Richard Van Namee Gives 1847 Public Square Brick Building Second Empire Makeover; Later Becomes Home To The Commodore Restaurant
Where the Strauss Memorial Walkway leads from the JB Wise parking lot to Public Square, once sat the Van Namee Building, home to The Commodore Restaurant and later Strauss Electric Company. As those who may remember it, the building stood out against its neighbors, including The Crystal Restaurant and Wing Wagon, because of its uneven height and Mansard-style roof with a sloped angle from front to back. Surprisingly, it didn’t always look like that in what may be the largest makeover on the north side of Public Square next to the nearby Doolittle & Hall building transformation into the Lincoln Building in 1908.
Born in 1816, Richard VanNamee (as the last name originally was spelled) came to Watertown in 1840 as a cabinet maker. The VanNamee Block’s beginning was the subject of a Watertown Daily Times article printed on February 26, 1876—
On the ground where the VanNamee Block stands there stood long ago a wooden dwelling, which afterward became Seper’s Gun Shop. A brick building was caused to take its place about 29 years ago (1847), and this was purchased by Richard VanNamee of Howell Cooper and Pearson Mundy about 20 years ago.Mr. VanNamee then manufactured and dealt in furniture, and he immediately put up a back addition and appropriated the whole to the use of his business.
Eight years ago last fall he sold out his furniture business, after having been engaged in it for some 28 years, and became one of the original stockholders and manufacturers in the Davis Sewing Machine Company, which was started about that time. The wood work of its excellent machines was made under his supervision, part of the time by contract, until three and four years ago.
Relieved then for the time from active and responsible labor, he looked at his brick block and said to himself that the proper time had come to enlarge, improve and beautify it. For him to plan and resolve was to execute. The spot immediately became noisy with workmen. The entire brock front was taken down and rebuilt, the stories were made higher between joints, a mansard roof was added, plate glass were put in, and the interior was finished in a style to admire.
The improvements cost an estimated $7,000, just shy of $150,000 in 2024 currency. The ground floor of the building was outfitted for a drug store operated by Richard’s two sons, Eugene C. and Charles C. VanNamee. That same year, 1868, the VanNamee building was home to an undertaker’s business, S. W. Ballard, Village Sexton. The sons lived short lives compared to their father, who passed away in 1889 at the age of 72. Charles, the younger of the two, died in 1891 at the age of 41-42, with Eugene following in 1901 at the age of 53-54.
After Charles’ death, Eugene continued the business known as the City Drug Store until his death, then it was transferred to and operated by his estate for several more years. The Alling Rubber Store then occupied the space for a number of years, and its name is visible on the Mansard roof in one of the photos. 1922 saw Athens Confectionary, followed in 1929 by Thom McCann Shoe Store.
The Watertown Commodore Restaurant, Inc., was incorporated in August 1933. Incidentally, the “New Commodore Restaurant” first appeared in a brief article as early as May 25, 1928, but no further mention could be found. Jerry Valanos, owner of The Crystal Restaurant, Thomas D. Cook, and William Seferlis were named directors and officers of the Commodore Restaurant, with Seferlis managing it. Valanos’s brother, Dennis, was also listed as co-owner.
The Commodore would be much more than just a restaurant; in addition, the Valanos brothers rode the trendy wave by adding The Commodore Tea Room and confections to the location. In an article published August 28, 1933, The Watertown Daily Times reported—
The new tea room is one of the most elaborate in Northern New York, the furnishings being of genuine American Walnut. There are 31 booths in the shop and a large soda fountain, seating about 20 persons. The equipment was purchased from VanDuyn & Morris, St. Paul, Minn., who made the installation.
The electrical fixtures are of modernistic design with three large fixtures overhead and individual lights in each of the booths.
The restaurant will serve French pastry and light lunches as well as sodas and confections.
For a few years, the Valanos brothers operated the Commodore Tea Room and Restaurant, the Crystal Restaurant, and the Terminal Restaurant simultaneously until selling the latter to Nicholas D. Dusckas, the proprietor of the Sugar Bowl Restaurant, in 1937. That same year, Jerry Valanos, who left Greece 23 years prior, made an extended trip back to his homeland for the first time to visit family and friends. He returned five months later, having met and married his wife, Georgia, there.
Seven years later, in 1944, the Valanos brothers sold The Commodore Restaurant to its longtime manager, William Seferlis. The sale was for the business only, with the former VanNamee building still owned by the brothers, who dissolved the corporation and then sold The Crystal Restaurant the following month to Nicholas Dephtereos.
The Commodore Restaurant continued for eight more years on Public Square before relocating to 204 Factory Street, the former home of Barney’s Place, Studio 1, and Mick’s Place, in October 1952. Knowlton Technologies most recently purchased and demolished the building in 2022 and replaced it with an employee parking lot.
In September 1965, the former VanNamee Building, then known as the Valanos Building, was sold to H. Michael Strauss, owner and operator of Strauss Electric. Strauss spent the next few months renovating the first floor before relocating his business there the following January. A little over two years later, a fire swept through the building.
On March 16th, the Watertown Daily Times reported the fire that occurred the day before—
FIRE SWEEPS ELECTRIC FIRM, DAMAGES THREE OTHER LOCAL STORES
Fire destroyed the interior of the Strauss Electric Store, 77 Public Square, two apartments located in the second story of the building, and three adjacent stores were damaged in a blaze which broke out shortly after 8:30 Friday evening.
The fire resulted in heavy smoke and water damage to the interior of Law’s-Whelan Drug Store, 81 Public Square.
Sylvia’s Gift Shop, 71 Public Square, suffered water damage to the interior.
The fire originated in the rear cellar of the Strauss building and spread throughout the structure.
The city fire department received a call at 8:39 p.m. Patrolman Jack W. Ellingsworth reported that at 8:41 p.m., he noticed smoke was coming from the Strauss building and he pulled the fire alarm at the J. B. Wise block corner.
H. Michael Strauss, an owner of Strauss Electric, said he could give no estimate of the loss at this time. The fire destroyed all contents of the store.
Mr. Strauss said he had just closed the store and headed home when he received the fire report.
The building wasn’t razed immediately. The Watertown Chamber of Commerce painted the boarded front exterior in October 1973, but its days were numbered. The Strauss family later donated the site to the city in 1984 for a walkway to memorialize their son, Michael H. Strauss, who was killed in an automobile accident in 1982. The project wasn’t without controversy; originally estimated at $20,000, it soon ballooned to a $150,000 estimate and then a proposed $500,000 office complex before reverting back to an open-air walkway.
