BY JEFF CHUDZINSKI
North Country This Week

MASSENA — Town officials have decided to change the location of a planned storage building for the Celine G. Philibert Cultural Center and Museum after the size of the structure changed.

Massena Highway Superintendent Dylan Casselman told town board members the building was originally planned to be “in the back entrance on the right-hand side where the parking spots are.”

With the building size changing, Casselman said it would encroach on the lane way, forcing the town to move the building directly behind the museum.

As part of the project, Casselman said a piece of curbing must also be removed to assist with new traffic flow in the area.

The purchase of an extra storage building has been in the works for months now after museum officials and town officials alike voiced concerns about the current storage options.

Officials had previously housed artifacts at the former Massena Museum building on East Orvis Street, along with the chamber of commerce, before moving to the former Hallmark store in the St. Lawrence Centre mall.

Mall management have now begun a full transition to warehouse storage.

Though the mall location was only meant to be a temporary solution, town officials have pushed to complete the storage project on the off chance mall management asks for the removal of artifacts prematurely.

The 3,000 square foot space at the mall greatly assisted town workers with the load in and out of artifacts, with direct access to the rear of the space. A front end display also assisted with marketing efforts for the museum, however foot traffic is now virtually non-existent with the transition to permanent storage.

Linda McQuinn, town grant writer, has sought grant funding over the last year or so to pay for the $57,000 stooge building.

According to Board Member Francis Carvel, the museum also received $1,000 in donations from a letter writing campaign seeking donations.

Just last month, the town was notified of a $5,000 grant from the Northern New York Community Foundation as well.

“If anybody gets a copy of the newsletter from the Northern New York Community Foundation, it has a nice article and picture of our museum and what they’re doing to give us $5,000 toward the storage,” Town Supervisor Sue Bellor said.