Source: The Cornwall Local
Date: Wednesday, October 7, 1981
Village gallery near the heart of the antique auction circuit
By Kathleen McCullough
What’s “hot” and what’s not at auctions these days depends on a lot of things, including what’s playing at the movies.
For instance, “Mommie Dearest” has caused a surge in interest for Joan Crawford’s era, the 1940’s.
Across the country, look a throwback to the cowboys and the Wild West, is also greatly popularized by the film “Urban Cowboy.”
But while one or two particular styles may tip the fashion at the auction block, auctions are for everyone — from the collector who travels across the country to find the one specific item to add to a collection, to the average homeowner looking for an economical way to purchase quality furniture.
Joanne Grant, co-owner of the Mid-Hudson Galleries in Cornwall-on-Hudson, said the bidding audience at monthly auctions represents a varied mix of people and purposes from as far away as California. She and partner John Fish from Florida, N.Y., draw people from as many as 15 states to bid on any variety of Victorian furniture, American Mission, Oak, or Oriental items.
Their gallery occupies the old Storm King Movie Theater. And although their business is near the top of what Grant refers to as the “heart of the antique auction circuit,” she said buyers can still come away with what she calls “absolute bargain prices.”
A bonus to auction shopping is that a well-cared-for item purchased will continue to appreciate in value as long as it’s owned and kept in good condition.
When Mrs. Grant purchased and sold that first item five years ago, she said she had no intentions of turning it into an actual business. She had taken some items to be sold at a gallery in New York City just as “the heck of it,” she said.
But one thing led to another — and then began the education in antique furniture and auction behavior.
Mrs. Grant dove far into books, classes, and antique guides; a predigested education, she said, in learning the value of a piece. Now she can look at a reference book on a painting or lamp and tell the price and book of its kind, she added.
To write that latter book, Mrs. Grant went to Mexico from a contact there in town. “He showed me lamps,” she said. “The person, who worked in Mexico, actually showed me how to identify antique shades and signatures,” she said. Since then, she and her partner have worked together to build the gallery into a full business and a steady source of income.
Mrs. Grant and Fish had taken trips to Europe looking for new stock. Now they have established themselves to the point where they stay put in Cornwall — the sellers now come to them.
Ninety percent of the gallery’s business is done in consignments, she said. Depending on the value of the item, the fee is from 10 to 25 percent from the seller. Mrs. Grant said she has recently sold a $22,000 lamp. In lesser price ranges, the gallery keeps a lower percentage. This way, the gallery hopes to encourage regular consignors.
Mrs. Grant has been pleased with the way things are going.
The gallery also gives free appraisals on Sunday afternoons, and they send out weekly flyers listing the upcoming auctions.
In addition, she’s working on getting some well-known figures in the antique world to give lectures at the gallery.
Her experience around the gallery made her first attempt a little easier than it would have been for a novice, however. She was already familiar with some of the little bidding quirks some of the professional bidders have, such as giving an almost imperceptible wink, nod or flip of the catalogue to register a bid.
Generally, the novice bidder doesn’t have to be wary of making innocent movements and having those movements taken as a bid. Bidders are watched by the auctioneer — who knows the deliberately raised bid from an innocent one — and he doesn’t want to start a non-bidder in on an item.
To prove that the auction business is one full of surprises, Mrs. Grant told of the unremarkable painting which hung in the gallery lobby for more than a month and was listed in the auction catalogue as “one of canvas, perhaps.”
The painting sold for $9,500 after several bidders recognized it as a painting done by an old Dutch master.
The behavior of the few bidders who were aware of the value of the painting is typical of many of the professional or regular bidders. No one tells anyone if they see something rare and valuable. The less competition, the lower the price they know.
And every serious bidder expects to save 50 percent on what they would pay at a retail store, getting it from a minimal bid. That’s what makes the gallery “so great,” Mrs. Grant said.
Occasionally, Mid-Hudson Galleries takes items to the bigger auctions in New York where a rare piece may go for a better price than it would in the village.
