Preserve New York Grants - 2021
The Hudson-Athens Lighthouse, situated in the Hudson River between the city of Hudson and the town of Athens, is one of the 2021 Preserve New York grantees.
At our 2021 Preserve New York grant review meeting, an independent panel selected 32 applicants in 25 counties to receive support totaling $297,995. Each grant supports important arts and cultural initiatives, as well as economic development related to our state’s arts and cultural heritage. Many of these grants will lead to historic district designation or expansion, telling the stories of communities throughout the state and allowing property owners to take advantage of the New York State and Federal Historic Tax Credits. This is even more valuable now, with the NYS Commercial Historic Tax Credit recently expanded for small projects, granting property owners a 30% credit. The Preservation League of NYS and our program partners at the New York State Council on the Arts and the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation are thrilled to help fund this important work.
With the announcement of the 2021 awards, support provided by Preserve New York since its launch in 1993 totals more than $3.3 million to 489 projects statewide.
Scroll to learn more about this year’s PNY grant recipients, or jump to a specific county:
Albany | Broome | Chautauqua | Chemung | Chenango | Dutchess | Erie | Franklin | Greene | Monroe | Montgomery | Nassau | New York | Ontario | Orange | Orleans | Otsego | Putnam | Rensselaer | Saratoga | Steuben | Suffolk | Tompkins | Ulster | Warren
Albany County
The National Bank building is home to Cohoes Music Hall and the Cohoes Visitor Center.
City of Cohoes, $16,500
Cohoes Music Hall & Visitors Center (National Bank Building), Building Condition Report
Opened in 1874, the Cohoes Music Hall is the fourth-oldest operational music hall in the United States. It serves as a performance space for music and theater, as well as the focal point for community celebrations. In anticipation of its 150th anniversary, and the 50th anniversary of its re-opening after restoration efforts in 1974, the City of Cohoes is seeking to restore the majestic Cohoes Music Hall Theater and preserve the National Bank building in which it and the Cohoes Visitors Center reside. A $16,500 grant from the Preservation League will enable the City to hire Lacey Thaler Reilly Wilson Architecture and Preservation LLP to conduct a Building Condition Report that will provide a prioritized list of the separate projects required to complete this comprehensive revitalization.
Historic buildings in Voorheesville.
Village of Voorheesville/Town of New Scotland, $10,000
Cultural Resource Survey of the Village of Voorheesville and Hamlets of New Salem and New Scotland
The area encompassing the village and hamlets spans less than five miles but contains a diversity of historic buildings and rural landscapes. As the shared history of these places developed, so too will their futures, with the shared goals of healthy, safe, walkable communities; affordable housing; improved infrastructure; economic revitalization; municipal efficiency and cooperation; and the preservation of open spaces, natural environment, and historic and cultural resources. Made possible through a $10,000 Preserve New York grant, this Cultural Resource Survey will help identify the character-defining features of the hamlets and village, and help each to enact laws and implement policies that support smart, sustainable, sensitive development while preserving what makes each area unique.
Broome County
The front facade of the Tri-Cities Opera building.
Tri-Cities Opera Company, $6,000
Lithuanian National Association, Building Condition Report
The circa-1917 Lithuanian National Association building houses the Tri-Cities Opera Center and is significant for its 50-year association with the Lithuanian immigrant community in Binghamton, NY. In the 1920’s, the hall was used for Lithuanian groups supporting socialist movements as well as for Lithuanian choral music, theater, and community events. The Tri-Cities Opera Company (TCO) purchased the building in 1964 and has since staged an astonishing array of operatic productions in its intimate and unorthodox space. Thanks to a $6,000 Preserve New York grant, TCO will hire Chianis & Anderson Architects, PLLC to produce a Building Condition Report to determine how to best preserve the historic character of the building's interior while adapting it to meet the current and future needs of an urban theater, with ADA accessibility as its overarching goal.
Chautauqua County
Seymour Street streetscape in Jamestown’s Park West neighborhood.
City of Jamestown, $10,000
Park West Neighborhood Cultural Resource Survey
Jamestown’s evolution from a frontier village to an industrial city in the 19th and 20th centuries can be traced in the historic buildings of its Park West Neighborhood. This area faces threats from demolition, inappropriate development, neglect, and underappreciation of the community's history and historic assets. The City is continuing its ongoing efforts to improve neighborhood resilience and protect real estate values. Thanks to a $10,000 Preserve New York grant, Clinton Brown Company Architecture, PC will conduct a Cultural Resource Survey of Park West’s approximately 500 structures to determine National Register eligibility. This survey will bring historic preservation to an underrepresented part of the city, an area that needs help identifying and protecting its threatened heritage, and provide access to the New York State Historic Homeownership Rehabilitation Tax Credit to benefit homeowners and regenerate Jamestown from within.
Chemung County
A view of the landscape at Quarry Farm on the campus of Elmira College.
