Viking Resort plans to demolish buildings

BARRINGTON--The Barrington town board held a special meeting Friday, Feb. 1 and approved to "condemn for abatement" two main buildings from the former Viking Resort.
With the building condemned, the building owners plan to apply for the necessary town and state permits to get approval for demolition.
Ken Christensen Jr., one of the owners of the buildings at 680 E. Lake Road, said the property has been listed for sale three years and there have been no acceptable purchase offers. To now sell the property, Christensen said they will plan to demolish the two main buildings from the resort and then sub-divide the properties into parcels for sale. Christensen said, "We will create seven lots from the 827 feet of frontage. The lots we create will include some different sizes."
Officials from the Barrington board gave their approval for "condemning for abatement" but also added they are concerned about water run-off from the demolition work and want to be sure the contractor selected has a scope of work including procedures to control water run-off and protection for Keuka Lake. Christensen said he had not yet signed with a contractor, but would raise those concerns and have the paperwork sent to Barrington officials for review. Barrington Deputy Supervisor Nate Olney said, "We just want to protect ourselves and the lake."
After receiving the necessary local and state approvals, Christensen said he would like to have the buildings down by April 1. Christensen said, "The work will take about 2-3 weeks once they start."
The buildings planned to be demolished were built in 1961 and 1974. The two structures have a total of 36 rooms that were used by guests of the resort.
In other Barrington business, Steve Perry has been appointed interim supervisor to complete the term of John Kuehn who resigned in mid-January.