The gallery had acquired a painting by a well-known European artist and took it to the Parke/Bernet gallery in New York City, where they were given a pre-sale estimate of $1,500. Mrs. Grant said the painting was worth more than that, so they withheld it, choosing instead to have it appraised for tax value, as she was offered three levels of value:
$5,000 appraisal for tax purposes
$7,000 purchase price
Insurance appraised for $10,000
These are found only in rare instances — and for good reason. The expenses associated with the operation, particularly advertising and insurance, run into the four figure range.
In order to reach the gallery’s largest and most profitable market, the ads are placed in The Sunday New York Times as well as various antique trade journals. The Sunday paper Times runs the guide to 1,500, but it draws the out-of-state crowd willing to pay the expense if necessary.
Tourists from residents with a direct or indirect interest in the auction are interested in bidding, but it is seldom they win. On October 16 at 6 p.m., Mrs. Grant will hold an auction of vintage clothing and linens. On October 17, nineteenth century and Victorian furniture will be on the auction block.
The items in each auction are displayed in the gallery one to two weeks before the auction so prospective bidders can closely examine them before bidding. If there is any doubt, it is urged they not bid on the merchandise.
The spirit of competition, she said, drives the highest possible price for a valuable item.
And who knows? A careful bidder may spot an irresistible bargain.
ource: The Cornwall Local
Date: Wednesday, September 7, 1983
*Volume 101, No. 35
Violations found at village gallery
by Regina McEnery
Mid-Hudson Galleries, in Cornwall-on-Hudson, has been ordered to correct a number of building and fire code violations, discovered following an inspection of the premises late last month.
The inspection, conducted by Village Building Inspector Frank Schirmer and Water Department Foreman George Burger, showed that exit doors are blocked with various articles, some exit signs are not operating and emergency powered lighting not installed.
In addition, the report said the basement area is strewn with various items, including clothing and furniture, “presenting a serious fire hazard.” Some loose wiring was detected in the cellar area and Schirmer recommended the entire electrical system be checked.
The building, located at the corner of Idlewild and River Avenues, is owned by Joanne Grant, who also owns the business. She also owns the string of buildings attached to the Gallery along Idlewild Avenue including the Idlewild Tavern and The Real Gallery.
Mid-Hudson Galleries was at one time a movie theater, and later a small playhouse. The building, reputed to have been built in 1929, seats about 250 people. Mrs. Grant purchased the building in 1976.
Mrs. Grant said when she bought the building, the cellar area, where the inspection was conducted, was “totally empty.” But the Cornwall Community Theater, which utilized the facility for three years, stored props downstairs and never removed them.
Mrs. Grant said apparently someone had gone through the cellar, strewing the items all over the floor. The group has been contacted by Mrs. Grant, following the inspection to remove their equipment.
The light bulbs, which Schirmer said were burned out, will be replaced said Mrs. Grant, but based upon a separate review of the wiring by her electrician, the owner says there is “no problem from what I can see,” with the system.
Prior to the August inspection, Schirmer had conducted a review of the first floor last October. There were some minor violations, including lack of fire extinguishers and malfunctioning exit signs, most of which were corrected by Mrs. Grant.
However, in the October 1982 report, it was recommended that emergency powered lighting be installed, in the event of a blackout, which is still lacking at the Mid-Hudson Galleries.
As for the latest inspection, Mrs. Grant says she expects most of the recommendations to be enforced shortly, possibly by the follow-up inspection on Sept. 23.
The Cornwall Local
Wednesday, February 20, 1985
Weekly auctions attract bidders to Cornwall-on-Hudson
By Stephen Dehnke
One hand is left waving in the air.
“Sold for $200 to number 561!” auctioneer Joanne Grant exclaims.
Without pausing to catch her breath after two minutes of fast talking, she points her gavel away from the ornately framed countryside painting to the next object on display.
