The upper two stories have been restored with wood clapboard, scalloped shingles and a bracketed parapetted cornice that extends above the flat roof. The replacement wood windows are 1/1 with simple surrounds. The first story walls are a fine textured stucco and the windows range from single fixed panes to industrial-size sash of 12 panes. There is a south entrance in addition to the main entrance. A wood cornice runs along the width and above the replacement double doors This restorative work, under the direction of a preservationist architect, was completed in 1983 for the new Burlington College.
The important change, to this intersection, came with the laying of the tracks for the horse-drawn street car line in 1880. It proceeded west on North Street from North Champlain Street and then turned north on North Avenue in front of the present building. It continued a mile out to St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum and cemetery. The horse-drawn cars were replaced in three years (1883) by electric trolleys.
The 1902 City Directory notes that George Saiger kept a grocery store in the building at #93 North Avenue and lived upstairs with his wife and family at #87. His market prospered and in 1905 he raised the building 15 feet from the street level and constructed a new floor. By 1912 he expanded his business to the whole block, by buying the "McKenzie Block" (lots three and four) north of the grocery store, and opened Saiger's Department Store. He continued to manage it until 1924 when his son Sam Saiger became manager. Barney Magram joined him in 1926 and 1927. At the time of George Saiger's death 1928, Saiger's Grocery Store and Department Store were sold to Alex Colodny, who lived at 350 North Street. (At this time Mr. Magram went on to manage the Fashion Shop at 100 North Street.)
The store continued to be known as Saigers until c.1932 when the new owner renamed it, Colodny's Public Market. Around the same time the Colodny family moved to 155 North Prospect Avenue. Mr. Colodny sold groceries, meats, cigars and confectioneries in the front part of the building; boots, shoes, clothing and second-hand clothing in the back portion. A highly successful business man, Colodny grossed $100,000 in his first seven months of operation. He too had decided to remodel the store and he raised the roof, pushing the first floor upward making a new store with high ceilings and still leaving two floors for apartments above. The new market specialized in meats and at one time employed as many as seven meat cutters working behind the scenes. During World War II, because he provisioned the troops training at the University of Vermont, he was able to have access to a variety of foods that he supplied to his own customers and some of the Burlington restaurants. After the war, Colodny perceived the opportunities of frozen food sales and devised a home-service plan where he purchased, stocked and serviced home freezers on a weekly basis. The venture again was highly successful and he kept eleven salesmen busy in the field. Colodny retired in 1979. The building was sold to Burlington College and then remodeled with the help of work students. They removed the vinyl siding and restored the fish-scale shingles and projecting cornice, architectural details which contribute to its historic significance.
©1996 UVM Historic Preservation Program