The village of Batavia will likely close on the purchase of the Batavia armory soon. The village plans to move the offices and possibly the police department to the building.
The village of Batavia will likely close on the purchase of the Batavia armory soon. The village plans to move the offices and possibly the police department to the building.

By Kelly Cantwell
Editor

 

The village of Batavia will likely finalize the purchase of the Batavia Armory soon, despite discovering some deterioration of the floor in the main hall.

Douglas Auxier, who owns the armory, located at 65 North Second St., reduced the price of the armory by $50,000 to $200,000 after the discovery.

It would likely cost as much to repair the floor as it would be rebuild it, said Dennis Nichols, village administrator, so the village plans to put in a concrete floor in the 53 by 83 foot meeting hall, after filling the crawl space underneath the floor.

“The village will be getting a better product,” Nichols said.

Batavia was awarded a $300,000 grant to renovate the armory. To qualify, the village has to let the armory be used for a disaster center and a public auditorium. In order to comply with the grant provisions, the armory must be finished by the end of next year.

“We hope to have the village moved in next summer,” Nichols said.

After the village closes on the property, which Nichols hopes will happen by mid-October, Batavia will use Burgess & Niple as the criterion architect and then engage a contractor to do the detailed work on the project.

There is not a definite cost on repairs to the armory, but village staff went into this project with the assumption it would be between $400,000 and $450,000, Nichols said.

He expects that council will decided to work with Jamestown Realty to market the current village offices, located at 389 E. Main St., during the Oct. 3 council meeting.