The village plans of the Aurora Foundation Limited Liability Company (a for-profit corproation set up by the Pleasant T. Rowland Foundation and Wells College) have created nationwide controversy.The relation to the Campus Master Plan is of interest. The same owner, developer, funding source and architectural firm are involved, and both the campus and the village are part of the same National Register Historic District. The L.L.C. now controls most prime village real estate, including the Inn, the Fargo, the Heary Building (Old School / Post Office), other commercial properties, French House (Morgan Mansion), Walcourt, the Golf Course, the Old Mill, the Abbot Mansion (Presdent Macmillan's House), the village parking lot, and the only large parcel of undeveloped land in Aurora.
The corporation applied to the village government for permits to destroy the interior of the 1833 Aurora Inn and demolish the adjacent market in order to build two large modern wings on the inn. The permits were issued, in spite objections to such a project in an historic district expressed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, the Preservation League of New York State, the State Historic Preservation Office, the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Cornell University's Graduate Chair Historic Preservation, alumnae, and residents.
In September 2001 a suit was filed against the village in an effort to require a full environmental review of Rowland's development plans. A supporting brief was filed by the Preservation League of NYS, but the local judge ruled against the group. Demolition began in December when a $250,000 bond was needed to uphold an injunction offered by the Appellate Division. Nevertheless, in April, 2002, the National Trust for Historic Presrvation joined in filing a request for the case to be heard by the state Court of Appeals. It was denied on July 2, 2002.
Local, Governement, and Non-Profit Preservation Perspective: