Yorktown School Board Awards $247,900 Bid to Demolish Farmhouse

The Farmhouse is a step closer to being demolished. On Monday, during the Yorktown board of education meeting, school board members awarded a bid for the demolition of the building. 

The $247,900 bid was awarded to general construction to NAC Industries for the demolition and abatement of the Farmhouse. The money comes from a $37.6 million bond project on which homeowners voted on in 2006. 

"They found a massive amount of hazardous materials than what we originally thought," Assistant Superintendent for Business Tom Cole said. 

Whether the building is historic and should have been preserved was the between school officials and a group of residents. 

Community members have asked town officials whether they could declare the house a historical landmark. One of those residents, Alan Strauber, an advocate of preserving the building, has said that the New York State Historic Preservation Office has found the farmhouse to be eligible for state and national landmark status, but the owner (or the school district) had not given consent. 

Over the last five years, the house, which was once used as the Yorktown central administration building, has asbestos, lead and mold issues. The building is in a poor condition, and not all parts of the building are original as some were added later after a fire in the home, Superintendent of School Ralph Napolitano had previously said. All possibilities of how it could be used or restored have been explored, he said.

School board members have discussed the possibilities of what could be done with the building. If the district were to renovate it, it would cost $1 million.

The exact date for the demolition project is not yet been determined, Cole said, as members of the school district would have to meet with the contract to determine when work could begin.