WATERTOWN, NY — The Dunlap Building on the CHJC (the Children’s Home of Jefferson County) Campus, 1704 State Street, Watertown, is building demolished.
The building is being removed to improve the flow of Campus programming and operations.
Following thorough inspections by local architects, CHJC’s Board of Directors determined the building was beyond repair and should be taken down. Its removal will allow for improved Campus access and a more pleasing aesthetic.
The Dunlap Building’s demolition is part of the Agency’s ongoing progression to providing sites better equipped to handle the myriad needs of its current clients, and providing them with more therapeutic environments. This past July, the Agency relocated its mental and behavioral health outpatient clinic, the Community Clinic of Jefferson County, to the recently restored Empsall Building in downtown
Watertown.
CHJC is the oldest, continuously operating not-for-profit in Jefferson County.
More than a century old, the Dunlap Building was the State Street property’s original farmhouse, already standing when the Children’s Home State Street Cottages were erected in 1929. Over the years, it has served many diverse
purposes including a residence for former Executive Directors during the Agency’s orphanage days, and most recently as its Non-Secure Detention Program site.
The demolition is expected to be completed this week.