designated, but were also selling it," Frankovitch said.
Previously, Peter Barton Hutt, a Washington D.C. resident and a direct descendent of one of Lewiston's founding fathers, Benjamin Barton, had wanted to purchase the building and turn it into a Lewiston history museum, with the upper floor showcasing his family pieces he would bequeath upon his death. The plan never went forward because the OOF felt they lacked the resources to help maintain it.
This designation would also not affect the businesses currently operating inside, which currently include Yvonne's Mystique Studio, Lewiston Digital, Magnum Opus Massage Therapy, Organic Hair, and Tonemah Consulting Group.
After the public hearing concludes, depending on if there are no significant objections from the public and building owners, the HPC would vote on whether to give the historic designation or not.
"We try and preserve the historic integrity and character of the village," Frankovitch said, "this is one way to do that."
Piper said he is in favor of giving this designation because he does not want to see any more of the village's historic Center Street buildings either destroyed or lost, with such changes not keeping with the historic character of the village.
"Many of us are not in favor of changes on Center Street," Piper said. "I understand evolution, but keep it the way it was meant to be originally."
