June 1, 2004

Grandview School,  Catskill, NY DEMOLISHED ~OCTOBER 2006~

On May 4, 2004, the Catskill School District voted to sell the 1896 Grandview Elementary School to Widewaters Property Acquisitions, through realtor Winn Morrison. The school closed at the end of the year 2001-2002, and students were transferred to the Catskill Elementary School. The brick building with Tudor ornamentation sits on Route 9W at Grandview Avenue and is one of the first buildings in Catskill seen by visitors entering from the south. The developer plans to raze the building for a shopping plaza. That stretch of road is already saturated with such bland commercial development, and it would be a loss to Catskill to not seek the reuse of this building. A group calling itself Save Our School is trying to work towards that goal with the school board. The village's reputation as one devoted to history and preservation has taken a hit in recent years, with the demolition of several historic structures despite protestations by local residents. In place of the old buildings have been parking lots and a donut store. A particularly controversial plan saw the demolition of a block of Main Street. 

More Grandview Elementary School:
Village of Catskill - Choose "Architectural History" link.

Campbell House, Mount Pleasant, NY DEMOLISHED ~SPRING 2004~

In April and May 2004, the Campbell House on Grasslands Road in the Town of Mount Pleasant was demolished. The house had been inhabited until recently, and it appears to have been demolished purely for the value of the land (once several acres of rolling and sweeping lawns) and the several modern McMansions that may be built on this site.

May 28, 2004

Elks Club (Carpenter Mansion), Ossining, NY

The Elks Club, on the corner of Main and State Streets, has been sold and may be demolished soon. The blue vinyl-covered house still maintains its attractive Victorian form, though its Italiante details have largely been removed. A tower and widow's watch overlook the Hudson River and the house, situated at the top of a hill, has a commanding view. The house was once known as the Carpenter Mansion, "Bella Vista." 

May 22, 2004

Garner Bleachery /  Market Street Industrial Park, Wappingers Falls, NY

Fire damaged an industrial complex in Wappingers Falls on Friday May 14, 2004. Three of five connected buildings which once housed a bleachery and other manufactories were subsequently demolished. 

More Wappingers Falls:
Hudson Valley Ruins

Tappan Zee Playhouse, Nyack, NY

Also, the Tappan Zee Playhouse in Nyack was demolished last month as scheduled. See update from February 24, 2004, below, for more information on the theater.

April 10, 2004

Anaconda Wire and Cable, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY SUBSTANTIALLY DEMOLISHED ~through summer 2005~

Recently the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation issued it's long-awaited  "ROD" (Record of Decision) on the Hastings waterfront cleanup.  This decision has selected a cleanup process that appears to call for the destruction of all historic buildings on the Hastings waterfront.

Apparently the last best chance to save any of these buildings is to find a tenant willing to occupy and renovate the space. Two of the buildings (Buildings 51 and 52) are quite beautiful and almost completely free of PCB contamination.  They are brick structures featuring dramatic 20' high window openings, saw-tooth skylights, raised gable clerestory windows, and cavernous, nearly column-free, interior spaces large enough for several football fields. - Stuart Cadenhead.

More Anaconda Wire and Cable:
Hudson Valley Ruins  
The Journal News
New York State Department of Envrionmental Conservation
Village of Hastings-on-Hudson

March 21, 2004

Smith-Robinson House, Ossining, NY

A 170-year old stone mansion is threatened with demolition by Elysian Fields Realty, a Tarrytown company. The house, at 34 State Street and Broad Avenue, is made of "Sing Sing marble" and currently occupied by a group that manufactures picture frames and display sets. Although it has been added onto, it is remarkably intact, and many architectural details survive inside the house. Elysian Fields is planning high-income housing on the site, and a spokesman told The Journal News that the new high-rise would contribute to Ossining "being rediscovered as the hidden gem of the Hudson." To many, this house is already one of the Hudson Valley's gems. The Ossining Historical Society is actively promoting the preservation of the Smith-Robinson House.

More Smith-Robinson House:
The Journal News

February 24, 2004

Hutton Brickyard, Kingston, NY

The most significant and intact remaining brickyard in the Hudson Valley faces redevelopment just after the publication of a book celebrating its 100+ year existence. Ohio-based 771 Polaris Ltd will build 363 housing units on 75 acres, including condominiums, townhouses, apartments and senior residences. According to recent articles in the Daily Freeman, some buildings will be reused, but significant features may be removed. The project will go by the name Sailor's Cove, which seems the ignore the heritage of the property, chronicled in The Great Hudson River Brick Industry, by George V. Hutton (2003, Purple Mountain Press). 

Three 1940 steel kiln sheds seen at center are the most impressive feature of this property. Visible at far right is the former Tilcon cement silo, currently undergoing demolition. The Daily Freeman reports that AVR Realty plans to build 1,700 to 2,182 housing units on the adjacent 524-acre Tilcon site, as well as other buildings for restaurants and stores.

February 24, 2004

Tappan Zee Playhouse, Nyack, NY DEMOLISHED ~april 2004~

The 1911 Tappan Zee Playhouse, once home to stars of screen and stage, abandoned since the mid-1970s, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, will be demolished under an agreement reached by the Village of Nyack and local chef Jeff Sapounas, who will construct a new building with a food market on the first floor and have two floors with a total of 10 apartments for volunteer firefighters. What to do with the gutted shell of the theater had been a major issue for the village since it acquired the property in 1998. Various proposals were put forth, some calling for the adaptive reuse of the classically-inspired facade. Sapounas' plan does not. Under his agreement with Nyack, he has until March 5 to close on the deal, which could be worth as much as $415,000. The theater must be demolished within 45 days of closing.

More Tappan Zee Playhouse:
Hudson Valley Ruins
The Journal News
Preservation Online

Hudson Valley Ruins

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Email Tom Rinaldi

This page first posted to the internet on February 24, 2004.