“Next is number 235, a three-piece, 19th century, French silvered bronze clock comprised of a pair of triple-branched candelabra and a central clock, shaped with a porcelain dial. Do I hear $300?!”
Above the heads of a mass of seated people flies a hand waving a placard with the number 483 printed boldly on it. So begins another round of bidding at the Mid-Hudson Galleries in Cornwall-on-Hudson.
Thirty years ago Mrs. Grant of Rock Acres in Cornwall began collecting antiques as a hobby. Today, her hobby has grown into a thriving business.
“Nursing was my profession,” Mrs. Grant said, recalling her first ambitions as a student at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie after graduating from Cornwall Central High School in 1959. “Eventually, collecting antiques took over, taking up all of my interest.”
The wife of New Windsor physician Martin Grant and mother of CCHS students Martin and Jennifer Grant, she set her office next to the auction house stage and recounted how her hobby of antique collecting became transformed into the auction business.
While still a nurse, she operated a small antique store in New York City, on an appointment-only basis. “I was never one to sit in a shop all day and wait for someone to buy something,” she said.
While collecting and selling antiques, writing columns and articles, she wrote two books on antiques. Meanwhile, she acquainted herself with the trade at annual New York City auctions in Park Avenue Armory and Madison Square Garden.
Until then, she had never been serious about making auctioneering a career. Her plans changed though in 1974 when her husband bought the building that once served as Cornwall-on-Hudson’s movie theater.
“I was in New York at the time doing an antique show when Martin called to tell me he bought the building, thinking that it would make a good investment,” she said, describing the beginning of her new life as manager of Mid-Hudson Galleries. “The previous owner, M. Robert Schuster, had also been using it for auctions. He built the exhibition room, the stage and swivel display lights.”
“At first, I had no idea of using it as an auction house. When I came back and saw it I figured that, since I was with antiques in the city anyway, why not give it a try?” Mrs. Grant said.
The former theater was ideal for use as an auction house. Because of its spaciousness, she was able to attract the Max Donner collection of more than 800 costly African artifacts to the gallery, despite high competition from other auction houses.
Recalling one of her most interesting incidents in auctioneering, she pointed to a life-size bronze lying and rider hidden off to the side of the auction room. The statue was once the property of Cameroon tribal royalty. Weighing several hundred pounds and costing $15,000, the object turned out to be the largest object in the Donner collection and also the most difficult to sell.
“It’s interesting it ended up in Cornwall-on-Hudson considering that all of the major auction houses knew about it and were trying to have it shipped to them,” she said.
Mrs. Grant said she was able to persuade the Donner family lawyers that her auction house was spacious enough to store the entire collection, a claim most other auction houses could not make.
“The collection drew people from all over, from at least 20 states, Europe and Canada,” she said.
Most auctions at Mid-Hudson draw bidders from eight to 10 states. “At one auction, two women drove all the way from Virginia just to look at some vintage clothing,” Mrs. Grant said.
Considering that she advertises in the New York Times, Antiques Weekly and other national publications, it’s no surprise that auctions are attended by people from throughout the country.
Lately, though, Mrs. Grant has noticed a growing popularity among local residents, people she previously assumed would not be interested in what she has to sell.
“They were right in my own backyard and I didn’t even know it,” she said.
Because most of auction merchandise comes from estates in the area, Mrs. Grant said she often encounters items of local, historical significance.
“We become knowledgeable of a lot of local folklore. And in a sense, we become the custodians of local history,” she said.
Old photo albums, newspapers, postcards, letters — every item has a story to tell. “We’ve discovered there was a Cornwall potter in the late 1800s who made stoneware and crocks. Most towns had their own there’d be Newburgh pottery, Poughkeepsie pottery, each with the town name clearly stamped inside each piece. Cornwall crocks are not so labeled, though.
Cornwall pottery is gray with blue decoration. It is becoming a bit of a collector’s item. One stamped with I.V. Matchett inside sold for $300,” she said. You’d think after 10 years of watching items, we would see few more of them,” Mrs. Grant said.
