In recent stories in the news, the City of Binghamton has discussed the need for a new fire station to replace the one currently used in the City Hall building in Government Plaza.
That facility was constructed in the late 1960's and early 1970's, and it was not designed to hold the massive weight of the current fire engines and vehicles housed at the structure. In addition, there has been serious decay in the nearly 50-year-old concrete used in that building.
The announced site for the construction of a new fire station is at 237 Court St. If you are not familiar with that part of the city, there is an interesting-looking building that smacks of Art Deco hints. It has been vacant for many years, and once housed an auto parts store.
But what was its original purpose?
The answer to that was recently provided to the Press & Sun-Bulletin/pressconnects.com, when a photograph of the building was submitted by Steve Miller. If that names sounds familiar, it is the same Steve Miller associated with Miller Motors. The reporters at the newspaper, in turn, sent me the photograph with a suggestion that I could use it in one of my columns — and here it is.
It is a wonderful photograph of the building that opened up in 1944 as Carroll Motor Co., with partners Lawrence W. Carroll and Harry Miller Sr. selling Plymouths and Dodge automobiles in the midst of the Second World War. Carroll’s involvement would only last until 1948, when he sold his interests to Wendell Miller, son of Harry Miller Sr. By then, the Carroll name had already been dropped from the firm, and Miller Motors stood on the sign atop the Court Street building.
The Miller car dealership would move to Main Street in the mid-1960's, when the sale of automobiles required more space and a new showroom for the new cars available in the Dodge dealership. Eventually, the Miller Auto Group would become connected with Lincoln and Mercury cars, and eventually move to the Vestal Parkway East, where they added more lines of automobiles to their sales.
Yet through all this expansion and moves, the building on Court Street remained. As previously mentioned, an auto parts business was located in the building for many years, and some recent development seemed to hold hope for the saving of the building. That prospect apparently disappeared, though.
Now, the site will be razed to make way for a new purpose — somehow, the two are connected. One sold used and new automobiles and trucks, while the new station will hold a type of that in the form of fire engines.
It is not a new thing to see familiar buildings and structures that have been around for generations disappear. Some seem to linger for a bit, while others disappear seemingly overnight. In their place are new buildings that, somehow, never seem to hold the same strength and place in the community as what was there previously.
Recently, George Basler, a former Press & Sun-Bulletin reporter, and Roger Luther, the Broome County historian, created a new book titled "Forgotten Broome: A Tribute to Special Places of the Past." The book is published by the Broome County Historical Society, and this writer helped locate some of the archival photos from our collection used in the over 40 stories of well-recognized buildings and locations with stories by Basler, and current photographs and book design by Luther.
It ranges from the CFJ pool and Johnson Field in Johnson City, to the Ken Wilson building in Vestal, to the large gas tank in Binghamton and many other “landmarks” that have gone by the wayside for “progress” and “improvement.” The book is available online at broomehistory.org, and you can order copies through that site, buy them at the Local History & Genealogy Center in the Broome County Public Library, or at the Roberson Museum and Science Center.
It is a fascinating look at the then-and-now of buildings and places of our times. In the not too distant future, the former Miller Motors building on Court Street will become another chapter in the story of Forgotten Broome.
Let us hope the new fire station will do it justice.
Gerald Smith is the former Broome County historian. Email him at historysmiths@stny.rr.com
"motors" - Google News
August 30, 2020 at 07:00AM
https://ift.tt/2YNNNnf
Spanning Time: Original Miller Motors building to make way for new Binghamton fire station - Pressconnects
"motors" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2SwmEC9
https://ift.tt/3b0YXrX
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Spanning Time: Original Miller Motors building to make way for new Binghamton fire station - Pressconnects"
Post a Comment