The Landmark Society has owned the Campbell-Whittlesey House since the 1930’s, operating it as a house museum. But the society now plans to sell to lease the house. PHOTO BY MATT DETURCK
The Landmark Society wants to sell or lease the Campbell-Whittlesey House, one of two house museums that the society operates. The society has owned the house at 123 South Fitzhugh Street since 1937.
Executive Director Joanne Arany says that a declining number of visitors, finances, and the gradual evolution of the society's mission are the main factors driving the decision.
"It became very clear that operation of museums was not central to the core of the mission," she says. "It is more geared toward healthy, livable, and sustainable communities. That's about preservation and planning practices."
If the building is sold or the society otherwise vacates it, the artifacts inside would be sold. House artifacts on loan to the society would be returned to their owners.**
"If any objects are sold, we are legally required to use those dollars to invest in museum operations," Arany says. "And so we're in the process of exploring what that means."
Arany says options for reuse of the house are wide open, but that it could work as professional office space, a visitors' center, or a single-family home. The latter would be particularly apt, Arany says, since the building was a single-family home originally.
"There would be something quite lovely about that," she says.
The 2,462-square-foot house is an example of Greek Revival architecture, and was completed in 1836 for Benjamin and Sophronia Campbell. Benjamin Campbell was a businessman who owned a flour mill near the current Blue Cross Arena.
"The house has its legacy in the development of the Erie Canal," Arany says. "Its first owners were purveyors of grains and other commodities, flour in particular, that would be traversing the canal."
**This sentence was incorrect in an earlier version of the story.
Comments for "PRESERVATION: Landmark Society may sell Campbell-Whittlesey House" (3)
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Gerry Szymanski said on Nov. 03, 2009 at 4:27pm
I read this article with a certain sadness and was quite surprised that CITY did not make any sort of connection to the Rochester Historical Society's recent divesting of the grand East Ave. mansion "Woodside" to become a private home which was fraught with great controversy.
With the loss of these two grand spaces to the public, Rochester becomes immediately poorer for its history for experiencing firsthand how people lived in the 19th century. And all of this in our "anniversary" year to boot.
Yes, we know that the Livingston House was saved and moved to the Genesee Country Village, but it's not HERE, IN TOWN. If the Campbell-Whittlesy House doesn't cut it, what makes the Stone-Tolan House worth saving for the Landmark Society as a part of our heritage? Who cares if it's from the 18th century, if someone could live there?
It's interesting that someone went to court in Chili to save that town's oldest building from becoming a Walgreen's drug store, but this building might just quietly slip away from our collective grasp as did "Woodside."
Gerry Szymanski
Rochester, NY
Laura Zavala said on Nov. 05, 2009 at 12:05pm
We thank Mr. Szymanski for sharing his feelings, yet we find that much excitement is generated around the prospect of bringing this wonderful historic resource back to life. The decision to re-purpose Campbell-Whittlesey has its basis in the challenging choices we face. As a result of declining museum attendance -- observed as a nationwide phenomenon -- and along with other factors impacting our revenue streams, operating this house as a museum has become a significant financial and practical burden for The Landmark Society. This is reality of the times in which we are all struggling to survive, and the decision to explore options for the adaptive reuse of Campbell-Whittlesey was not undertaken lightly. In fact, we have spent five years studying and brainstorming for alternatives for repurposing the building as part of our regular cyclical assessment of programs, services, events, activities and stewardships of our historic properties.
We could not agree more with Mr Szymanski's sentiments over the loss of these spaces to the public, and that we are all "poorer" for this loss. Despite efforts at diverse programming over the past five years, the public is not attending, supporting or experiencing the first-hand history experience offered by Campbell-Whittlesey. In 2008, less than 400 people visited. Still, the concern that the Stone-Tolan museum might be viewed the same way is unfounded - over 2,000 people visited there, and its resources, setting, and flexibility for programming are vastly different from Campbell-Whittlesey.
Mr. Szymanski writes that this building might quietly slip away from our collective grasp. The high cost of maintaining this beautiful structure, with the limited income from a house museum and little public attendance or support, means it will become increasingly impossible to manage. This could result in the building truly being lost to our community if it deteriorates from deferred maintenance issues that we are not able to address in these challenging financial times. Options for the adaptive reuse of this remarkable Rochester historic site will help to re-imagine the building's purpose and reinsert it into active life! The Landmark Society remains committed to seeing this significant architectural treasure preserved, by seeking a new purpose that will ensure the building survives.
This landmark is part of our collective history as Rochesterians, and as such the process through which we are progressing is meant to be transparent. We want to hear from all interested parties who would like to participate in the dialogue about Campbell-Whittlesey House. We welcome your comments and invite you to share your ideas with us.
Laura K. Zavala
Director of Marketing
The Landmark Society of Western New York, Inc.
585-546-7029
Brandon Colaprete said on Nov. 20, 2009 at 9:26pm
Despite the fact that I've driven by this house thousands of times over the past thirty years, until today, I had no idea that it was even a museum. The problem you have identified, Laura, is not that the landmark society cannot manage the museum, but that museum lacks the patronage to make it financially viable. As someone who has grown up in Rochester in ignorance of the Campbell-Whittlesey House I will attest that your lack of patronage is due solely to a lack of marketing, not a lack of interest from the general public. Instead of wasting five years "studying and brainstorming" you should have been advertising and extolling the "programs, services, events, activities and stewardships of (your) historic properties."
Luckily, as the director of marketing, you have an opportunity to do something about this problem. Passing recessions are not overcome by whining and quitting. Taking away our historical resources does not lend itself to accomplishing your goals of developing "healthy, livable, and sustainable communities." Instead, creativity and perseverance are what allows you come through hard times stronger and more effective at accomplishing your mission.
I challenge you to go out there and make us Rochesterians proud, yet more importantly AWARE, of the museum at the Campbell-Whittlesey House. Advertise! Get businesses, organizations and schools involved. Host galas, dinner parties, corporate events, field trips, lectures, and event openings with wine and cheese, etcetera, etcetera. In short: get people interested and they will come, and they will support a viable asset to our community.
Thank you.
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