One interesting aspect of auctioneering is the continued supply of peculiar items that appears before each auction. Is there a mystery to auctioneering and auction houses?
“Usually,” she responded. “You never know how much a piece on display will sell for. You can never second guess what a collector might want to pay for it.”
Although antiques and art can make excellent investments because their values often inflate rapidly, Mrs. Grant said someone who buys solely for investment misses out on the pleasure of owning the object.
“Some advice I always give about buying antiques and art is that if you don’t like what you see, then don’t buy it.”
Photo caption:
Going, going…
DO I HEAR $300? — Up goes another item on display and on the auction rolls. As a teenager Joanne C. Grant of Rock Acres, Cornwall, began collecting antiques as a hobby. Later she gave up a career in nursing to become an auctioneer. Now she is both the auctioneer and manager of Mid-Hudson Galleries in the old Cornwall-on-Hudson theater next to the Village Office. (Photo by Dehnke)
The Evening News
Friday, January 3, 1986
Storm King Theatre
Cornwall’s unmistakeable piece of Hollywood glamor
By Stephen Dehnke, Staff Writer
CORNWALL-ON-HUDSON — The building at Idlewild Avenue in Cornwall-on-Hudson has been remodeled more than a dozen times and painted countless shades of red. But throughout all the changes, the former Storm King Theatre has remained a constant — even if it was operating under different names.
Earlier days when it served as the entertainment capital of the greater Cornwall area seem long past, replaced by years of inactivity, sporadic use and, most recently, steady operation as a regional auction house.
But the building has not escaped controversy.
Because it was a local landmark and an unmistakable architectural treasure, its dilapidated state prompted former mayor Michael Donahue to suggest a few years ago:
“Either clean it up or shut it up.”
The remark still resonates with current owners Martin and Joanne Grant of Rock Acres.
The Grunts have restored the exterior to its previous sheen, repainted and resurfaced, and replaced the massive neon front sign that still calls the theatre by name, though today it’s a different purpose that’s called an audience inside.
Back in the early 1940s when movies were a premier form of entertainment, studios would lease theaters across the region. RKO, the theatre’s 1940s parent, supplied the Storm King Theatre with reels of first-run movies, posters, ticket stubs, and all the merchandising accessories that helped promote Hollywood glamour in the Hudson Highlands.
The site thrived as one of five area movie theatres, each operating independently under a different national distributor.
Theatregoers, then, in the village of Cornwall-on-Hudson were treated to a regular rotation of box office hits like Gone With the Wind, The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, and Citizen Kane — many of which premiered just days after their debut in the nation’s capital.
“It was a real treat,” one longtime village resident recalls. “You could dress up and feel like you were walking into a palace.”
The theatre was a glittering showcase of Spanish Art Deco flair, complete with rounded marquee, multicolor neon, scroll molding, velvet curtains and a hall of mirrors.
But the magic didn't last. In the mid-1950s the theatre was sold to a group of local businessmen, one of whom was Issac Katz, husband of renowned artist Ella Katz.
The Katz family operated it for nearly a decade. Mrs. Katz, herself a former actress in Yiddish theatre, established a strict code of screening. This, she says, aligned with her moral standards and helped eliminate vulgarity and distortion throughout the 70 mm fakes common to mid-tier B-list theaters.
The building, then called “Madison Hall,” was known for its live readings and dinner theatre format. The stage became a floor for shows and musical recitals. By 1965, the place had once more reopened — Falter’s Theatre.
The old Madison Hall, owned by the Madison family, was again back in service. As part of a historical revival, it became a venue for antique fairs, festivals and lectures. A resident theatre company was formed. In 1966 it was renamed the Storm King Cinema, and hosted stage productions and film showcases for Cornwall High School and the local PTO, as well as plays for fundraising groups.
In its last four years as a movie house, it was the venue for only 12 features, and suffered sporadic showings. Films like Three Penny Opera, The Knack, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Producers were shown to diminishing crowds as ownership changed hands.
