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The Ethan Allen store in 1990. 📸 Credit: Batavia Depot Museum

The Batavia Historic Preservation Commission will hold a public hearing on Monday (10/27) regarding a proposal to demolish the long-vacant Ethan Allen building at 14-18 North Batavia Avenue.

The meeting will be held at 5PM or later at City Hall following a site visit by the commission.

The structure, owned by Batavia United Methodist Church, includes a patchwork of six connected buildings, the oldest dating to the late 1800s. Once home to Hubbard’s Home Furnishings and later Ethan Allen, the property has sat largely unused since 2019.

Here’s a detailed history of the building from Preservation Partners of the Fox Valley.

Hubbard’s Home Furnishings in 1950. 📸 Credit: Batavia Depot Museum

The church is seeking a Certificate of Appropriateness to raze the building, citing structural deterioration, fire risks, and plans to restore the site to a grass surface.

Here’s the city memo with details on the project.

Residents may attend Monday’s meeting in person or submit comments to the city before the meeting.

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