GLENFIELD, New York (WWNY) – Lewis County is set to vacate a former elementary school it has been using for office space, and as that happens, leaders are hoping someone else will have a vision for the property.
“When the school left this building, that left a lot of employees that used to come here, a lot of students that used to come here, I mean it was really a life blood of this community,” said Cheyenne Steria, Finance and Incentives Director for Naturally Lewis.
Cheyenne Steria works for Naturally Lewis or Lewis County Economic Development, a group that aims to improve the community.
Steria said the former Glenfield Elementary School is ready for something new.
The building currently houses the county’s Department of Social Services, or DSS. But soon, new offices for DSS will be built, and employees will leave this building empty.
“What we want to see is people back in the building, and people walking in Glenfield. Glenfield is a really cute community, the school is adorable, it’s got great architecture, it’s just a great building to begin with,” Steria said.
The Lewis County Development Corporation is now looking for someone with a vision for the former elementary school.
“Lewis County Development Corporation is uniquely set up so that we can do more comprehensive search process for someone with a vision that’s creative and who has the backing to actually get it done,” Steria said.
On Tuesday night, county legislators passed a resolution which allows just that.
“It’s very promising, you always want to know that the county is doing its best to be able to figure out what they can do to improve the life standards of basically everyone in the county,” said county legislator Jessica Moser.
Moser said any sort of development like recreational use, assisted living or mixed use would revitalize the county but also put the property back on the tax rolls.
“Tell us what your idea is, and then we’ll kind of filter through those and get to the next step of are these realistic and how quickly can we make them happen,” Steria said.
A new vision for an old landmark in Glenfield.
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