Preservation of the Poughkeepsie Municipal Building

PRESERVATION OF THE POUGHKEEPSIE MUNICIPAL BUILDING

Several years ago at an annual meeting of the Historical Society the proposed City Hall complex to be built under an Urban Renewal project in the vicinity of the Post Office plaza was discussed. It was pointed out that our present Municipal Building at the corner of Main Street and Little Washington Street would be abandoned. A resolution was passed and sent to the officials of the City of Poughkeepsie urging the preservation of the building and suggesting its conversion to a suitable museum.

Poughkeepsie has few old landmarks, and the Municipal Building, formerly the Village Hall, is the only public building standing that represents early Poughkeepsie, the Poughkeepsie Village.

Authorization for a "new market and village hall" occurred in 1831 at a village meeting, and on May 24 of that year the trustees voted the payment of $6,000 to Paraclete Potter and Gilbert Brewester for the site. On June 13th an additional piece of land was purchased of Benjamin Howland at a cost of $1,000 for the purpose of "Steighting the Market site" and giving sufficient room for the fish market.

On July 11, 1831 the Trustees ordered public notices published for proposals "for building a public market 90 feet long and thirty-six feet wide, two stories high to be built of brick in a good substantial manner, and the upper part to be finished for public rooms." John B. Forbus, James B. Frear and A. J. Coffin composed the committee for the village and in August 1831 they contracted with John G. Sturgis and William Carey who agreed to put up the building for $7,200. The building was completed before winter. This structure is of the simple Federal type of architecture with bell tower at the front of the peaked roof. Each window was equipped with wooden blinds and the front door was recessed back of a small one-storey portico. The lower floor was used until the Civil War years as a market, the second floor for town offices. By 1860 the first floor had been partitioned off for a Recorder's court room, an office for the Superintendent of the Poor and a meeting room for the members of volunteer fire fighters of Protection No. 1 Engine Company. In 1865 the partitions were removed and work of refitting the building was commenced.

Late in the year 1865 Albert Van Kleeck, postmaster, moved the office from the corner of Union and Market Streets where it had been since 1851, to a portion of the first floor. At that date the Council met in the area of the northwest corner of the second floor and it was not until 1869 Council Chambers were built in the rear portion of the second floor.

As far as can be determined the bell in the tower is the one installed when the building was built and was rung each 4th of July, tolled when Lincoln's funeral train reached Poughkeepsie, called the firemen for every fire for seventy-five years, and in the early years of

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the 20th Century announced the nine o'clock curfew.

For one hundred thirty-five years the Municipal Building, or as it is known today as City Hall, has served well, but it is not adequate for its continuance for the offices of our city. The Historical Society is in complete accord with the plans for a new and modern City Hall complex, but the members of the Society believe firmly that our 1831 Village Hall should be preserved and put to good use.

Through the efforts of a member of the Historical Society, we have been very fortunate to have a visit by I\4r. Frederick L. Rath, Jr., of the New York State Historical Association of Cooperstown, New York. Mr. Rath spent a day in Poughkeepsie examining the City Hall building as well as the site of the proposed new City Hall complex. He met at luncheon with city officials, representatives of the press and radio, and officers of the Historical Society, and gave his views on preservation and use of historic buildings. Shortly after his visit Mr. Rath wrote a detailed feasibility study relative to the preservation and use of City Hall which confirms the Historical Society's belief that the building should be saved.

Mr. Rath's report, which has been forwarded to Mayor Mitchell and City Manager Mauer, suggests that the old structure be used for a "Living Museum," coordinated with the educational needs of the whole community, not alone Poughkeepsie, but also Dutchess County and the count:es on the west side of the Hudson River, coordinated at all levels of education: primary, secondary, college and adult extension. The feasibility study continues: ". . . working with your local educators you would help to create an atmosphere where sights and sounds, the feel, and even the smells of the past could give a new insight into the past. . . . It might be well to offer a reminder that the study of history as here conceived is not just a study of dates and events and people. Localized history is a microcosm; extended, it is our State and National history. It deals with economics (from early industry and river trade to modern industry), with the development of government, with language and literature, and with fine arts. By giving a thorough grounding with the familiar (or that which should be familiar and too frequently isn't), it prepares the mind to deal with the less familiar. Here then is where I think the challenge lies for Poughkeepsie: not to think simply in terms of this building as a building, but to think of it as a center for inspired learning about the past."

The Historical Society is deeply grateful to Mr. Rath for his informative and constructive report, and it is hoped in future planning for our community the City of Poughkeepsie will ask him for further advice.

Recently it has been indicated that preliminary plans for a Dutchess County Court House and parking facilities to serve future needs of the County include not only the present Court House plot but also all the land between Main Street and Union Street to the west, now occupied by Little Washington Street, Phoenix hose fire house, and the Strand theater building. The western boundary of the proposed Court

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House property when completed would extend to new Route "9 which crosses Main Street west of the corner of Main and Washington Streets. If this plan is adopted the hopes of the Historical Society to preserve City Hall at its present location cannot be realized. However, if the Court House plans to use the land which includes the City Hall are made final, the Trustees of the Historical Society as well as many other interested citizens believe that it is entirely possible and practical to move City Hall to the new complex in the Post Office plaza area, to stand for many more years as an historic building and to be used and enjoyed by future generations in the community as a "Living Museum." THE EDITOR.

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