Review Board Pushes Back on Fate of Historic Butterfield Hospital
Last week, the Village of Cold Spring Historic District Review Board held a lengthy discussion with developer Paul Guillaro, urging him to consider ways to retain all or parts of the historic Butterfield Hospital building instead of demolishing it to make room for the mixed-use development proposed for the site on Route 9D.
With the board members stressing the historical importance of retaining the building, they requested that Guillaro return to the board at a meeting to be held at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 19 to present several options on the technical feasibility of keeping the entire building, including additions that were made in later years, or the original structure that was constructed in 1925.
“I think there are possibilities we would like to pursue before dismissing them….until we see limitations…I think that is part of what we have an objection to,” said Al Zgolinski, chairman of the review board.
Throughout the meeting, Guillaro said that retaining the old hospital building was not economically feasible for several reasons.
Board members asked if possibly the post office, proposed to be housed in a newly constructed building, could take up space in the hospital, if renovated.
Guillaro said a representative of the U.S. Postal Service told him the physical specs of the building, such as the height of ceilings, were not suitable for the post office’s purposes.
Board members also suggested that a new building proposed to be comprised, in part, of offices leased out to village, town and county agencies, could instead be absorbed into the old hospital if renovated.
Guillaro said that renovating the dilapidated hospital building, which, in itself, was financially burdensome, would result in an estimated 40,000 square feet to lease out.
“To absorb the balance of that in this market is not going to work,” he said. “A renovation will not work from an economic point of view.”
Guillaro said even if the post office, with the municipal offices, moved into a renovated hospital, that would only amount to 15,500 square feet.
“No bank is going to give us financing unless two thirds of it is leased,” he said.
Board member Carolyn Bachan said Cold Spring was woefully short on office space and residents had to go elsewhere for everyday, basic services.
“A lot our dollars are spent in Fishkill…We end up spending our money in Dutchess County,” she said
Bachan also said that a recent tour by the board of the hospital revealed extraordinary views from the roof. Several of the board members noted that a precedent might be in place to construct a third floor for apartments, as one existed on the original building. It was then noted that this was a matter to be taken up and decided by the village’s zoning board.
An architect working with Guillaro said the old hospital building would be an extremely hard sell to retailers, as much of the old hospital building is not satisfactorily visible from Route 9D.
The architect explained that if a site is even marginally unappealing, retailers will simply locate somewhere else.
Guillaro suggested that possibly structural and keepsake elements from the old building could be salvaged and employed in a new building with an exterior reminiscent of the original hospital.
“Doing a replica…would not be the same,” Zgolinski said.
