When you wish upon a star…

ALTON – April 22 – It was a day that Cheri Roloson, founder and farm manager of Cracker Box Palace Farm Animal Haven at Alasa Farms, had only dreamed of. The letter from the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation had arrived; would it be good news or another disappointment? Commissioner Carol Ash wrote, “Congratulations! I am pleased to inform you that a matching grant of $500,000.00 has been reserved from the Environmental Protection Fund for the Alasa Farms Acquisiton project.” For nearly a year, dozens of people who have rallied behind the large animal rescue shelter’s efforts to purchase the Alasa Farms property have held their breath and prayed for the seemingly impossible to happen.
The shelter, which was founded in 2000, has leased barns and pastures at Alasa Farms since 2004. After a tragic fire gutted the upper floors of the main house in February, 2009, the Mangan family, owners of the historic farm since 1924, decided it was finally time to sell the property. Faced with the possibility of having to find another home for the shelter and moving its nearly 200 farm animals, the board of directors took what can only be described as an enormous leap of faith and submitted a purchase offer on the 600+ acre farm for $1.5 million. Even though Alasa Farms had been appraised for $2.1 million, the Mangans accepted Cracker Box Palace’s purchase offer. With land developers waiting in the wings, the Mangan family put their faith in the shelter and worked with them on their mission to preserve this historic former Shaker farm that has such an amazing, rich history dating back to the early 1800’s.
The daunting task of raising $1.5 million, plus an additional $500,000 to put an endowment fund in place to support future operation of the farm began. The outpouring of support and assistance was stunning and everyone hit the ground running. Wayne County Planning Director Sharon Lilla, Ora Rothfuss, Ag Development Specialist, and Gay Mills, Executive Director of the Genesee Land Trust began researching grant opportunities. Sharon reflected, “The thing that intrigued me as a planner is that it (the Alasa Farms property acquisition) had so many layers – historical preservation, agriculture, water quality, open space preservation, endangered species, trails, eco-tourism, cultural tourism – the historical social justice narrative is incredible: anyone who has occupied that property has always acted for the greater good, as Cracker Box Palace is now.”
Lilla submitted the Environmental Protection Fund grant application seven months ago, and in the meantime she has worked with state and federal agencies resulting in Alasa Farms receiving Landmark status; in December, 2009, it was placed on both the New York State and National Register of Historic Places. Additionally, the Wayne County Planning Department nominated Alasa Farms to receive the Preservation League of New York State’s “Seven to Save” status. The Seven to Save Endangered Properties list draws attention to valued historic resources that are in danger of disappearing because of insufficient funding and financial incentives, insensitive public policies, general neglect, disinvestment, and in some cases, demolition. The Preservation League deemed that Alasa Farms was indeed a threatened historic property, citing the threats as “privately owned with no local protection, fire damage, some deterioration, and development and subdivision pressures” and the property was put on the Seven to Save list in January, 2010.
Lilla explained that the Alasa Farms acquisition project to date has been a huge team effort, saying “This has been amazing show of teamwork. So many people have joined forces to preserve this property and it’s all coming together. Nancy Todd from the State Historic Preservation Office and Judith Wellman of SUNY Oswego wrote the National Register nomination. Cornell University’s FarmNet Program is assisting with development of a five year business plan, and has already provided a preliminary plan to determine what could be done at the farm. Genesee Land Trust has submitted a federal Farmland Preservation grant application to provide funds to assist in the property purchase. The Town of Sodus and the Wayne County Board of Supervisors passed formal resolutions endorsing the project. And, in truly bipartisan fashion, Congressman Maffei, Senator Nozzolio and Assemblyman Oaks have been behind this effort 100% throughout this long process.”
Purchase of the Alasa Farms property by the not for profit farm animal shelter will open many new doors of opportunity and provide a much needed stimulus to the Wayne County economy. As a tenant on private property, CBP was denied many grants and other funding opportunities. Once the purchase is completed, Cracker Box Palace’s way is cleared to begin to implement the many facets of their business plan, which includes expanding their farm animal care facilities, promoting agri-tourism and eco-tourism through offering Bed and Breakfast accommodations at the main house and bunk-house accommodations in one of the original Shaker buildings, horseback riding programs for adults, kids, and disabled people, expansion of community education programs, expanding hiking the trail system for year ‘round use; the sky’s the limit. Most importantly, once the business plan is fully implemented it is estimated that 35 to 50 jobs will be created.
The shelter is currently waiting for approval of the nearly $1M federal Farmland Protection grant, which will provide the funds required to complete the purchase with a minimum of out of pocket money required for CBP to raise. The remaining task for the board of directors is to raise $500,000 to put the endowment fund in place, enabling roll-out of the business plan.
Looking back at the work done over the past year, and the goals yet to be reached, Lilla reflected, “Cracker Box Palace’s board of directors took the biggest leap of faith I’ve ever seen in the 30 years I’ve been in this business. Right now, we’re 33% of the way toward completing the land purchase. All of us who are involved with the farm extend a huge thank you to the Mangan family for agreeing to wait to sell the property while the shelter secures non-traditional financing. We thank them for their patience and support for the preservation of the property.”
Learn more about Cracker Box Palace Farm Animal Haven and the Alasa Farms acquisition at www.crackerboxpalace.org