LIMESTONE, N.Y. — The former historic Casey’s Restaurant in Limestone, which had served as a landmark and was one of the oldest buildings in Cattaraugus County, was finally demolished Wednesday after years of abandonment and decay.
The building, which sat across Bailey Drive from the Western Steer store on U.S. Route 219, had been in such a state of blight that the roof had fallen in creating increased hazardous conditions, said Town of Carrollton Supervisor Jim Stoddard, who also owns the Western Steer.
“This is good for the town because it was the first thing you see when you pull into Limestone — it was an eyesore,” Stoddard said of the building. “The years had really taken their toll on the building. Once the roof goes at a building, it’s just a matter of time before it starts deteriorating inside.
“The building was condemned, and I don’t know how many more winters it could have taken before it started falling down into the street,” he added.
Stoddard said the process to have the structure demolished has been ongoing for town officials the past couple of years. The structure had back taxes owed on it to the county, and through foreclosure the county assumed ownership.
Stoddard said the $47,000 bid from Empire Building Diagnostics of Depew for the razing was provided through the county’s Land Bank Corporation which is funded through state grants.
Stoddard said when the town asked the county for assistance in removing the building, county attorney Eric Firkel was a big help.
“The plan is that once (the county) gets it all cleaned up, they want to try and sell (the property) and get it back on the tax roll. It’s a great intersection there,” Stoddard continued. “We’re thankful the county had (the Land Bank) in place, because if not it would have had to come back to the town” to fund the demolition.
When contacted, Firkel, who serves as county attorney, said the real credit for the project is owed to county Legislator Dick Giardini and Dan Martonis, Land Bank chairman and county director of Real Property Tax services.
Martonis said the demolition cost was higher for the building because it was classified as a “whole home asbestos removal” as it was too unsafe to enter and determine where asbestos was located. He said the structure was the most expensive to remove out of several other buildings earmarked in the county for razing. There are also three structures to be demolished in the city of Olean, one in Mansfield and one in Machias, and all are in the $20,000 range for razing.
“It’s unfortunate because it’s an historic building, but it’s cleaned up now,” Martonis continued. “We have about eight more demos this year and we’re going to be doing about that many every year.”
At the demolition site, an employee with Empire who had donned a hazmat suit with a half mask respirator said he and another employee were able to knock the building down with an excavator during the day. They plan to haul the debris away today and level out the ground Friday.
“Next week, we’ll get (the ground) filled in, and by Monday or Tuesday, we should be done,” the worker said.
An employee at Western Steer, Erica Jacoby, whose husband, Brian, serves on the town board, said it was nice to see the building removed after years of viewing the property cordoned off with orange safety netting.
“Before it got to this shape, that bar (in Casey’s) was gorgeous downstairs, it was so nice,” Jacoby recalled. “We would get people who grew up (in the area) who had just heard about it and would stop and take pictures.
“It’s a shame, but honestly, it’s safer for everybody,” she added.
A customer at the store, Diane Gardner of Limestone, said her late husband, Shane, had worked as a bartender at Casey’s as a teenager when the drinking age in the state was 18 and up.
“We knew it was coming down” which saddened her husband, Gardner shared. “But it was in really bad shape.”
This was in sharp contrast to the once trendy business of yesteryear.
A highlight for Casey’s occurred in 1959 when a picture of it was published in Life magazine. The photo featured a lively piano bar scene with a pianist leading a sing-along of spirited patrons at Casey’s. The picture caught the imagination of the country and world — and created a whirlwind of business for the rural enterprise.
The building had a succession of owners in the ensuing years. By 2012, it reached a state of disrepair, and in 2013 town officials announced the building would be torn down.
