Lyon developer: ‘I love history’
Peter Krog honored for preservation work in other cities
By ROB PRICE THE COURIER-ADVOCATE

PHOTO BY ROB PRICE Developer Peter Krog, standing, reviews plans for an Eckerd Pharmacy on the site of the former Dana Lyon elementary school with members of the Bath village planning board at a meeting earlier this year.

BATH — Peter Krog, a cofounder of the development company that wants to demolish the Dana Lyon school building and build an Eckerd Pharmacy in its place, describes himself as a friend of historical preservation.

“I love history,” said Krog, the president of Krog Corp., following a recent Bath village board meeting in which board members accepted an environmental impact study of demolishing the former elementary school and rezoning the property for commercial use.

What’s more, Krog’s company is involved in numerous historical preservation projects in western New York, including several in Corning.

According to local and state media, Krog’s historical preservation projects include the renovation of Corning’s nearly 120-year-old School No. 2 building for Corning Inc., as well as the construction of a movie theater on the second floor of he former Fieldcrest Cannon store on Corning’s Market Street.

“I do a lot of historical preservation,” Krog told The Courier.

But historical preservation is not a commercially viable option for the Dana Lyon building, Krog insisted. His local company, Liberty-East Washington LLC, originally purchased the building from the Haverling school district with the idea of transforming it into a residential complex. A subsequent feasibility study, Krog said, indicated the local real estate market would not support the rents necessary to make the building financially sound.

“It doesn’t work here,” Krog said.

A local preservation group, The Save the Lyon Commission, disagrees, arguing it could can access state and federal grants to finance renovation of the building as a community center and residential complex.

Krog instead is pushing for the rezoning of the land for commercial activity, which would make possible the construction of a large drug store, such as an Eckerd (See related story on this page).

Village board members eventually have to vote on Krog’s request to rezone the property, as well as his application to demolish the main structure that was built in 1923. (An older structure known as the Primary Annex has been claimed by heirs of the late Ira Davenport and deeded to the Lyon Commission).

Asked what he would do if the village rejected his rezoning request, Krog noted the cost of demolishing the building would run him about $300,000.

“I’d rather take a loss and walk away,” he said, adding the building eventually could be sold by Steuben County at a sheriff’s auction.

“Bath would be stuck with a big albatross,” he warned.