MIFFLINBURG — A group of Mifflinburg residents are rallying to save a 150-year-old building from being reduced to rubble.
Around 20 concerned citizens met Wednesday morning to discuss possible options for saving the Mifflinburg borough building.
The building was condemned by the Central Keystone Council of Governments in March for being structurally unsound. Borough council has since been weighing its options for the historic building.
Those choices include demolishing the building, renovating it or saving only the facade and adding new construction to it.
Becky Hagenbaugh, Mifflinburg Main Street manager, said saving the building is crucial for the continuing efforts to preserve Mifflinburg’s heritage.
“If the borough takes the lead in taking down a historic building, then that opens the door to the entire downtown,” she said. “Any business owner could say they want to tear their building down and build a new structure. How could we stop that? A precedent would have been set.”
Robert Brouse was the only borough council member to attend Wednesday’s meeting. He said one concern with the existing structure voiced by Mayor David Guteilus is a lack of adequate space for the police department.
Brouse also said council seems to be in favor of demolishing the old building.
“Some council people say they have not talked to anyone who wants to save it,” he said. “I have not talked to anyone who wants to tear it down.”
Brouse said he is in favor of saving the building, but only if it would not create an extra financial burden for the borough.
According to Brouse, it would cost around $80,000 to restore the structural integrity of the landmark.
Drew Christy of Mifflinburg added the building is in deplorable shape due to the constant additions it has seen over the years. He noted that two-thirds of the structure is not original.
“It’s been added on, slapped on,” he said. “That thing might have just exploded.”
“That doesn’t mean it can’t be fixed,” countered Bronwen Sanders, executive director of the Mifflinburg Buggy Museum.
Sanders said she is willing to volunteer her time to aid borough council in researching and applying for grants to pay for repairs to the landmark.
“Before we get our underwear in a knot and storm our borough council we need to talk to our borough council representatives,” Christy added.
Larry Mitchell, president of the Mifflinburg Heritage and Revitalization Association, said his organization is in favor of asking council to not rush into making a decision.
“We want to be supportive of the borough, but we want the building to stay there if at all possible,” Mitchell said. “What alarmed us was how fast this was all moving along.”
Mitchell said to his knowledge there are no current estimates on what it would cost to erect a new borough building.
Everyone in attendance agreed the best course of action would be to contact their borough council representatives and ask them to delay making a decision on the building. That way, they would have time to thoroughly explore all possible options.
Hagenbaugh noted a special borough council meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 20, in the Mifflinburg Area High School cafeteria. At that meeting, council is expected to hear public input on what to do with the building.
Brouse stressed that council would not be making a decision on the building at that meeting. He said council is open to suggestions from the community.
The vote is expected to occur at a special borough council meeting slated for Tuesday, May 27.