BY ADAM ATKINSONNorth Country This Week

CANTON — There is no date yet for demolition of the old McDonald’s building on Main Street, but village officials think the project will happen soon.

“Water and sewer have been disconnected. National Grid is supposed to get in there and make sure power is disconnected,” Village Mayor Mike Dalton said at the village board’s April 17 meeting.

“We don’t have a date yet, but I suspect we are getting close,” Dalton told the board.

The village and town have been wrangling with the property which sits next to the current municipal building at 60 Main St. for years, but eventually acquired the lot in 2021 for almost $300,000.

The building which previously housed the local fast food franchise is destined to be razed.  

JEDA Environmental Services will be handling the abatement work and demolition of the old restaurant at a cost of $64,260 to be shared between village and town.

Once the lot is cleared of the former French fry factory, the vacant lot could possibly be incorporated into a new municipal building to house village and town offices and the village police department and courts.

However, previous high cost estimates of over $25 million for a new municipal building at the lot led to the plan to be shelved last month. The town and village building committee is reviewing the issue to determine if a rebuild or renovation of the current municipal building is a better option or if the cost of a new building can be whittled down.

The current building at 60 Main St. was constructed decades ago and municipal officials consider the space to be outdated and cramped.