Eventually, in the early 1970s, Ella Katz again returned to ownership. Katz was battered with anti-Semitic insults, vandalism, and harassment, as documented in multiple letters she shared with Mayor Donahue. The structure was also vandalized before the theatre closed its doors again. It sat for several years, tax delinquent and unused, before being transferred to Orange County.
A revival of plays under the name “Playhouse on the Hudson” brought A Funny Thing Happened, Three Penny Opera, The Knack, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? and The Producers — with aspirations to restore the building as a center of fine arts and regional culture.
Mrs. Grant was in New York at the time attending an antique show when her husband Martin called to tell her he had just bought the old movie theater.
“We were both in the [antique] field,” said Mrs. Grant. “We felt it had potential. It was in great shape. So we figured we’d give it a try.”
The previous owner, M. Robert Shuster, had been using the space for auction shows, but lacked time to maintain it.
“At first I had no idea it would become what it’s become,” said Mrs. Grant, who now manages the building as both a business and event venue.
Today the Grants operate both Mrs. Grant’s antique and auctioneering business.
Commenting on owning the former Storm King Theater, she said:
“It has been home since 1974. Since then, it has been time to time.”
Source: The Cornwall Local
Date: February 4, 1987
Jerry’s soda fountain goes upstate for $3,250
The room was jammed and the bidding was brisk Jan. 31 as a soda fountain once operated by comedian Jerry Lewis was sold at Mid-Hudson Galleries in Cornwall-on-Hudson.
Joanne Grant, auctioneer and owner of the company, said the Bastian Blessing Fountain is going back to the same general area where it was located for many years. A buyer from upstate Clifton Park bought the ornate fountain for $3,250 plus a 10 percent fee.
The fountain originally came from Averill Park upstate. As a 16-year-old high schooler, Lewis worked the spigots at Silberg’s Pharmacy. Newspaper articles authenticated Lewis’ connection with the fountain and spurred interest in it.
Ms. Grant said the black and orange maroon-trimmed art deco fountain was by no means the most valuable piece sold last Saturday, but it attracted much attention. It was built in Chicago in 1937.
More than 200 bidders were recorded and an estimated 400 people watched the auction. There were people from 21 states.
Source: The Cornwall Local
Date: March 13, 1991
Desmond sale raises $1 million
by Brendan O. Coyne
They included the curious as well as the collectors, the dealers and the auctioneers.
Over a 12-hour period they bid on over 750 lots of items and spent nearly $1 million for them.
The scene took place Saturday at Mid-Hudson Auction Galleries in Cornwall-on-Hudson, where Joanne C. Grant auctioned the magnificent possessions of the late Alice Curtis Desmond. In a strong, clear voice, she acknowledged the bids of those who raised their bidding number cards, at one point dismissing a flip of a cap onto a head as a bid.
Cars were parked everywhere they could be squeezed near the village square and in some places they couldn’t.
At times, perhaps as many as 400 persons jammed the dilapidated former movie theater on Idlewild Avenue. They dressed handsomely and casually, in everything from dungaree to mink.
They packed the gallery and the lobby where a TV monitor was set up so they could see the items being auctioned and bid on them. Others bid by phone from across the country. Bidders from England bought some chandeliers.
Upstairs, Riley’s restaurant set up a refreshment stand. Around the corner, Painter’s Tavern did a brisk business.
A 60-page catalog and nine-page addendum identified Mrs. Desmond’s family heirlooms and the treasures she gathered on trips around the world. They included furniture, mirrors and other furnishings, china, silver and glassware, jewelry, carpets and tapestries, and historic correspondence (of people such as Daniel Webster and Wendell Wilkie).
Proceeds of the auction will benefit The Alice Curtis Desmond and Hamilton Fish Library in Garrison. She left her Balmville residence, the former home to these valuable items, to Mount St. Mary College.
