West Seneca's Burchfield Nature and Art Center on Wednesday was bustling with families enjoying arts, crafts, and games as part of the center's February Fun Day.

The event is one of many put on by a group of about 40 volunteers—Friends of Burchfield Nature and Art Center—who take care of programming inside the building and the park outside. 

Sharon Siraguse has been helping out for 20 years. 

"I feel it's great to be able to give back to the community. Most of our activities are free," Siraguse said.

The volunteers have had to cut back on what they can offer, and many of the community groups that use the center have had to find somewhere else to meet.

That's because part of the building including the art gallery is off limits because of safety concerns. There has been water damage, rotted wood, and mold inside the walls. At one point, the entire building was closed.

"It's been very frustrating but we've hung in there. We've continue our activities," Siraguse said.

The town has been trying to figure out what to do with the structure, built in 2001, for several years. There's been a lawsuit against the design team behind the construction. Some have even talked about tearing it down. The town board estimated last year it could cost $500,000 to fix. 

That's a hefty repair bill to first-year town supervisor Gary Dickson, who says the town is facing $500,000 budget deficit. 

"Financing the whole thing by ourselves would be very difficult and a big challenge. We have a lot of other things to spend money on," Dickson said.

Many options are on the table, Dickson says, including asking for private donations or help from the state.

In the meantime, newly-elected councilman Bill Bauer has been working with departments within the town to see if the repairs could come cheaper.

For years, Bauer ran his own construction business.

"We're going to be able to do the lion share of the work in house with our own personnel," Bauer said.

Using town employees could save some money, and rather than tackle it all at once, Bauer suggests the work happen in smaller phases over several years to be more manageable for the town.

"Something hast to be done, one way or another. This was the most economical way to approach it," Bauer said.

He thinks he should have a firm idea on how much it will cost and how long it will take to repair this building next week. He expects to present his plan at the town board meeting March 2nd.

And while it's ultimately up to the town board to decide if and when to repair the Burchfield Center, its volunteers are optimistic they'll have their entire building back someday.

"We all have our fingers crossed today. We're hopeful," Siraguse said.