Dave Militello wants to make headlines once again at the Evening Tribune’s former home at 85 Canisteo St.
Militello, a Rochester native, is in the process of acquiring the property that sits prominently at the corner of Cass Street and State Route 36 in downtown Hornell.
Militello was struck by the building’s exterior architecture while in Hornell working on a construction project. A tour of the spacious interior left him further intrigued.
“I fell in love with the building. It’s gorgeous,” recalled Militello. “I said to myself, I’m going to figure out what to do with this building.”
Monday night, Militello presented his vision during a public hearing at city hall before the Common Council approved a resolution to apply for Restore New York funds in support of the project. Militello envisions a mixed-use redevelopment featuring 25-30 apartments and a coffee and pastry shop in the downstairs office area that once housed the Tribune’s newsroom.
The coffee and pastry shop would also serve light foods like panini sandwiches. The shop’s front door would sit directly across from the State Department of Transportation office building, with other offices for public administration and private business nearby.
“There’s probably 500 to 1,000 people within walking distance that would love to have a nice coffee shop there,” said Militello. “We could have deliveries and whatnot. It seems to fit that spot. Another good thing is the parking lot in the back is massive.”
A flurry of housing projects have sprung up around the Maple City in recent years as Hornell’s largest employer, Alstom, ramped up operations since winning a contract to supply Amtrak with high-speed rail cars.
Restore New York grants are aimed at adaptive reuses. Hornell has previously received such grants in support of housing projects at the Rockland Silk Mill and the Federation Building. Militello's project is tentatively dubbed "Tribune Park Apartments."
“It’s a desirable location right on the corner of 36. It’s high profile with a lot of traffic," said Hornell Mayor John Buckley. "We think it can be very successful with the right project, the right idea. It’s something we’ve had our eyes on and have discussed different options over the years. We’re happy to have someone finally coming in with the right idea and the capital to make a project go.”
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Apartments would cater to students, young professionals, seasonal workers, senior citizens
Militello is planning to construct mostly one-bedroom units in the former Tribune building, with a few studio apartments included in the design. The building offers around 25,000 square feet of space for development, Militello said.
He plans to target local college students, young professionals and temporary workers coming to the region for projects like windmill construction, as well as retired residents looking to downsize. The cost of monthly rent remains to be determined.
Apartments are planned for the upper floor that once housed offices, as well as the large area where printing press operations used to churn out the daily editions of the Evening Tribune. Militello said that section of the building is large enough to accommodate two-story lofts with a kitchen, dining area and living room downstairs, along with a bedroom, bathroom and walk-in closet on the upper floor. A laundry facility and workout center are planned for a section of the building that lacks windows.
Militello plans to expose as much of the building’s original construction as possible, giving it the industrial chic style popular with modern redevelopment of historic buildings. The developers of The Lofts at the Rockland Silk Mill took a similar approach.
“Any remnants of modernization are going to be gone. I want everything exposed I can possibly expose from 100 years ago,” said Militello. “I’m not just about giving people a place to live. I want to give people a place to live they’ll like and enjoy, that they will respect and be proud of living in. That’s my goal. It’s not just to give them any kind of apartment, but give them something that’s unique — boutique style, if you want to call it that.”
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Next steps include grant applications, highlighting building’s history
One of Militello’s first goals is getting the building on the National Register of Historic Places, a designation that would open the door to additional grant opportunities.
“My argument is, how more historical can a building be than a building that wrote about history?” said Militello. “It also has all the beautiful architecture. It’s a 100-year-old building that printed history for the last 100 years.”
The main part of the building was erected in 1925 in memory of William Henry Greenhow, the Tribune’s publisher from 1870-1918. The building housed the Evening Tribune until 2013, when the newspaper offices were moved to the Broadway Mall. Gannett, the Tribune’s parent company, later sold the building.
Militello envisions hanging poster-sized front pages from notable past editions of The Tribune throughout the coffee shop and the hallways of the apartment section.
Militello said the first step is to conduct an environmental analysis to determine if the printing operation left any contaminants on site. If so, mitigation efforts would move to the top of the priority list before the renovation project could proceed.
Grants could also take time to obtain, but Militello said he is committed to seeing the project through. He expects to close on the property in the coming weeks, allowing interior cleanup efforts to commence shortly thereafter.
“I should be sitting on the shores with a pina colada, but there’s no way I can get up each morning and not have something substantial to do,” he said.
Chris Potter can be reached at cpotter@gannett.com or on Twitter @ChrisPotter413.To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