The auction was the largest ever for the 16-year-old gallery. Auctions such as this are usually held in New York City.
Ms. Grant acknowledged that her staff was “taxed to the max,” but she was pleased that the possessions of such a prominent resident were auctioned in the mid-Hudson. The items were on exhibition for a number of days before the auction, climaxing with a “gala champagne preview” the night before. Grant called the auction an “exhilarating project.”
Mrs. Desmond, an author, painter, photographer and philanthropist, died in October at age 93. She traced her illustrious family back to William Bradford, governor of Plymouth Colony established in 1620. She was married to former state Sen. Thomas C. Desmond and former Congressman Hamilton Fish Sr.
at somepoint in the early 90’s Mid-Hudson Galleries stopped operating in the theater and moved. Joanne Grant transferred ownership of the building to Tony Durante but still held the mortgage.
Joanne Grant presiding over the auction of the contents of Tavern on the Green in NYC, January, 2010
Mid Hudson Galleries P.O. Box 305 Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York. A full service auction and appraisal service. Started in 1976 in the Storm King Theatre building on the village square in Cornwall-On-Hudson, Mid Hudson Galleries has conducted auctions and estate sales in the Hudson Valley and beyond continuously for 35 years. Owner, Joanne Grant, is also an appraiser and principal auctioneer for Guernseys in NYC. A division of the gallery conducts on site estate tag sales for heirs and executors utilizing the expertise of four employees who, together, have more than 100 years of experience in the field. Currently a department for the sale of high quality Mexican sterling and costume jewelry is being established. Your items may be shown by appointment at 179 Temple Hill Road, New Windsor, New York, Suite 100B by calling 914 882 7356.
PO Box 305,
Cornwall-on-Hudson, NY 12520
(914) 882-7356
mag2715jag@aol.com
MID-HUDSON AUCTION GALLERIES
www.midhudsongalleries.com
“Village trustees are concerned about theater building safety”
By Patricia Campbell Abramo
The Cornwall Local, Page 1, December 18, 1996
Village trustees came to an understanding with the mortgage holder on the former Storm King theater building on Duncan and River avenues.
At Monday night’s regular meeting, the board asked Joann Grant and several people possibly interested in restoring the building to meet with the building inspector before this Friday to find out what code violations had to be addressed immediately. Safety concerns prompted the board to request the meeting with Grant, whose company holds the mortgage, and building owner Tony Durante. Grant attended the meeting and brought with her several people who would do emergency repairs and might consider full restoration.
Douglas Conroy, Kelvyn Soto and Shaun Fallaby also attended the meeting and told the board they would like to solve the emergency situations.
Building inspector Robert Gilmore inspected the several story building which was the recent home of Durante’s Pub and the Mid-Hudson Auction Gallery. He cited the owner for several code violations, many of which have been cleared up according to Grant now that the building is vacant. Responsibility has reverted to Grant as mortgage holder. Others were a matter of Gilmore’s not being familiar with the building.
Building codes for movie theaters were very strict, Grant told the board. As a result, the Storm King theater is of sturdy construction. “It’s built like a fortress.”
Besides that, Grant continued, $250,000 worth of work was done to the building when Durante’s Pub opened.
While there were enough interior problems that concerned the board, the stone facade outside was another worry.
The other interested parties assured the board they would rope off an area of sidewalk so that people wouldn’t walk directly under the facade. All parties agreed that was the most pressing issue.
The roof was another consideration, but Conroy said law prohibited them from making any large scale improvements to the building which is currently undergoing foreclosure.
The Cornwall Local
October 8, 1997
by Michael A. Falco
The Storm King Theatre! The marquee is still there. Perhaps you’ve noticed the front of the building is covered with scaffolding. Ownership of this sentimental old building has changed hands and it looks like the new guys are making the front area safer.
How many of us remember going to the movies there? How many more remember going to see live dinner theater there? While we wish the new owners, Mr. Yannone and partners well, one can only dream of the place returning to the glory days as a movie house.
