- By Dan Veaner
- Around Town
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One room school house (left) and the new historical records building (right)
The building is being constructed by a combination of professional and volunteer work. Two town officials are spending their spare time getting the building ready for the town's collection of historical records. Town Board member Doug McEver and Code Enforcement Officer Dick Platt are volunteering their time and skills to complete the building.
Dick Platt installs a lighting fixture
The structure was purchased in kit form. The original intent was to build it in the summer of 2004, but the very wet season delayed the project. This year Tim Pettaway assembled it and built the interior walls. "He was here weekdays, weekends, nights," says Town Board member Doug McEver.
Mr. McEver and Mr. Platt are finishing the electrical wiring, plumbing, painting and finish work on a volunteer basis. They've done physical work there for over a year, and were involved in the planning stages for about a year and a half before that. "Dick's been an excellent person. He knows everything," says Mr. McEver.
The wiring is nearly completed and ready for the electrical inspector. Once that is done an electrician will connect the power to the circuit breaker box. "We'll have lights so we can work late evenings," said Mr. McEver. Mr. Pettaway will make a handicapped-accessible entryway and install a cupola on the roof.
The building includes an office for the Town Historian. The main room will be used to store more than 200 years worth of historical records. Cabinets and tables will provide easy access to the materials. Residents will be permitted to search through the records under the supervision of Ms. Bement.
Doug McEver shows the humidiy controlled room, seen from the Town Historian's office
"Right now we have (records) stored in three different places and it's not very easy for Louise to find the things she needs," explained Mr. McEver. Currently they are spread out between Ms. Bement's home, an out-building and a storage unit near the Post Office. They include diaries, account books, genealogies, books, church and school records, among other things that date as far back as 1790. "I have earlier records of the people who came here," she says.
A small room off of Ms. Bement's office will be humidity controlled for old documents. These will not be available to the public as they are too delicate to be handled.
"I expect to have regular hours when the building is ready," says Ms. Bement. "At that time I could post a note on the schoolhouse door referring anyone who wanted to see the inside of the school, to come to the archival building."
The main room is spacious with plenty of room to store more than 200 years worth of records
The attic space is being finished to store official town records, both paper and computer backup disks. Federal law requires the Town to keep records for 150 years. Board Member Marty Christopher is sorting through the existing records to determine what must be kept. "It is going to be filed, categorized, logged and then put away," explains Mr. McEver.
The Town got a grant from the Tompkins County Beautification Project to create a garden and grassy area next to the records building. Lynn Day will be creating the garden.
A dedication is planned once the building is ready. If gas isn't hooked up for the furnace before Winter it won't be ready to move into until next Spring. At this point it just depends on how quickly the building can be completed. When it is Lansing will have access to its long, abundant history.
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