More than two years since the city moved to preserve the last cobblestone house in Rochester – and nearly a year since taking ownership – the property remains boarded, and no plan exists for what to do with the historic structure.
The Lockwood-Alhart house was slated for demolition to make way for a Dollar General parking lot when its previous owner, the now-deceased Arthur Kirsch, offered to donate it to the city. The deal, hammered out in August 2023, came with an agreement that Kirsch would be free from a pile of fines for code violations, while also offering him a tax write-off. Supporters of preserving the house had hoped that, once the city acquired the house, an assessment would be done of needed repairs, and a developer or investor would be sought out to fix it.
“A building like this is an incredibly expensive, challenging building to not just preserve, but to actually make sure that it is thriving and is online, and is done well,” said City Councilmember Mitch Gruber, a major proponent of saving the house in 2023. “…Historic Preservation is a remarkable thing in terms of speaking to the city’s history and allowing the kind of charm and beauty of our city’s history (to) speak. But until a developer is willing to put in significant dollars, it’s a really challenging position to be in.”…