County Poor House becomes County Home
It was in 1997 that county legislators set the wheels in motion to demolish what was left of the buildings that most recently served as the Mental Health and Public Health Buildings. They had been empty since 1996, when the county moved into a newly-constructed Health Facility on near-by Nye Rd.
The Route 31 buildings were originally opened in 1902
to replace buildings destroyed by fire - buildings that had been home to the county's poor
and insane. The new building complex, however, would not be known as the Poor House or the
Insane Asylum, but would be called the Wayne County Home.
According to records from the Wayne County Historian's Office, the two new brick buildings had electric lights, steam heat, large rooms for entertainment and church services. In front, the county trimmed trees, planted a grass lawn, flowers, installed a fountain.
The buildings (pictured here in a 1911 circa postcard) continued to serve as The Wayne County Home until the Wayne County Nursing Home opened in 1971.
County Historian Marge Perez said that she is sad any time grand old brick buildings are destroyed, adding that she understands, "You can't save them all." Perez said she is satisfied that officials looked carefully at alternative uses before making a decision to raze the buildings.
When they met in May 1997, county supervisors awarded a $22,222 contract to a Rochester Company to remove all asbestos before demolition. Art Graf, Inc., of Stebbins Rd., Newark, was to be contracted to demolish the buildings at a cost not to exceed $2,920.
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