Elmira College, $10,000
Quarry Farm, Historic Landscape Report
For over twenty consecutive summers throughout the last quarter of the 19th century, Samuel Clemens and his family gathered in the summertime at Quarry Farm on the outskirts of Elmira, NY. In a tiny octagonal study built especially for the author by his sister-in-law, Clemens – better known as Mark Twain – imagined and penned his most iconic works: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1885), and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889), and many more. A 2018 Preserve New York grant helped fund a Historic Structure Report of the Study, and this year, a $10,000 grant from the Preservation League will enable Elmira College Center for Mark Twain Studies to hire Martha Lyon Landscape Architecture, LLC, to conduct a Historic Landscape Report for Quarry Farm to allow remediation of drainage issues around the main house while restoring and preserving the historic integrity of the bucolic surroundings.
Chenango County
The front facade of the Earlville Opera House building.
Earlville Opera House Multi Arts Center, $8,000
Earlville Opera House, Building Condition Report
Since 1892, the Earlville Opera House has served as the focal point for community arts and activities in rural Chenango County, NY. After hosting an evolving docket of live performances, Vaudeville acts, penny operas, and silent films, the second story theater went dark in 1952. Threatened with demolition, the building came alive again in the 1970s thanks to a group of volunteers with a multidisciplinary vision for the old theater. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, the Earlville Opera House reopened in 1976 with its first live performance in 50 years. In preparation for the 50th anniversary of its reopening, the Earlville Opera House received an $8,000 Preserve New York grant to hire Crawford & Stearns Architects & Preservation Planners to produce a Building Condition Report, which will allow the organization to maintain an awareness of the building’s needs and continue its responsible stewardship long into the future.
Dutchess County
The portico and front facade of the Howland Cultural Center.
Howland Cultural Center, $10,000
Howland Cultural Center, Building Condition Report
It was on Aug. 5, 1872, that the newly built library at 477 Main St. was dedicated. Sponsor Joseph Howland gave it as a gift to the community to operate as the Howland Circulating Library. The architect was Howland's brother-in-law, Richard Morris Hunt, who was then in the middle of his career as a leading light in American architecture. Hunt designed Biltmore in Asheville, NC; Marble House, The Breakers and others in Newport, RI; and the façade of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, among others.
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1973, Howland is an eclectic, polychromatic gem that has seen an extensive list of restoration and adaptive reuse improvements over the years at the hands of its intrepid stewards at the Howland Cultural Center. However, as the organization prepares for another round of renovations, a $10,000 Preserve New York grant will allow architect Jeff Wilkinson to prepare a Building Condition Report to include a prioritized list of work items needed for its long-term preservation and the necessary cost estimates to guide fundraising efforts.
A view of Maxon Mills with trees in the foreground and hills in the background.
Wassaic Project, $8,160
Maxon Mills, Building Condition Report
A defining feature of the rural hamlet of Wassaic, Maxon Mills enjoyed a brief existence as a grain mill during the post-WWII decline of Dutchess County’s dairy industry. Since 2008, the Wassaic Project, comprised of artists with roots in northeast Dutchess County on a mission to use art and arts education to foster positive social change, has transformed the seven-story granary to use as an exhibition space and to house Art Nest, a free drop-in space for local children. In 2020, the organization purchased the building and, to help preserve it and make it more accessible to everyone, applied for and received an $8,160 grant from the Preservation League to hire Marilyn Kaplan of Preservation Architecture to conduct a Building Condition Report of Maxon Mills. This report will allow the Wassaic Project to prioritize renovations, repairs, and upgrades, and better understand options for accessibility plans.
Erie County
Houses on Heath Street in the University Heights neighborhood in Buffalo.
University Heights Collaborative, $9,120
University District – Buffalo, Cultural Resource Survey
Built between 1910-1940, the University Heights neighborhood was one of the last to be developed within the City of Buffalo's boundaries. The houses therein represent a diverse mix of styles, including American Foursquare, Colonial Revival, and Workmen's Bungalow. The University Heights Collaborative (UHC) previously played a supportive role in the initial University District Reconnaissance Level Survey, funded through a 2017 Preserve New York grant, which ultimately led to the listing of the University Heights-Summit Park-Berkshire Terrace Historic District to the National Register of Historic Places. Now with this Preserve New York grant of $9,120, UHC will hire KTA Preservation Specialists to conduct a Cultural Resource Survey focusing on the University Heights neighborhood located to the west of Main Street in Buffalo's University District, an area threatened by student housing conversions, absentee landlords, and an aging housing stock. Goals for the project include measuring the neighborhood's architectural integrity, gaining a better understanding of the historical development of the area, and identifying whether the neighborhood or portions of it could be considered National Register-eligible. In addition, UHC hopes to add a portion of the Kensington Heights neighborhood to the National Register as a standalone historic district.
The front facade of the Sattler Theater boasts unique terracotta details, but shows signs of deterioration that will be addressed in a future restoration.
