Insights: Once upon a time there was downtown

Time flies and memories fade. It’s been more than 40 years since the 1890s three-story brick buildings, many with interesting facades, began succumbing to the wrecker’s ball in a cloud of dust that forever changed what was once the area’s principal shopping center.

The idea of Urban Renewal was first broached in 1962 when the City Council agreed to seek funds from the federal government. The late Barber Conable Jr., then our congressman, added weight to the request. He was later reputed to say it was the biggest mistake of his 20 years in Congress.

A generation has grown up that never knew downtown Batavia and its varied and vibrant collection of stores, banks, offices, restaurants and apartments. The generation who does remember had to slug through life without cellphones, laptops, iPods and wall-sized flat screen TVs. So maybe it’s a fair exchange.

Shops occupied the first floor. Offices and other services were upstairs, and apartments took up the third floors. Hundreds of people lived downtown. They patronized the stores, went to the movies, ate at restaurants and window-shopped on busy streets. Dislocating these families and their influence — economic and social — was an unwelcome and unexpected disaster.

The first building — built as Miner’s, an appliance business, opened in 1966. The development of the south side of Main Street — bordered  by Court and Jackson streets — was finished in 1972. The next year work began on the north side when Acme Markets built on Bank Street. A mall — unique in a downtown location with more than 30 shops — would spawn decades of problems with a cantankerous dual city-private ownership. On a happier note was its grand opening on Veterans’ Day in 1976.

Gone were Brenner’s Jewelers (It’s Always OK to Owe Herb Brenner’’ but read the fine print). The Bank of America occupies the Main and Bank site. Mancuso Motors with a grand showroom has given way to Tim Hortons. The Mill Outlet where bargain-hunters were lured by popcorn and rummage sale counters is no more. The fortress-like Bank of Batavia was demolished for retailers. Movie fans had four theaters: the New Family and Lafayette on Jackson Street and the Dipson and Mancuso — late ’40s arrivals — on Main Street.

The Hotel Richmond — once the finest hostelry between Buffalo and Rochester — sank into decline and was razed in 1961. Its Main and Court location is now an investment office and drive-in bank.

Department stores — Penney’s, C.L. Carr Co., Scott & Bean and hardware staples Salway’s and Genesee Hardware — prospered as did hat shops, gift shops, restaurants including the Home Dairy and Don’s Dinette. Services included shoe repair and barber shops. There were grocery stores downtown from families Caito’s, Grundler’s and Marchese’s. Don’t forget the ice cream parlors — the Palace of Sweets and the Sugar Bowl — the best known. The heart of downtown — Main and Jackson — had M&T Bank on one corner and Dean’s Drugs on the other. Shoppers thronged to the Five-and Dimes: Grant’s (WBTA is on that site), Newberry’s and Kresge’s.

Today we have a Medical Mall with a dozen health-related services where shops once thrived. Veterans Memorial Drive has 10 stores with sturdy, well-stocked, low-price anchors like Wal-Mart, The Home Depot, Lowe’s and Target.

The Batavia Business Improvement District hasn’t given up. Stores sport new facades, flowers and trees, and benches say ‘‘come see us.’’ Not enough do anymore!

William F. Brown Jr. has written several books on local history. He lives in Batavia.