In September of 1983 Hamot Medical Center said it was protecting their property rights, when during a city council meeting, in the dark of night, they bulldozed the city's oldest building, Hughes Log House, a 176- year-old log cabin, at 136 East Third Street in Erie. "It's inconceivable to us that they would have done this," said John Claridge of the Erie County Historical Society. "For some reason or other they felt a definite threat to their right to do with their property as they saw fit."
Preservationists had hoped to move the two-story house from the land the hospital were to develop, but were left only with a possible archaeological examination of the land. Many of the house's remains were taken by scavengers.
"The reason it's such an affront is that Hamot couldn't care if this was a building built in 1 B.C. They have demonstrated absolutely no regard for the history of Erie," Patrick Cuneo, president of the Preservation Project, said at the time. "To them it's a business proposition."
The hospital, which bought the property for a development, wouldn’t discuss why they renege on an agreement made earlier to move the house to another location, stating that they demolished the house because they feared that Erie County Council would vote to condemn and take the property.
The hospital "certainly didn't want to get involved in a 10-year court battle," said Hamot spokesman Jerry Hagerty. The county obtained a court order temporarily halting work at the site. County Judge James Dwyer heard arguments on whether the restraining order should be continued until the next County Council's scheduled public hearing on the future of the land.
Two weeks earlier, when the local groups learned of Hamot’s plans to develop the property, they asked the medical center for time to move the house. Hamot agreed and offered to help pay for the move. But Cuneo said he was warned that if the agreement became public, Hamot would raze the house.
City Council learned of the plans, and at a special meeting decided to hold a public hearing on the house. No one contacted the hospital about the meeting, Hagerty said. During the night of the meeting, at about 8:00 p.m., the house was demolished. "We have indicated we would not jeopardize our ability to develop the area in question," a hospital statement said.
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| Hughes Log House, 136 East Third Street (1936) |