The Save the Lyon Commission (STLC) is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization formed in 2003 in Bath, New York, to prevent the demolition of the historic Dana Lyon School building and Primary Annex, and to bring the buildings back into use for the benefit of the community. Both of these buildings have historic landmark designation in the National Register and New York State Register, and were listed on the Seven to Save properties by the Preservation League of New York State in December 2006.
In 2006 and 2014, the Clinton Brown Architecture/Rebuild Company toured both buildings with members of the STLC, and declared them to be in remarkably good condition despite signs of vandalism and insensitive salvage efforts.
The Primary Annex was built in 1900. It is legally owned by the STLC, and at the request of the Waterman heirs, descendants of Ira Davenport, will be the home of the Waterman Center for the Arts.
The larger Dana Lyon School building, built in 1923, was owned by a development corporation which had threatened to demolish it. The STLC is now moving forward with plans to use the building for a variety of purposes. Proposed uses include satellite college classes, fine arts and traditional crafts instructions, cooking classes, agricultural education and activities in conjunction with the Steuben County Fairgrounds, supervised youth center, theater space, and an alternative library of materials supporting these interests.
Bath, NY pioneer Charles Williamson had great plans for Bath to become a trading metropolis. Although this was not the ultimate destiny of Bath, this early founder had the foresight to establish Bath as the county seat. The STLC believes that Bath can become more than a center for local government. By preserving and thoughtfully reusing the historic school buildings at the center of the village, Bath will once again be a center for culture and education as Charles Williamson, Adam Haverling and Ira Davenport so generously provided for in the past.