City planners back clubroom facade projects
OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford The Exempt Firemen's club in Dunkirk.
This Artificial Intelligence-generated image provided by Dunkirk Planning and Development Director Vince DeJoy shows the Exempt Firemen’s clubroom with a new logo proposed for its facade. The AI took it upon itself to add other improvements, such as gold trim on the cornices.
OBSERVER Photo by M.J. Stafford The Exempt Firemen's club in Dunkirk.
This Artificial Intelligence-generated image provided by Dunkirk Planning and Development Director Vince DeJoy shows the Exempt Firemen’s clubroom with a new logo proposed for its facade. The AI took it upon itself to add other improvements, such as gold trim on the cornices.
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New facades for Central Avenue club rooms were backed by the Dunkirk Planning Board recently.
The American Legion and Exempt Firemen's Association hangouts neighbor each other, in the block between Second and Third Streets.
The board's approval of a blue, vinyl overhang for the Legion post entrance proved straightforward and quick. The current blue shingles on the structure are clearly deteriorating and in need of replacement.
However, there was some discussion about the Exempts' facade project next door -- in part because work has already happened. The building is in a historic district so facade work on it technically needs Planning Board approval.
The board didn't seem too concerned about the bureaucratic misstep, but member Ed Schober was not pleased with the look of the building. He architecturally criticized the bright red siding that covers up the top floor of windows on a three-story building. Schober acknowledged the windows were covered in a previous renovation, but said it looks imbalanced, out of proportion, and needs a touch-up. He unveiled an image of a large logo that could go in the big, red blank space.
The logo features firefighting-friendly imagery such as a Maltese cross. City Planning and Development Director Vince DeJoy followed up after the board meeting with an AI-generated image of what the building would look like with the logo on it.
Schober replied, "Impressive!" and said it "succeeds in improving that blank upper wall of the facade and the overall proportions." He admitted the AI took some liberties "as the actual building does not currently have much of the detail shown."
Schober asked DeJoy about Downtown Revitalization Initiative funding for the project. "While the club is agreeable to making some improvements, I'm sure they have a budget that they will need to work with," Schober wrote.
The Planning Board wound up tabling formal approval of the Exempts facade. Dunkirk officials and Exempts board members are apparently going to get together in a workshop to further discuss the issue, a move suggested by city Deputy Director of Planning and Development E.J. Hayes.