UNION CITY — A check presentation this past Monday in Union City will result in the preservation of an old and historic building with ties to the borough’s former furniture manufacturing industry.
Erie County Executive Christina Vogel presented a check for $300,000 to Erie County Redevelopment Authority President and CEO Tina Mengine and Union City Borough Manager Cindy Wells. The check is for a project to renovate and preserve the former Union City Chair Co. Office Building at 18 Market St.
The $330,000 was part of a larger grant of about $550,000.
Mengine said the money is Erie County money designated for redevelopment communities.
Tina Mengine, left, president and CEO of the Erie County Redevelopment Authority; and Cindy Wells, Union City Borough manager, look at the interior of the former Union City Chair Co. Office Building on Monday.
Maryann Mook/contributed photo
“The Erie County Redevelopment Authority is project manager and temporary property owners,” Mengine said. “The Erie County Land Bank owns it and will transfer the deed to us for one dollar. We will take the grant money, which totals about $550,000 and clean up the building. Once it’s all done, ownership will be reverted back to the borough or one of their nonprofits.”
Vogel said the original money got diverted to the Corry Redevelopment Authority.
Of that $500,000 earmarked to go to Union City, $338,000 got diverted to the Corry Redevelopment Authority for its training center projects.
Erie County stepped in to build that funding gap to make up for the money that went to Corry.
“This will make Union City whole again,” Vogel said. “This is really also to bring the two communities of Corry and Union City back together again. I didn’t like the division between Union City and Corry.
“It was a line item in the 2026 approved Erie County budget, and that’s where the money is coming from.”
Union City Borough Manager Cindy Wells said she wants to thank Vogel for providing the funding toward the Union City Chair Co. Office Building.
“This building is on the National Historic Register, and chair making is a huge part Union City’s history,” Wells said. “These funds will provide money to secure the exterior of the property and make interior improvements, also. We are looking forward to putting this building to use in the future. Final decisions haven’t been made for what that may be, but it will be preserved.
“The building was donated by the McLane Church to the Erie County Land Bank. That was the first step toward the preservation process.”
Once a cornerstone of the region’s manufacturing economy, Union City Chair Co. produced millions of hardwood chairs between its founding in 1881 and the plant’s closure in 2000. The company was one of several furniture manufacturers that helped earn the community its historic slogan “Union City Seats the World.”
Construction is expected to begin later this year, according to Vogel’s office.
“This is one of the remaining buildings from Union City’s furniture manufacturing past, and to keep their history and turn it into something new connects the past with the whole community and the promise of a budding future,” Vogel said.
Also attending the event were Chris Groner, director of administrator for Vogel’s office; David Knapp, a member of the Erie County Redevelopment Authority and the Corry Redevelopment Authority; and Bob Williams, executive director of the Corry Redevelopment Authority.