Village of Ilion Officials Confirm Major Damage to Iconic Building Following Storms

One of the most notable buildings in the Village of Ilion was devastated following extreme weather that hit the region last week. On Monday the Mayor and Public Safety Commissioner of Ilion released a statement confirming the damage and giving insight into what exactly happened.

Mayor John Stephens announced that on Tuesday, July 16th, 2024 at approximately 4:20 p.m. Village of Ilion Police and Fire units responded to a building collapse at 7 Spruce Street, which is the vacant Duofold complex. This building has been on the mind of local and county officials for years in an effort to find a developer to improve or take it over and rehabilitate it. Unfortunately, the extreme weather had other plans.

Mayor Stephens says,

Upon arrival of all departments, it was determined that a partial collapse of the West end structure of the complex had occurred. The structure had collapsed and pulled away from the connected building and left the far west portion of the building still standing. A debris field was spread across the entire south side of the building, with the largest pile of debris remaining in the vicinity of the collapse.

Following the discovery, Stephens says the fire department conducted a search to ensure there were not squatter staying there or in the area and then all utilities were shut off to the building and the area was taped off.

It was also announced that this property was under contract with a developer and Herkimer County IDA who was working with that developer was immediately notified. Stephens says, "The village, IDA, and developer are currently working on a plan to get the rest of the collapsed building down and for clean up the same."

To be clear, village officials say that the property was only under contract between the developer and the village and the village was still the owner. The discussions with the developer are ongoing and officials are urging people to NOT ENTER the property or go inside the taped off area at any time. No trespassing allowed and all violators will be prosecuted. It is believed the collapse was caused by high winds and the weather that came through last week.