Emotional attachment to the Victorian-era building at 118 West Main Street runs deep in Richfield Springs. Village residents still refer to the red-brick structure that dominates the corner of Center and Main streets as “the bank,” even though there hasn’t been a financial institution on site since the mid-1960s. That’s when the bank (which had merged with the State Bank of Albany in 1956) relocated to its brand-new branch building, replete with parking lot and drive-up teller window. The last tenant most residents recall occupying the old First National Bank building’s ground level was an Italian restaurant/pizzeria that served as a popular gathering spot for a while in the 1980s and ’90s. When the Bank Lofts retrofit team entered the building for the first time in late 2022, they found its interior almost completely gutted (the result of a ditched redevelopment attempt made more than a decade earlier).
Along with its challenges, the 140-year-old former bank building comes with certain advantages to facilitate Phius certification, including:
The building’s massing—an eclectic, three-tiered take on the “classical block”—is basically a box: a flat-roofed, wood-framed structure with a masonry curtain wall and stone foundation. Simple massing allows for a relatively straightforward plan for the complex air and thermal barrier improvements.
The gutted interior also expedites the installation of vapor barriers and insulation necessary for Phius certification. An air barrier will be located between the existing wood framing and the new interior framing cavity, with additional dense-packed, blown-in cellulose insulation to meet the required envelope R-values for Phius certification. A natural product with no known potential side effects (such as off-gassing), cellulose permits less air infiltration than typical batt insulations.
On the ground level, preserving and reusing vintage mosaic-tile floors, white-marble wainscoting, and mahogany paneling will further reduce the project’s carbon footprint while fostering a sense of continuity between old and new.
When the project is complete:
The structure will be stabilized, repaired, and repointed to create a durable and resilient exterior envelope. The preservation and reuse of the building inherently brings with it a drastic reduction in embodied carbon.
The building’s existing 76 window openings (encompassing multiple double and triple units) will be reduced to 73 and fit with architecturally sympathetic and expertly installed triple-pane thermal assemblies from Massachusetts-based YARO Windows and Doors. The number of exterior doors will also be reduced, from seven to four, and replaced with architecturally appropriate custom-engineered thermal versions. (These reductions take no-longer-required basement and external fire-escape windows and doors into account.)
The project’s photovoltaic solar array, mounted on the parking-lot canopies, will satisfy the airtight building’s drastically reduced energy consumption. Back-up battery power will be employed when required in an emergency.
The plan will create a more resilient and temperature-stable interior environment year-round, allowing occupants to stay safe and comfortable for longer periods without any heating or cooling during a prolonged power outage. The robust building envelope will also make living spaces quieter, blunting street noise and poor exterior air quality. The latter co-benefit is of increasing importance to occupant health: This spring and summer, as Canadian wildfires consumed ancient forests, dangerous air-quality conditions repeatedly lingered in Otsego County and beyond.
Simultaneously, the building’s distinctive architectural character will be preserved. The former bank’s surviving façade moldings, monumental steel walk-in bank vault—even the vintage alarm box mounted on the Center Street façade—will once again evoke the strength, stability, and community spirit that defined downtown Richfield Springs at the height of the Gilded Age, when the village earned both fame and fortune as a spa resort and day-trip destination.
Private and public investment in the Phius-certified transformation of a building cherished by the community is good news for Richfield Springs, and good news for the climate. Vacant buildings and ghosted shop fronts have a way of camouflaging the potential of Industrial-era Main Streets. Conversely, sprucing them up can contribute to new growth, as seen in other Upstate New York towns, including Beacon, Hudson, Kingston, and Callicoon.
The Bank Lofts illustrates how positive change starts—with a shared commitment, integrated teamwork, and one bold step forward at a time.
