Utica Free Academy Class of 1967 - the fate of the old building

By REBECCA CRONISER
Observer-Dispatch
Posted Dec 29, 2008 @ 05:45 PM

UTICA —

The former high school that houses the Loretto Utica Center has yet to make it to the auction block.This comes more than six months after the lender foreclosed on the property. Mark McLane, a Utica attorney who was court appointed to conduct the auction of the former
Utica Free Academy on Kemble Street, said the auction date has been moved three times.It was first scheduled for July 23, but was later postponed “for undisclosed reasons.”McLane, of the law firm McLane, Smith and Lascurettes, said he was not involved in the proceedings or discussions between Loretto and its lender General Electric Capital Corp. to know why the auction dates were canceled.General Electric Capital Corp. foreclosed on the property June 19 for more than $29 million in mortgage payments, according to Oneida County Court records.“It's not unusual for the type of property involved,” McLane said about the auction postponements. “Even being without an auction date is not unusual. It can give the parties involved a chance to discuss things, but I assume I'll be seeing a reschedule date soon.”The Loretto project was designed in the early 1990s to displace poverty, crime, joblessness and other symptoms of urban decay. Several government agencies provided grants to Loretto for the rehabilitation of the vacant school.

Loretto Public Relations director Michael Connor said he did not know why the auctions were postponed, but said he wanted to assure people the center isn't going anywhere.”“There is ongoing financial restructuring in relation to the mortgage of the property and the building, but not the operation,” Connor said. “The programs and services are so vital to the Utica and Rome area. They are far removed from the restructuring process.”Syracuse-based attorney Jeffrey Dove of Menter, Rudin and Trivelpiece, who is representing the Loretto Center, did not return a call Monday.The center provides services to more than 250 senior citizens, and until this month, housed the Cosmopolitan Center in the rear of the building. The Cosmopolitan Center has filed for bankruptcy and is closing because of its own financial troubles.Connor said the center does not plan to expand into where the Cosmopolitan Center had been and is pursuing another tenant to share the space.An attorney for the lender has said the sale would not affect the tenants. David P. Martin, the lender's attorney, could not be reached Monday.

The state Department of Health will be involved if there is any sale of the property, department spokesman Jeffrey Hammond said. “Whenever there is any change in ownership, we work to make sure there is no change in the level of service the residents have come to expect,” he said.

Updated news for Utica Free Academy Classmates Class of 1967.
NEXT REUNION DATES ?