fbpx
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Sign up for Free Newsletter
  • Print Edition
    • Get Home Delivery
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
    • Advertise
    • Customer Support
    • Submit A News Tip
    • Where’s My Paper?
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Movie Night Gift Subscription
Hudson Valley One
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Log In
No Result
View All Result
Hudson Valley One
No Result
View All Result

Williams Lake Hotel legacy honored as developers prepare for demolition

by Frances Marion Platt
April 14, 2016
in Community
1

[portfolio_slideshow id=10592]

 

A press conference last week on the site of the soon-to-be-demolished Williams Lake Hotel in Rosendale was supposed to be a “bittersweet moment” for locals with fond memories of working or playing there in decades past, in the words of project manager Tim Allred. But Anita Williams Peck, granddaughter of the hotel’s founder, first-generation Finnish immigrant Gustave Williams, was thoroughly upbeat about the transition. “I can’t wait for the new,” she said. “There was a rainbow over the lake this morning. That was my Mom and Dad telling me, ‘Go for it!’”

Mom and Dad were the late Marianne and Walter Williams. Walter worked with his father Gustave to establish the hotel in Binnewater in 1929, took over operations in 1945 and rebuilt it after the original building was razed by fire in 1953. Anita took over management upon her father’s retirement in 1987 and ran the place until 2007, when, unable to finance badly needed renovations, she began looking around for a developer.

In the meantime, generations of Rosendalers had grown up swimming in Williams Lake and often getting their first work experience on its staff. Former Ulster County Legislature chairman Richard Mathews was among them, employed by the resort from 1959 to 1964. “I did everything,” he recalled at the press event, “kitchen, waiter, bartender…” He noted that many people of his “vintage” who had worked at the hotel subsequently went on to become successful businesspeople, attorneys and other professionals, and expressed optimism that young people, including college students from SUNY Ulster and SUNY New Paltz, would find jobs at the new Williams Lake Resort being planned. “What will arise will be like Atlantis coming out of the lake instead of out of the sea,” Mathews predicted.

Besides hosting visitors from around the world and providing a beloved swimming place for local residents, Williams Lake became known as an Olympic training site for Nordic skiers in the 1970s and later among mountain bikers for its trail system. Keeping those trails open for active outdoorspeople, along with the recently reopened segment of the Wallkill Valley Rail Trail that passes through the site, is part of the joint vision of Williams Peck and the new developers. She had already set aside over 400 acres of land to the Rondout/Esopus Land Conservancy, to be kept forever wild, before the Williams Lake Project developers acquired the property.

“I was very particular about who bought it,” she noted. “The Finnish tradition is if you cut down one tree, you plant two. And I was brought up in that tradition, so that’s what we did.” Selective tree-clearing for a new access road from Binnewater Road and to remove dead trees from around the property has already begun, along with asbestos abatement at the buildings slated for demolition. “The main building will come down in November, but we don’t know when yet,” said Allred. “This building has some asbestos in it, and it might take longer than we think.” Demolition is scheduled to be completed by winter.

Allred projected that the “infrastructure phase,” including installing water and sewer lines, would take place in the spring of 2016, with actual building construction possibly commencing before the end of the year. “We get to meet with the architects again. The designs need to be updated,” he said. Among other tweaks, according to Allred, the hotel and spa buildings will be nudged closer together so that resort patrons will not have to walk far to use the spa facilities.

“If we get a good amount of work done next year, the soonest we could think about opening would be sometime in 2018,” Allred said. “Today is about Anita and her family.” Williams Peck will be watching the proceedings with great interest from the window of her home on the far side of Williams Lake. “They’re going to do great things, and I want to be a part of it!” she said.