Western New York Minority Media Professionals, Inc. $10,000
Sattler Theater, Building Condition Report
In 1914, John G. Sattler built the Sattler Theater on the site of the burned-down Casino Theater, near Sattler’s Department Store at 998 Broadway. Its architect was Henry L. Spann who, with his brother William, designed approximately 10 movie theaters in the Buffalo, NY area. The magnificent theater features a beautiful and unique terra cotta facade. In 1920, John G. Sattler sold the theater to the Basil Brothers, operators of 14 theaters in Buffalo, who renamed it the Broadway Theater. As of 1955, The Sattler Broadway Theater was 1 of only 27 remaining Historical African American Theaters in the United States. A $10,000 Preserve New York grant will enable Western New York Minority Media Professionals to hire Flynn Battaglia Architects to produce a Building Condition Report of the historic theater. This planning document will provide a framework for the organization’s fundraising efforts and assist the theater and Ellicott Development’s efforts with the building restoration process into a movie and performance venue dedicated to student performance arts.
Franklin County
A view of the corner of Constable and Elm in Malone, showing several historic buildings that would be included in the proposed Malone Residential Historic District.
Malone Revitalization Foundation, $9,150
Malone Residential District Cultural Resource Survey
The proposed Malone Residential Historic District is architecturally and historically significant as a largely intact 19th century residence core with over 300 substantial Victorian houses, unaffected by development pressure for most of the 20st century. The age and large size of the homes, combined with a low average income and severe weather, puts these cultural resources at risk of insensitive renovations, degradation, and total loss. A 2017 Preserve New York grant led to the listing of the village’s Commercial Historic District on the National Register, and this year’s $9,150 Preserve New York grant will enable the Malone Revitalization Foundation to hire Adirondack Architectural Heritage to return to conduct a Cultural Resource Survey of the residential area surrounding the Commercial Historic District. This survey will lay the groundwork for a State and National Register nomination and future preservation planning, and the new district will put Historic Homeowner Tax Credits within reach of homeowners to assist with home maintenance and renovations, improving property values.
Greene County
A view of the Second Empire-style Hudson-Athens Lighthouse from the water.
Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society (HALPS), $10,000
Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Building Condition Report
In the Hudson River, midway between the city of Hudson and the village of Athens, lies a sandbar that divides the river for nearly two miles. Once notorious for being covered at high tide, the sandbar known as Middle Ground Flats is a navigational hazard. Construction began on the Hudson City Light, now known as the Hudson-Athens Lighthouse (affectionately, HAL), in 1872. The Second Empire, mansard roofed, two-story brick lighthouse sits in the middle of the river, and its tower rises 46 feet above sea level, making its light visible to mariners for a good distance and protecting unsuspecting vessels from running aground on the treacherous sandbar. Battered by ice floes, time, and the weather for over 147 years, HAL needs significant restoration, both above and below the water line.
Featured by the Preservation League as a 2020-2021 Seven to Save site, and the subject of a 2020 Technical Assistance Grant to fund an Engineering Structural Analysis, the Lighthouse is ready for the next phase of preservation planning. A $10,000 Preserve New York grant will enable HALPS to hire Proper & O'Leary Engineering, DPC to conduct a Building Condition Report, following up on the findings from their mostly underwater Engineering Structural Analysis to include inspection of the main lighthouse structure, a scope of priority repairs and corrective actions, and Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) construction cost estimates for each work phase. This will help position HALPS to launch a capital campaign to fund the work.
Monroe County
A view of the south-facing side of the Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse and Keeper’s House, with informational signage in the foreground.
Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse Historical Society, $8,000
Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse, Keeper’s House and Grounds, Building Condition Report
The Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse is the oldest surviving lighthouse on Lake Ontario and the second oldest on the American side of the Great Lakes. Built-in 1822 by Ashbel Symons who held the contract from the Navy, the building will celebrate its bicentennial in 2022. After nearly succumbing to neglect and disinterest after the Coast Guard discontinued its use in 1902, the Charlotte High School Class of 1965 “adopted” the Lighthouse and generated enough interest that the building was retained instead of being torn down. The Keeper’s House was built in 1863 and remained in use until 1982. Shortly thereafter, the Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse Historical Society was formed to protect and shepherd the site into a new era as a museum and historical site.
The organization has proved to be an excellent steward of the lighthouse, successfully implementing recommendations from an earlier Historic Structure Report (1991, Bero Architecture) and Building Condition Report (2010, Bero Architecture). With the help of this $8,000 Preserve New York grant, the historical society will again hire Bero Architecture to produce an updated Building Condition Report, this time focusing on the Keeper’s House. This document will prioritize maintenance and renovation tasks to ensure the structural safety and historical accuracy of the building for years to come.
Two historic houses in the Highland Park neighborhood of Rochester.
