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courtesy of Bill Cook Here is City Hall. It's where all the power brokers in Elmira hang out - the mayor, the city manager, the city council, the city clerk. And it's also where the Police Headquarters is located. Until the late 1890s, City Hall was on East Market Street at the present site of the Elk's Club. City Hall was moved to Church and Lake Streets, it's current location, in 1896. The cost of its construction was $118,000 and it was acclaimed a marvel of beauty in a day before extensive ornamentation was curtailed by rising costs. The architects were Pierce and Bickford of Elmira. They incorporated arched porches from which rise massive ornamental columns. When City Hall was damaged by a fire on November 18, 1909, much of the ornamental design was unscathed, but the city clock and roof fell as the building burned itself out. Elmira taxpayers voted to rehabilitate City Hall at a cost of $30,000. The city clerk tells us that Arney hasn't been here today. So we must be on a wild goose chase. Any ideas where we should go look for him now? Have you tried Langdon Plaza yet? Or how about Iszard's Department Store. It's in the Mark Twain Hotel complex and located on the corner of Market and Main Streets. Let's go over there now and see if he's there. |