There are plenty of us in Cornwall who would gladly go to a terrific old double feature. A revival house. And the parking situation would be on a par with the more recent use of the building as an auction house.
Can’t you almost see that old marquee aglow?
The Cornwall Local
Wednesday, January 29, 1997
‘You fix building or else we will’ trustees warn
by Patricia Campbell Abramo
Owners of the old Storm King Theater building must begin correcting dangerous conditions by today or a village-hired contractor will begin tomorrow.
Because the village board is concerned over the facade of the building, mayor and trustees hired local contracting firm Nannini and Callahan. The concrete scrollwork along the roof line and brickwork above a bow-window of the building at the intersection of River and Idlewild avenues, is separating from its supporting wall. Village officials and consulting engineer Tony Timbrel fear large chunks might fall to the sidewalk and street, particularly frightening since children walk back and forth to school along that route. “The chief has the area under surveillance,” said Mayor Edward C. Moulton Jr.
According to building inspector Robert Gilmore, letters have been delivered to both Joanne Grant, president of the company which holds the mortgage, and to Tony Durante, the owner. The building is in foreclosure.
Nannini and Callahan have estimated costs for the removal will be $4,500.
“I thought we were just going to fence it off,” commented Trustee James Merritt. “I was not under the impression that we were going to dismantle the property for them.”
The fence solution was only a temporary solution, said the mayor.
“It’s essential that we authorize the work to be done to secure the building,” the mayor said. “If the owner does not begin work by Wednesday, Jan. 29, we will act on Jan. 30. A lien would be then put on the property to refund the village’s action. Trustee Eugene Randazzo abstained because Grant is a relative.
The board voted 4-0 approving the action.
Source: The Cornwall Local
Date: Wednesday, February 11, 1998
Theater sign lights up village square again
By Kathy Foote
Although it really doesn’t rival the New Times Square, the neon-lit marquee on the Storm King Theatre in Cornwall-on-Hudson has brought just as many oohs and ahhs from residents and passersby who have marveled at the sprung-from-the-ashes facility.
The red lights of the sign go on at dusk and are the eye-catching beacon in the village circle, matching the bench and the gazebo in the center of municipal importance and much used public space.
Project manager and local resident Gene Duignan has long known and loved the building, with all its quirks and stories.
“It was only a matter of time before the building would have been condemned,” he says, “from the second floor back.”
“The choice was to restore or demolish.”
Restoration work on the outside included bringing in Mid-Hudson Neon to repair the lights.
The marquee and roof had to be reconstructed as it presented the most significant impediment to the building’s structural soundness.
Village officials had become increasingly worried over the past year over the possibility of a piece of concrete loosening from the roof and falling on someone.
“Every other piece of the concrete facade is slightly different,” Duignan worked it out. “The craftsman who worked on it had to reassemble each odd section.”
Inside, the faded old movie theater floor has been stripped and awaits a new base. The decision of what will happen to it is still to be made.
Upstairs, the bright, airy landing awaits the decision about which restaurant will occupy the space.
A waiting list, a restaurant is almost ready to have a new owner and, although the two spaces are not yet linked in a way which allows the two to function together, the building was built to give a two-venue layout.
Duignan noted that the state of the art plans and lots of time and energy have gone into the restoration process. So far, workers have removed three forty-yard dumpsters of debris, although they have salvaged as much as possible.
“We caught this building just in the nick of time,” Duignan adds. “I’m afraid we would have seen this building demolished.”
Captions:
JUST IN THE NICK OF TIME – Gene Duignan is the project manager for the Storm King Theatre renovation and is delighted with the way the project is going. Here he admires the view from the best seat in the house. Where else? The ladies room overlooking the Cornwall-on-Hudson village center.
STORM WARNING – Workers from Mid-Hudson Neon put the finishing touches on the installation of the Storm King Theater marquee. The red light now attracts attention to the building and to the center of the village. Is there a Saturday matinee in the future?
(Photos by K. Foote)