Join the family! Grab a free month of HV1 from the folks who have brought you substantive local news since 1972. We made it 50 years thanks to support from readers like you. Help us keep real journalism alive.
- Geddy Sveikauskas, Publisher
Previous Post

Incumbents triumph in Saugerties: Allen, Helsmoortel, Costello and Thornton re-elected

Next Post

Hudson Valley Seed Library Pack Art Show opens this Saturday at KMOCA

Frances Marion Platt

Frances Marion Platt has been a feature writer (and copyeditor) for Ulster Publishing since 1994, under both her own name and the nom de plume Zhemyna Jurate. Her reporting beats include Gardiner and Rosendale, the arts and a bit of local history. In 2011 she took up Syd M’s mantle as film reviewer for Alm@nac Weekly, and she hopes to return to doing more of that as HV1 recovers from the shock of COVID-19. A Queens native, Platt moved to New Paltz in 1971 to earn a BA in English and minor in Linguistics at SUNY. Her first writing/editing gig was with the Ulster County Artist magazine. In the 1980s she was assistant editor of The Independent Film and Video Monthly for five years, attended Heartwood Owner/Builder School, designed and built a timberframe house in Gardiner. Her son Evan Pallor was born in 1995. Alternating with her journalism career, she spent many years doing development work – mainly grantwriting – for a variety of not-for-profit organizations, including six years at Scenic Hudson. She currently lives in Kingston.

Related Posts

JBee Beauty Supply brings hair care products to people of color in New Paltz
Business

JBee Beauty Supply brings hair care products to people of color in New Paltz

March 31, 2023
30 Hudson Valley Easter events worth hunting for
Community

30 Hudson Valley Easter events worth hunting for

March 30, 2023
Benefit concert for beloved Woodstock musician known for giving back to community
Art & Music

Benefit concert for beloved Woodstock musician known for giving back to community

March 30, 2023
Groups, workshops and book events in Ulster County, Jan. 25-31
Community

20 Hudson Valley workshops, groups and book discussions this week for inquiring minds

March 29, 2023
Historic cliffside steps reopen at Minnewaska State Park Preserve
Community

Parking reservation system for Sam’s Point opens April 1

March 28, 2023
New welcome center opens on Highland side of Walkway Over the Hudson
Community

Walkway Over the Hudson opens elevator, free electric tram and pavilions

March 28, 2023
Next Post

Hudson Valley Seed Library Pack Art Show opens this Saturday at KMOCA

Please login to join discussion

Trending News

  • After months of speculation, Uptown Kingston’s Market Basket reopens for business 1.7k views
  • Students sent to hospital after Rosendale crash involving school bus 1.3k views
  • School “swatting” strikes Kingston High as police issue statewide advisory 1.3k views
  • Stony Run deal passes, not everyone is celebrating 1k views
  • New Paltz Planning Board considers proposal for feline-themed café 638 views
  • Benefit concert for beloved Woodstock musician known for giving back to community 575 views

Weather

Kingston
◉
41°
Cloudy
6:38 am7:21 pm EDT
Feels like: 41°F
Wind: 0mph NNW
Humidity: 89%
Pressure: 29.68"Hg
UV index: 0
SunMonTue
48/27°F
61/43°F
63/45°F
Weather forecast Kingston, New York ▸

Subscribe

Independent. Local. Substantive. Subscribe now.

  • Subscribe & Support
  • Sign up for Free Newsletter
  • Print Edition
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Contact
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Free HV1 Trial
  • Movie Night Gift Subscription

© 2022 Ulster Publishing

No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • Schools
    • Business
    • Sports
    • Crime
    • Politics & Government
  • What’s Happening
    • Calendar Of Events
    • Featured Events
      • Art
      • Books
      • Kids
      • Lifestyle & Wellness
      • Food & Drink
      • Music
      • Nature
      • Stage & Screen
  • Opinions
    • Letters
    • Columns
    • Editorials
  • Local
    • Special Sections
    • Local History
  • Marketplace
    • All Classified Ads
    • Help Wanted
    • Post a Classified Ad
  • Obituaries
  • Podcast
  • Subscribe & Support
  • Contact Us
    • Customer Support
    • Advertise
    • Submit A News Tip
  • Print Edition
    • Read ePaper Online
    • Newsstand Locations
    • Where’s My Paper
  • HV1 Magazines
  • Manage HV1 Account
  • Log In
  • Free HV1 Trial

© 2022 Ulster Publishing