Local Developer Angelo Ingrassia, whose company is called Spot On Development, is working with Flaum Management Company on some concepts for that property.
The land is located at South Goodman Street and Highland Avenue and the historic school is about 90 years old. The school is moving to Village Gate, to find ways to run the operation more efficiently.
Mike Palumbo is Chief Operating Officer of Flaum Management. He says among the possible uses for the main building might be to continue some of the food preparation and event space it has been used for in the past.
“So, if it was a charter school, by example, you could be preparing lunches. On the weekends when it’s not being used you could be doing weddings, showers, other types of events. If it was office space, similar type use,” Palumbo told WXXI News.
There are also initial plans to put up two buildings on the property, but Palumbo says the developer is mindful of concerns from the neighborhood association and others, about trying to make sure that any new buildings don’t impede the scenic views from that campus.
Larry Francer is Associate Director of Preservation for The Landmark Society of Western New York. That group had put the divinity school on its list of Five to Revive, because of earlier uncertainty about what might happen to the property.
But so far, he likes what he's heard of these latest plans.
“I might even say that it is a building and really a whole campus that has been saved; we really feel this is a win-win, what we’re reading about and the meetings we’ve had with the developers,” Francer said.
A member of the board of the Highland Park Neighborhood Association, Mary Rose McBride, says the group has met with the developers and so far they are happy with the direction the project is going in:
“The board and the neighborhood are really happy with this plan because it really will maintain the character of the Colgate campus and that was the most important thing to us. We didn’t want buildings to go up that didn’t conform with the space.”
McBride says there had been concerns with earlier proposals which had called for a building at the corner of Goodman and Highland that would have ruined the vista of the Colgate campus.
Various city approvals would still be needed for the project to move forward. The developer will be working with the city on what is called a "planned development district," to come up with appropriate uses for the property.