Highland Park Conservancy, $15,000
Highland Park Neighborhood Cultural Resource Survey
The three potential historic districts that surround Rochester’s Highland Park — a masterwork of landscape architecture by Frederick Law Olmsted — are significant for their association with the growth of the city in the mid- to late-nineteenth century. The Ellwanger and Barry Highland area features homes built from 1870-1940. The Azalea Neighborhood is surrounded on three sides by Highland Park and features spectacular views of the Gothic spires of the former Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School. The Mt. Hope-Highland Historic District was listed on the National Register in 1974 and includes several landmark buildings in or near Mt. Hope Cemetery and Highland Park. The buildings and streetscapes in these areas are typical of mid- to late-nineteenth century streetcar suburbs. However, as home values quickly rise, these well-maintained properties face the threat of conversion to multi-family properties that are no longer owner occupied, and the park landscape is threatened by proposed alterations to Highland Reservoir.
With a $15,000 Preserve New York grant, the Highland Park Conservancy will work with the Highland Park Neighborhood Association to engage The Landmark Society of Western NY to complete a National Register nomination for the two eligible districts, Ellwanger and Barry Highland and Azalea Neighborhood, and to present materials for the expansion of the Mt. Hope-Highland Historic District. These designations will allow homeowners and commercial building owners to take advantage of the NYS Historic Tax Credit programs to encourage reinvestment in their homes and communities.
Montgomery County
An aerial view showing the area to be included in an expanded Fort Plain historic district.
Village of Fort Plain, $9,150
Village of Fort Plain Cultural Resource Survey
A reconnaissance survey of the entire village of Fort Plain was completed in 2010, and a National Register Historic District encompassing older sections of the village was listed in 2012. This project aims to expand that historic district to include several historically significant neighborhoods. Properties include an unusual surviving example of an early period canal-side neighborhood opposite an intact canal lock partially reused as a house foundation; a neighborhood representing a variety of vernacular interpretations of popular styles dating from 1880-1920s; the hillside neighborhood adjacent to the large rural cemetery; and two generally intact neighborhoods developed mainly in the 1950s and 1960s that have since become eligible for listing. A $9,150 Preserve New York grant will enable the Village of Fort Plain to hire Jessie Ravage to prepare a National Register nomination of the expanded historic district. This expansion will provide access to historic tax credits for up to 65 properties, increasing private investment in these previously overlooked and undervalued historic resources.
Nassau County
The Science Museum of Long Island operates out of the Norwood House on Leeds Pond Preserve. Credit: Andrew Cronson
Science Museum of Long Island, $10,000
Norwood House & Carriage House - Leeds Pond Preserve, Building Condition Report
In 1898, the Long Island Railroad extended its North Shore line to Manhasset, Plandome, and Port Washington, quickly making this region – Cow Neck – a weekend and summer escape for New York City’s super rich. Robert Ryland Sizer was one of the first to take advantage. In 1898, he bought 10 acres of farmland overlooking Manhasset Bay and Leeds Pond. By 1903, Sizer began construction on a summerhouse, a Caretaker Cottage, a Carriage House, and other outbuildings designed in the late 19th-Century shingle style so popular on Long Island at that time. He named the property “Norwood,” in honor of his Virginia plantation birthplace.
Nassau County purchased the estate in 1970 and created Leeds Pond Preserve. Since 1972, the Science Museum of Long Island (SMLI) has leased Leeds Pond Preserve from the County. SMLI has exclusive use of the buildings and priority use of the grounds., which are used year-round for educational programs. The Museum works with the County to maintain the property. A $10,000 Preserve New York grant will enable the SMLI to hire Design, Preserve, Build Architecture to produce a Building Condition Report for the Norwood House and Carriage House. This report will inform the Museum on ways to reorganize the utilization of building spaces, catalyze the implementation of preservation and restoration capital projects, and encourage their plans to integrate Leeds Pond Preserve into a museum campus.
New York County
An aerial view of a section of the El Barrio/Southern East Harlem survey area. Credit: Dominique Sindayiganza
Ascendant Neighborhood Development Corp., $12,000
Southern East Harlem Cultural Resource Survey
The El Barrio/Southern East Harlem survey area is a diverse mixed-use enclave within the larger Harlem community of Northern Manhattan. In addition to a variety of vernacular residential buildings dating from the late-1800s through the early-1900s, the area features several large-scale mid-20th century residential complexes including multiple public housing campuses. The survey area boasts many outstanding civic, institutional, and religious structures of various architectural styles. Within the proposed study area are multiple individually designated landmarks, including Public School 109, 28th Police Precinct & Fire Engine Co. #53 Houses, St. Cecilia's Church Complex, Public School 72/Julia de Burgos Cultural Center, and the Museum of the City of New York. The area developed over many decades as a predominantly working-class neighborhood, and it has been home to a succession of immigrant groups. The new survey will focus specific attention on the history of El Barrio’s Puerto Rican community and its impact on the (re)development of the neighborhood.
Ascendant, and its partners in the Landmark East Harlem (LEH) alliance, successfully worked to list the East Harlem Historic District on the State and National Registers of Historic Places in 2019. Ascendant and LEH secured a determination of eligibility for the proposed East-Central Harlem Historic District in 2020, and they are working on a nomination to list that historic district in 2021. Ascendant and LEH, along with other local stakeholders, will use their new $12,000 Preserve New York grant to hire Marissa Marvelli to conduct the El Barrio/Southern East Harlem Cultural Resource Survey. The survey will help to identify potential individual State and National Register listings and the boundaries of potential new historic districts.
