SALAMANCA — A downtown tourist destination and the home of a major chunk of the city’s history is closed.

The Salamanca Rail Museum, located for over 40 years at 170 N. Main St., did not open this spring. Instead, dozens of volunteers helped pack up and empty the former depot and freight house of countless railroad history artifacts before a July 31 eviction day.

“Many rumors have been circulating as to what is going on with the Salamanca Rail Museum,” the museum board posted on the museum’s Facebook page Monday. “We felt it was important that we not address these rumors until now,” the post said, with the rail museum instead wanting to concentrate its efforts on moving all collections, including its rolling stock, from the property before July 31.

The former museum buildings sit on the Seneca Nation of Indians’ Allegany Territory. In 1991, when a new lease agreement between the Nation and the City of Salamanca was signed, the rail museum property was not included.

In the early 1980s, when the Salamanca Rail Museum Association (SRMA) formed, the Chessie System donated the passenger station and freight house to the City of Salamanca, the board explained.

“At this time, a lease should have been created between the City of Salamanca and the Seneca Nation for the property. This either did not happen, or there is no record of it,” the board said. “As a not-for-profit organization, the SRMA had no say in either of those negotiations, as these agreements were ‘government-to-government’ settlements.”

A request for comment by Seneca Nation officials was not returned by deadline Thursday.

BY THE TIME the current museum administrator began work and a new SRMA board formed, the city’s Industrial Development Agency (IDA) had been given the responsibility of overseeing the property.

The board’s post said the IDA paid for the insurance, grounds upkeep and any repairs either building might need, but turned over the day-to-day financial responsibilities and operations to the new management. As the property itself remained under the control of the IDA, it continued to be responsible for the insurance, grounds and repair expenses.

“In late 2023, the IDA informed the museum that it would no longer pay those expenses and that if the museum did not take over those payments, it would turn the property over to the Seneca Nation,” the board said.

The SRMA Board of Trustees agreed to pay those additional expenses — which added about $6,000 in new costs to its annual budget — but requested that the IDA transfer the property deed to the SRMA, the board explained.

“Because we expected this to happen in a timely manner, we paid half of the IDA’s insurance on the property for 2024,” the post stated. “When an agreement was delayed, we paid the remainder of the insurance to the IDA. The SRMA also paid for a new air conditioner, roof repairs and the regrouting of the museum’s west wall, as well as all grounds upkeep.”

At that time, the museum received an annual $10,000 grant from the Cattaraugus County Legislature to help with annual budget expenses as well as an annual $15,000 grant from the City of Salamanca to pay for the museum director’s part-time salary.

“The additional expenses imposed by the IDA were not covered by any of this money, and the SRMA had to use its fundraising and donated monies to cover those additional expenses, instead of projects that expanded the museum’s programming to the community and the region,” the board said.

When the bill came for 2025, the IDA informed the museum that they would not accept a partial payment. On March 14, the museum made a payment of $4,638.85 to the IDA for the annual insurance, despite the billing statement indicating that the amount was being charged “In Lieu of Rent”.

“At that time, we were assured that the IDA’s lawyers and Seneca Nation of Indians’ lawyers were working out an agreement,” the board said.

On April 16, the Nation issued a letter to the IDA stating that it would not be issuing a lease for the property. The board’s post said they were given until the end of April to have everything removed. At the SRMA’s request, the IDA did ask for an extension of the eviction, to which the Seneca Nation agreed.

“We then had until the end of July before the IDA would evict us and transfer the buildings to the Seneca Nation,” the board said.

IN THE MEANTIME, the museum board is working to secure a new property. The board’s post said a few locations have been evaluated, and conceptual drawings are being made to approach those who control the properties they are considering.

“Please understand we cannot publicly disclose any of these potential locations, but we do not plan to move far,” the board said. “We also do not know what the future plans are for the (North Main Street) buildings and grounds.”

The museum board also extended a thank you to everyone who helped the museum with the move. To those who are not familiar with the challenges of rail preservation, the post said the support the museum received from the local railroads, groups, businesses and individuals is unprecedented.

Details regarding how the move was accomplished, as well as recognition of all businesses, groups and individuals, would be shared at a later time, the post stated.