Reconnaissance Level Survey of Barns and Agricultural Structures, Town of Clarence, New York, September 30, 2014

Flynn | Battaglia

From project description: "In November 2013, the Town of Clarence and the Clarence Historic Preservation Commission retained Flynn Battaglia Architects to conduct a reconnaissance-level survey of current or former agricultural structures in the town. The Town of Clarence was predominantly an agricultural community for approximately 150 years. As recently as 1958, 90 percent of the land in the Town was either undeveloped or in use for agricultural purposes. In more recent decades it has been developing rapidly into a suburban community, which has resulted in the steady removal and replacement of many of the buildings that made up the town’s agricultural heritage, the structures that formed its economy historically. Since approximately the year 2000, the Town of Clarence has become increasingly aware of the importance of retaining the wide open spaces and agricultural uses that are an integral part of its character. In 2002, residents of the Town voted to establish the “Greenprint” program by setting aside $12.5 million for the purchase of land, or the development rights to land, in order to ensure that it remains forever free of large-scale development. As of 2014, Clarence is by far the largest Greenprint community in Erie County and has set aside more than 1,300 acres of land. This survey is not directly related to the Greenprint program, but its goals are related. As will be explored in greater detail throughout this document, many of the agricultural structures that are still standing by the suburban or rural road sides of Clarence date to early in the Town’s history. More than a few were hand-hewn by settlers that moved to Clarence soon after the War of 1812. Just like the openness and vistas that have been part of Clarence’s character since its founding, so too have the unique, usually modest and sometimes rambling, structures that make up its agricultural heritage. This survey builds and expands upon an Intensive-Level Survey of all types of structures in the Town of Clarence. That survey was completed in 2008 by Clinton Brown Company Architecture of Buffalo, NY. Approximately half of the agricultural structures in the Town were noted in the results of that survey. The Town commissioned this survey in order to document the remaining approximately 100 agriculture-related properties within the Town’s boundaries, focusing specifically on the history and evolution of agriculture." Funding was provided in part by a 2013 Historic Preservation Fund grant to the Town of Clarence (project number NY-13-039) administered by the New York State Historic Preservation Office (grant number 36-13-51939) and the State, Tribal, and Local Plans and Grants Division, National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior. Clarence, New York is a Certified Local Government.

Reconnaissance Level Survey of Barns and Agricultural Structures, Town of Clarence, New York, September 30, 2014

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