Ontario County
The Zachary Tiffany House (1840) located at 1910 County Rd. 28 in the Town of Canandaigua.
Town of Canandaigua, $15,000
Town of Canandaigua Cultural Resource Survey
The Town of Canandaigua has a wealth of historic resources, especially rural farmsteads, lakefront homes, camps and cottages, schoolhouses, and cemeteries. The hamlet of Cheshire is a modest but well-preserved enclave of historic homes and commercial/institutional structures. Residential building types range from late 18th century homes to mid-century modern development, and cover the full gamut of architectural styles, vernacular to sophisticated. Despite an active farmland protection program, the town’s historic resources face intense development pressure as farmland and open spaces are subdivided and sold, along with more intensive development of its lakeview and lakefront parcels and a population increase of 40% in just 20 years. Demolition and substantial alterations to its historic structures, especially those along the lake, are on the rise.
A $15,000 Preserve New York grant will allow the Town of Canandaigua to hire Bero Architecture PLLC to complete the second and final phase of a town-wide Reconnaissance Level Cultural Resource Survey. Using the context information from Phase 1, the consultant will develop an Annotated Property List to document the historically and architecturally significant properties in the town, both those that appear to be State and National Register eligible and those with apparent local significance. The completed report will equip the Town to inform the development review process where historically significant structures are concerned, guide local planning efforts for further historic preservation measures, and provide accurate information for public awareness programs of the Local History Team.
Orange County
A historic building on Brookside Avenue in Chester, NY. Credit: Leslie Smith
Chester Historical Society, $5,200
West Chester Historic District Cultural Resource Survey
The $5,200 Preserve New York grant will enable the Chester Historical Society to hire Neil Larson & Associates to conduct the survey and prepare a National Register nomination for a 3.52-acre historic district where the immense cheese enterprise of William Alfred Lawrence (1842-1911) once stood, and where Lawrence’s home and those of his son, grandson and their families still stand. Famous in his day as the manufacturer of Neufchatel and cream cheese, the latter of which he is often credited with inventing, Lawrence was also a significant figure in the history of the Village of Chester, instrumental in its incorporation, and elected as its first president.
The five-parcel area to be surveyed is part of a much larger realm that belonged to Lawrence. Although today the property lies within a busy commercial area along Brookside Avenue in Chester, and is threatened by further development, the surviving structures’ mid-19th Century appearance and integrity remain relatively intact.
Orleans County
The Train Room display at the Median Railroad Museum.
Medina Railroad Museum, $8,000
New York Central Railroad Freight House, Historic Structure Report
The Medina Railroad Museum occupies the former freight house of the New York Central Railroad. Built circa 1905, the 300-foot-long building is bursting at the seams to accommodate collections storage, 40,000 visitors a year, and museum programs. The museum is exploring the possibility of acquiring properties around the museum to create a museum campus. An $8,000 Preserve New York grant will enable the Medina Railroad Museum to hire Clinton Brown Company Architecture to produce a Historic Structure Report to help the museum plan for rehabilitation and reuse of the Freight House and examine the potential expansion onto nearby land to increase display space for railroad equipment.
Otsego County
A view of three residential houses on River Street in Oneonta.
Otsego 2000, $12,500
City of Oneonta Cultural Resource Survey
Settled in the late 18th century, the City of Oneonta remained small until the mid-19th century. The arrival of the Delaware and Hudson Railroad around 1870 changed the city rapidly. From a population of 900, it rose to nearly 9,000 by the turn of the century. The development of Oneonta’s neighborhoods charts the city’s rapid growth; its oldest habitation, the Swart-Wilcox House (1790), is close to the original center of the community. Since the 1940s, there has been remarkably little new construction for a city of Oneonta’s size. Its highly cohesive neighborhoods include Greek Revival, Neo-Colonial, Queen Anne Victorian, Arts & Crafts, Dutch Colonial, and Mid- Century Modern homes and outbuildings. Small neighborhood storefronts as well as churches and schools are interspersed throughout on tree-lined streets.
At present, there are only two small National Register Historic Districts containing 104 properties, and an additional 11 properties are individually listed. Although the residential neighborhoods beyond Walnut Street form the greatest share of the city’s historic infrastructure, these have never been reviewed in a comprehensive fashion for eligibility to be listed in the National Register of Historic Places. With a Preserve New York grant of $12,500, Otsego 2000 will engage Jessie Ravage, who also completed the Oneonta Downtown Historic District nomination, to perform a reconnaissance level survey of the City of Oneonta. The resulting expansion of National Register designations will enable more home and commercial owners to take advantage of the Historic Tax Credits to rehabilitate and maintain their historic buildings.
Putnam County
An exterior stairway of the Town of Carmel’s Historical Society building.
