Town holds dedication of cupola from former Town Hall

By Alice Gerard

Senior Contributing Writer

As a result of the efforts of Eagle Scout Luke Gworek, the cupola from the former Grand Island Town Hall is now on permanent display in front of Town Hall, on the Baseline Road side of the building.

A dedication ceremony for the historic cupola was held Sept. 8.

At the ceremony, Supervisor Peter Marston explained how the Eagle Scout project started.

“Luke Gworek and the Gworeks in general are longtime good friends of the Marston family,” he said. “(Luke) reached out to me, looking for an idea for an Eagle Scout project. He knew we facilitated a lot of Eagle Scout projects down at the Nike Base Trail extension and was looking for something to do on Grand Island. So, with that in the back of my mind, I pulled into Town Hall one day, and I saw the cupola again, over in the corner, with snow plowed around it. I saw the guy plowing the parking lot. I was like, ‘This isn’t good.’ And I thought to myself, ‘You know what? Luke can weld. Luke can fabricate stuff. Maybe he can build something to elevate it, get it off the ground so it doesn't get damaged and it’s safer?’ It would last longer.

“So, I sent him a picture and a brief description of what I was thinking. Within an hour, he responded back and said, ‘I’m in.’ ”

This structure was opened in 1938 and it served as town hall until it was torn down in 1968. (Photo courtesy of Town Historian Jodi Robinson)

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The cupola’s story began in 1938, when the previous Town Hall was built.

“The first meetings of the Grand Island Town Board were held in the homes of members,” explained June Crawford, chair of the town’s Historic Preservation Advisory Board. “They didn’t have a town hall when Grand Island first started (in 1852). After a few years, when they decided they would have to have some place to meet, they built a town hall. In order to do that, they first used the old schoolhouse No. 9 as a town hall.

“As the years went on and they needed more space, in about 1937, they decided to reuse school No. 9 as the first firehall for the town. The new town hall was built here and opened in 1938. This cupola was on top of the town hall at that point. Everyone could see it, every time they went by, and it was the representative of town government.”

“During World War II, volunteers from our town took shifts, covering 24/7, and stayed up in that cupola to spot for enemy planes,” said Mary Cooke, a volunteer with the Historic Preservation Advisory Board. “Nobody quite knows what would have happened had they ever spotted one, and I continue to ask that question of people from all towns and they’re like, ‘Eh, good question!’ I don’t know where they would report it. But in any case, we had a whole contingent of spotters.

“Imagine two people inside this (structure). They had climbed up on a ladder and they would spend … we think … six-hour shifts. There were two people, four teams a day. We’re not sure how long it lasted, but anyone who finds out information, we would love to have it.”

“By the 1960s, it became apparent that the town was going to need more space,” Crawford said. “The old town hall was torn down when this building behind us was built and opened in 1968. When they tore down the old town hall, the cupola was still standing. Walt Kelly, the owner of Kelly’s Country Store, came by and saw that and realized that this was an important part of the history of Grand Island, so he offered to take it down to his property and save it for posterity. It was down there for about 50 years.

“Kevin Kelly is representing the family here today.”

In a Dispatch article printed March 18, 2022, Kevin Kelly said, “(Walt Kelly) wanted to put it on Country Store property because he thought it would be nice for people to see part of history for Grand Island. There’s a lot of history behind that.”

The plan was to include the cupola, an old one-room schoolhouse and a white oak as part of an historical display, Kelly explained. “He wanted to build a whole other little town over here. It never came to fruition, unfortunately.”

“Over the years, because it was outside, we became a little concerned, as a Preservation Board, because (the cupola) was getting damaged from the weather,” Crawford said. “So, we offered to bring it back. While John Whitney was supervisor, he spoke to Kevin, and they agreed that the Kelly family would donate the cupola back to the Town of Grand Island. The town would become responsible for repairing it and reinstituting it.”

In 2022, employees of the town’s Highway Department put their efforts into restoring the cupola.

The lead carpenter for the project was Steve Dickenson, who described the cupola at the time as in “rough shape” and “on its last legs.” But he said the structure had “good bones,” which meant that the “structure underneath was good.”

“I started doing the framing on this and the carpentry maybe about three months ago, which would be late December, but we can’t always devote our attention to this because we have to plow and take care of the roads and do this and that,” Dickenson said in March 2022.

Other town employees who worked on the project were Matthew Brown, who served as assistant carpenter, and Mike Carlson, an experienced metal worker who rehabilitated the roof.

Two years later, Luke Gworek designed a stand so that the base of the cupola would not touch the ground.

“Luke did all the CAD drawings,” Marston said. “(He designed) what you don’t see. It’s the structure, the foundation of what’s keeping this thing off the ground and safe. We got all the drawings and stuff like that.

“Luke obtained the materials at no cost through an extremely generous vendor that the town deals with. Jim Linenfelser, our town caretaker, did some very creative Photoshopping of a picture of the cupola and a picture of the town hall, and we played around with how high it would be, where it would sit on the lawn, and what would be the best possible location for it. Our engineering department designed and spec’d out this whole concrete pad with ADA sidewalks and facilitated its construction. Post concrete, Parks came in and restored all the dirt and got all that straightened out. They told us there will be more to come, as far as plantings, as far as a place to sit, things like that once it’s finished. We just couldn’t do that until it was in place.

“After Luke was done building the stand and fabricating it, the Highway Department picked it up, and Mike Carlson, who is here, was instrumental in helping to design it. He brought it back to the Town Garage, painted it, got it all set up. Then Steve Dickenson took on the task of restoring the cupola again and helping him place it and getting it all together to come here.”

Marston said the key to getting the cupola placed in its permanent home was collaboration.

“We had so many departments and so many different people working on this,” Marston said. “It was pretty humbling to watch it all work out. A list of a group of names that absolutely deserve mentioning: No. 1, of course, the Kelly family and Kelly’s Country Store for getting us to this point. We wouldn’t be here if you guys didn’t do what you did. The Grand Island Historic Preservation Advisory Board. They have been phenomenal. June has been very persistent and was not going to let this fall off the radar. She was going to make sure we got this done.

“Of course, Eagle Scout Luke Gworek and his family, thank you for everything you’ve done for us. Highway Superintendent Richard Crawford, you did a lot of facilitating on this, and we really appreciate everything about it. Mike Carlson and Steve Dickenson from the Highway Department were our two guys on the ground and they made the dream happen. They did a great job. Chris Dann (assistant municipal engineer) and the whole Grand Island Engineering Department took this on. They facilitated getting it done and making it happen. I strongly appreciate everything they’ve done for us.”

“Jim Linenfelser, the town hall caretaker, who, by the way, is a Photoshop expert if you ever need anything. The Grand Island Parks Department came in after we did all this and, again, restored the site. Elk Steel was our vendor, who donated all the metal at no cost to the town so we could facilitate this. And, of course, the Grand Island Town Board for their financial support and understanding the vision of where we were going forward with this. Hopefully, that’s a complete list. But, if not, thank you from myself and the Town of Grand Island.”

Crawford added Matthew Brown, who works for the town Highway Department, and Kim Yarwood to the list of people to thank. She said Yarwood, an Islander who retired from the University at Buffalo art department, designed the logo that appeared on the dedication program. “It (the logo) will appear on any programs, advertisements, etc., that we have for the Preservation Board.”

June Crawford added, “We hope this will be one of the very first projects for the Preservation Board that will be visible to the town.”