NYDUTCHE-L Archives

From: Ginny <>
Subject: Nelson House Might Survive
Date: Fri, 02 Dec 2005 09:34:00 -0500

Friday, December 2, 2005
Nelson House might survive

By Anthony Farmer
Poughkeepsie Journal
http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/frontpage

A plan to demolish a former hotel on Market Street in the City of
Poughkeepsie and replace it with a parking lot may be scrapped next week by
Dutchess County lawmakers.

That was the word from two legislators following a public hearing on the
county's 2006 proposed budget Thursday night at the Bardavon 1869 Opera
House in Poughkeepsie.

Most of the speakers, including City of Poughkeepsie Mayor Nancy Cozean,
called on county officials to abandon plans to tear down the former Nelson
House hotel, part of which dates to the late 1800s, and instead to adapt the
building for another use.

Poughkeepsie resident Harvey Flad, along with several other speakers,
reminded legislators the Bardavon itself was once slated for demolition and
set to be replaced by a parking lot. The Nelson House, directly across the
street from the historic theater, could be reborn too, he said.

"Don't tear it down, reuse it," Flad said.

Legislators are expected to vote on the $367.7 million spending plan for
next year at a meeting Tuesday. Amendments could still be made prior to the
final vote, but major changes are unlikely.

Tax rates up and down

The amount raised by property taxes to support the budget totals $75.9
million, up 7 percent over this year. But due to a $4.7 billion increase in
the county's assessed property value, the actual tax rate is going down 10
percent. The exact rate will vary from town to town based on equalization
rates.

Immediately following the hearing, Legislator Marc Molinaro, R-Red Hook, and
Majority Leader Noreen Reilly, R-Hyde Park, said they plan to have the
demolition of the Nelson House removed from the county's 2006 capital
improvement plan, also scheduled to be voted on Tuesday.

Molinaro said tearing down the Nelson House, or any other historic building,
should be a last resort.

"We all share a serious concern," Molinaro said about the proposal. "We're
going to talk seriously about whether it belongs in the capital plan at this
time."

U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-Hurley, wrote to legislators and other local
officials Wednesday requesting they save the building.

The former hotel hosted a wide array of guests, including musicians George
M. Cohan and Cab Calloway, automaker Henry Ford and inventor Thomas Edison.
It also served as the summer executive office building for key White House
staff who came to Dutchess during the years President Franklin D. Roosevelt,
a Hyde Park resident, was in office. It has been vacant since 1996.

The developer of Dooley Square, housed in the former J.D. Johnson Building
near Poughkeepsie's train station, said the Nelson House holds as much
promise as that building, or the Luckey Platt building on Main Street, which
is undergoing renovations. The possibilities are unlimited, said Bob Dooley.

"It kills me," Dooley said. "We knock away and destroy our history."

Anthony Farmer can be reached at
-----------------
Ginny

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