Town of Carmel, $6,200
Town of Carmel Historical Society / Old Town Hall, Building Condition Report
The Town of Carmel Historical Society building was constructed in 1905. It originally served as the Town Hall, the center of municipal government for the community. In the late 20th century, the municipal government moved to a larger building and the old Town Hall became the headquarters of the Town of Carmel Historical Society. Today, the site acts as an archive and small history museum. It needs repairs and accessibility upgrades. A Preserve New York grant of $6,200 will allow the historical society to contract with architect Stephen Tilly to produce a Building Condition Report to identify the extent of the building’s issues and possible solutions.
The basement studio in the Southeast Old Town Hall hosts many events, including Around the Corner Concerts (pictured here).
Town of Southeast Cultural Arts Coalition, $9,600
Southeast Old Town Hall, Building Condition Report
The Southeast Old Town Hall (OTH), a historic landmark on the National Register of Historic Places, was erected in 1896 using designs by Child and DeGoll Architects in the Colonial Revival style. A central focal point in Brewster Village, OTH has served the community for over a century as government center and courthouse, community gathering place, theater, movie house, ballroom, teen canteen, museum, and arts center. This three-story architectural gem currently houses a shuttered theater in disrepair on the top floor, the Southeast Museum on the middle, and a small cultural arts space run by Cultural Arts Coalition (CAC), Studio Around the Corner, in the basement. Unfortunately, the building is challenged with an aging infrastructure. The building envelope and entrance stairs need repair, and the mechanical systems require updates. OTH also needs structural improvements to open its exquisite top floor theater: An extra egress as well as an accessible entrance are required.
A $9,600 Preserve New York grant will enable CAC to hire Lacey Thaler Reilly Wilson Architecture & Preservation LLP to produce a Building Condition Report of the Old Town Hall. Expanding upon previous studies—of the mechanical systems funded by donations to CAC and of the building’s exterior funded through Technical Assistance Grants provided by the Preservation League—the consultant’s report will provide a comprehensive understanding of issues that need to be addressed to appropriately restore and bring the building to its potential. With the theater fully operational, OTH is planned as a regionally-needed cultural arts center, museum, and premiere tourist destination; it is a linchpin for the downtown revitalization of Brewster.
Rensselaer County
A row of homes on 2nd Avenue between 113th and 114th Streets in Troy’s Lansingburgh neighborhood.
City of Troy, $9,100
Central Lansingburgh Cultural Resource Survey
In 1771 Abraham Lansing subdivided the northern portion of Troy to establish the “New City.” It is the earliest settled portion of the City of Troy and contains rare architectural examples from the original Dutch settlement, post American Revolution New England style homes, and regional features such as the Waterford Gable and Greek Revival. A proposed historic district includes many original residential, commercial, religious, and institutional structures, several of which are listed individually on the National Register. While many of the buildings are in great shape and with some investment will maintain their historic character, others are in danger of further deterioration due to general neglect, foreclosures, and absenteeism.
A $9,100 Preserve New York grant will allow the City of Troy to hire a consultant to conduct a Cultural Resource Survey of this endangered section of the city, to create more favorable conditions for multi-family and single-family homeowners as well as commercial property owners who want to invest in their property and neighborhood. Creating the district will present an ideal environment for investment and allow them to take advantage of historic tax credits.
Saratoga County
A photo showing the interior of the Round Lake Auditorium during a Market event.
Village of Round Lake, $8,000
Round Lake Auditorium, Building Condition Report
The Village of Round Lake began as a summer meeting ground for area Methodists. In 1868 the first "camp meeting" was held under the open sky at the present location of the Round Lake Auditorium. The original speakers' stand was expanded, covered, and improved to provide an anchor for the Chautauqua-type programming that replaced the solely religious summer gathering; the present facility was completed and dedicated on July 19, 1885 and expanded in 1888 to accommodate an enormous pipe organ, the Davis Ferris Tracker Organ, which has been designated a National Historic Landmark. The Auditorium continues to be an active venue for organ recitals, music and theatrical performances, and a wide variety of community events.
An $8,000 Preserve New York grant will allow the Village of Round Lake to engage Lacey Thaler Reilly Wilson Architecture & Preservation LLP to conduct a Building Condition Report for the Auditorium. The report will build upon their Master Plan, also completed by LTRW, to address several structural deficiencies including roof loads that have damaged the organ case, deterioration of timber posts in the bell tower, and undersized roof structure.
Steuben County
The Village of Hammondsport contains a wide variety of historically significant residential buildings.
Steuben County Historical Society, $10,000
Village of Hammondsport Cultural Resource Survey
The historic buildings in the Village of Hammondsport include places associated with nationally known aviator and inventor, Glenn Hammond Curtiss; champagne maker Charles Fournier; and Dr. Konstantin Frank who came from Ukraine and developed vinifera wines — impacting the wine industry nationally. The historic resources related to these individuals and their associates, including Alexander Graham Bell and Henry Ford, are slowly being altered or lost due to a lack of awareness of their historic importance.
