ENDICOTT, N.Y. (WBNG) — As the days of the IBM buildings come to an end, community members are stopping to take a piece of history home before it disappears.
Through rain and sunshine, Southern Tier community members gathered on Adams Ave. in Endicott, grabbing a piece of history to take home: A brick from the International Business Machines building.
“It’s nostalgic, very nostalgic,” Broome County Residents Joy and Woody Miller said. “It brings tears [to my eyes.] We have been coming every day just to sit on the benches over there and watch as the buildings go.”
Those at the former center of the village took the chance to catch up with old friends and reminisce about the good times had at IBM.
“IBM was a place where not only could you build a career, but you also developed relationships with people that last a lifetime,” Broome County Resident Larry Hurwitz said.
Community members said it is important to keep the building’s story alive. While its foundations might be gone, its history will live on in Broome County.
Endicott History and Heritage Center Docent Diana Gildea said these bricks play a role in that.
“Our local history is state history,” Gildea said. “It’s national history. It’s global history. And so it’s not just about what happened here in little Endicott, but what happened in Endicott made the whole world turn.”
Those who did not get to take a brick home can still experience the history of the building, as a couple of bricks now call the Endicott History and Heritage Center home.
The last of the IBM buildings is still being demolished. The village’s Facebook page said the work should be finished in two weeks.
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