Thanks to a $10,000 grant from the Preservation League, the Steuben County Historical Society will contract with Johnson-Schmidt Architects, P.C. to conduct a Cultural Resource Survey of the village. The resulting report will begin the process of listing this historically significant area on the National Register of Historic Places, bringing needed financial incentives to homeowners eager to utilize historic tax credit programs for the rehabilitation of their homes, and providing a layer of protection from insensitive development.
Suffolk County
The front facade of the Noah Hallock Homestead.
Rocky Point Historical Society, $6,685
Noah Hallock Homestead, Building Condition Report
The Noah Hallock Homestead, ca. 1721, is recognized as a landmark in Brookhaven Town and was listed on the State and National Registers in 2013. It is one of the few remaining 18th century Cape Cod-style farmhouses in Suffolk County. Seven consecutive generations occupied the house until 1964. The Rocky Point Historical Society is planning for their 25th anniversary by contracting Steward Preservation Services, LLC to produce a Building Condition Report of the Noah Hallock Homestead — thanks to a $6,685 Preserve New York grant. The resulting report will clarify causes of deterioration, identify areas of instability for corrective restoration or repair, and develop work descriptions to assist the Historical Society in obtaining bids for the necessary work.
North End Burying Ground in East Hampton, NY. This view facing south includes historic stone grave markers in the foreground and a windmill in the distance. credit: Zachary N. Studenroth
Town of East Hampton, $5,600
Town of East Hampton Cemeteries Cultural Resource Survey
The historical and cultural significance of East Hampton’s surviving burying grounds, cemeteries, and gravesites is hard to overstate. These sites preserve monuments created to memorialize individual members of the community, and in this way left unique records of the deceased that are characteristic of their time. Collectively, the Town’s burying grounds, cemeteries, and gravesites are a group of historic landscapes that preserve not only headstones but also walls and fences, plantings, and pathways that survive largely intact from the 18th and 19th centuries.
With a $5,600 Preserve New York grant from the Preservation League, the Town of East Hampton will hire the Burying Ground Preservation Group (BGPG) to conduct a Cultural Resource Survey to document historic burying grounds, cemeteries, and gravesites, including Native American burial grounds, with the goal of listing all cemeteries of historical significance within the Town of East Hampton on the National Register of Historic Places. The Multiple Property Documentation Form for these historically and culturally significant sites will enable the Town of East Hampton to prioritize future restoration work.
Tompkins County
Black and white aerial photo of Stewart Park circa 1930.
Friends of Stewart Park, $6,340
Stewart Park Cultural Resource Survey
Stewart Park sits at the south end of Cayuga Lake in Ithaca, NY. Consisting of 170 acres, the park encompasses components of earlier recreational facilities developed from 1894-1935. Its historic resources include the National Register-listed 1894 Shingle-style Cascadilla Boathouse and two additional pavilions, one of which became a film studio around 1914. Stewart Park’s built resources are suffering from the combined threats of weather, insect damage, and deferred maintenance due to lack of funding. Thanks to a $6,340 Preserve New York grant, the Friends of Stewart Park will hire Jessie Ravage to prepare a National Register nomination for the park to enhance the city’s opportunities to attract additional funding for future park restoration projects.
Ulster County
The Reher Center credit: Geoffrey Miller
Jewish Federation of Ulster County, $9,440
Reher Bakery - Historic Structure Report
In 2004, Hyman Reher, the last of the Reher family bakers, deeded his family's buildings at 99-101 Broadway in Kingston, NY, to the Jewish Federation of Ulster County. The newly incorporated Reher Center for Immigrant Culture and History preserves and presents stories with universal appeal about immigration, community, work, and bread. It uses the historic Reher Bakery to forge emotional connections among all peoples through tours and programs. With a $9,440 Preserve New York grant, the Jewish Federation of Ulster County will hire Marilyn Kaplan of Preservation Architecture to conduct a revised and expanded Historic Structure Report (HSR) of the Reher Bakery, incorporating newly discovered historic information and including review of the historic finishes plan developed by Jablonski Building Conservation Inc. in 2012. The updated HSR will focus on the interior spaces to help the Reher Center develop an interpretive plan for the historic bakery building.
Barzin, one of the buildings used by resident artists at the Byrdcliffe Arts Colony.
Woodstock Guild of Craftsmen, Inc., $5,750
Byrdcliffe Arts Colony – Barzin, Building Condition Report
In the winter of 1902, a wealthy Englishman named Ralph Radcliffe Whitehead, and his wife Jane, began construction of the Byrdcliffe Arts Colony on Mount Guardian just outside the hamlet of Woodstock, NY. Seven farms, 1500 acres in all, were purchased for the enterprise. By the time it was completed in 1903, 30 buildings stood, comprising what has been referred to as a “textbook example” of a utopian Arts and Crafts Community. The name “Byrdcliffe” is the combination of Ralph and Jane’s middle names.
With a $5,750 Preserve New York grant, the Woodstock Guild will engage architect Stephen Tilly to produce a Building Condition Report for Barzin, one of 25 buildings on the Colony campus. Barzin, named for former resident and musician Leo Barzin, began as a garage and carriage house, was used as a summer home, and is now home to summer resident artists. The building requires both restoration and winterization to make it usable year-round. A Building Condition Report will pave the way for the fundraising needed to make the necessary repairs.
Warren County
The front facade of Hyde House, currently home to the Hyde Collection in Glens Falls, NY.
Hyde Collection, $9,500
Hyde House, Building Condition Report
Hyde House, circa 1912, was the home of Charlotte and Louis Hyde, who shared their distinguished art collection and stunning home with the citizens of Glens Falls. Designed by notable Boston architect Henry Forbes Bigelow in the style of a Florentine Renaissance palazzo, Hyde House is an impressive example of American Renaissance-style architecture. Today, The Hyde Collection is one of the Northeast’s exceptional small art museums with distinguished collections of European and American art comparable to that of a major metropolitan museum. However, the harsh North Country winters, severe temperature fluctuations, and proximity to the Finch industrial paper and logging complex all contribute to the building's accelerated wear and tear.
The Hyde will use this $9,500 Preserve New York grant to hire Marilyn Kaplan of Preservation Architecture to produce a Building Condition Report (BCR) of Hyde House, focusing on the roof, doors, windows, exterior paint and stucco, balustrades, and foundation line to assess the status of Hyde House’s exterior envelope and drainage. The resulting document will guide the museum in its plan to revitalize the outdoor campus, improve visitor experience and accessibility, and bring Hyde history to life leading up to its 60th anniversary in 2023.
The Preserve New York program is a regrant partnership between the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) and the Preservation League, made possible with the support of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. The Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation has generously provided additional funds to support nonprofit projects in Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
Since 1993, Preserve New York has been providing funds to municipalities and nonprofit organizations that need technical, professional assistance to guide a variety of preservation projects. The historic structure reports, building condition reports, cultural landscape reports, and cultural resource surveys funded through this program lead to positive outcomes across New York’s 62 counties.
2021 PNY Grant Recipients:
Albany County: Village of Voorheesville/Town of New Scotland - $10,000; City of Cohoes - $16,500 | Broome County: Tri-Cities Opera Company, Inc. - $6,000 | Chautauqua County: City of Jamestown - $10,000 | Chemung County: Elmira College - $10,000 | Chenango County: Earlville Opera House Inc. - $8,000 | Dutchess County: Van Wyck Council on the Arts and Culture, Inc., dba Howland Cultural Center - $10,000; Wassaic Project - $8,160 | Erie County: University Heights Collaborative, Inc. - $9,120; Western New York Minority Media Professionals, Inc. - $10,000 | Franklin County: Malone Revitalization Foundation, Inc. - $9,150 | Greene County: Hudson-Athens Lighthouse Preservation Society - $10,000 | Monroe County: Highland Park Conservancy - $15,000; Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse Historical Society - $8,000 | Montgomery County: Village of Fort Plain - $9,150 | Nassau County: Science Museum of Long Island - $10,000 | New York County: Ascendant Neighborhood Development Corporation - $12,000 | Ontario County: Town of Canandaigua - $15,000 | Orange County: Chester Historical Society - $5,200 | Orleans County: Medina Railroad Museum - $8,000 | Otsego County: Otsego 2000 - $12,500 | Putnam County: Town of Southeast Cultural Arts Coalition - $9,600; Town of Carmel - $6,200 | Rensselaer County: City of Troy - $9,100 | Saratoga County: Village of Round Lake - $8,000 | Steuben County: Steuben County Historical Society - $10,000 | Suffolk County: Town of East Hampton - $5,600; Rocky Point Historical Society - $6,685 | Tompkins County: Friends of Stewart Park - $6,640 | Ulster County: Jewish Federation of Ulster County - $9,440; Woodstock Guild of Craftsmen, Inc. - $5,750 | Warren County: Hyde Collection - $9,500
“We are proud to continue our partnership with the Preservation League of New York State to support projects that foster community, and celebrate our State’s rich history” said Mara Manus, NYSCA Executive Director. “NYSCA remains dedicated to preserving New York State’s cultural footprint and we look forward to seeing these vital preservation projects realized. Congratulations to all!”
“Navigating the difficulties and hardships of the past year has been a challenge for nonprofits and municipalities across the state,” said Erin Tobin, Vice President for Policy and Preservation and the Preservation League. “The League is grateful to our program partners at NYSCA and the Gardiner Foundation for continuing to support Preserve New York, which will grant much-needed dollars to so many worthwhile preservation projects this year.”
“The Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation is delighted to have partnered once again with the Preservation League of New York State to support preservation projects on Long Island. These awards prepare our stewards to professionally assess the needs of future renovation and restoration of their historic site, thus saving them as educational tools for future generations,” said Kathryn M. Curran, Executive Director of the Robert David Lion Gardiner Foundation.
