The rotted docks are gone. So too are the non-historic windows at one of the buildings at Lynch’s Marina.
Village of Saugerties Historic Review Board chair Jonathan Shapiro calls the unintended faux-pas an “oops moment.” A worker removed all the windows from the building, while building code officer Eyal Saad was on vacation.
Marina owner Tom Struzzieri had applied for a building permit to do work on one of the buildings at the marina, which he plans on turning into a wedding and catering hall. As part of the application, he listed the removal of the windows from the building.
Saad said on Monday that he crossed out the window removal when he reviewed the application, and told Struzzieri’s engineer that he had to apply to the village Historic Review Board for approval before work on the windows could begin.
“I went on vacation for a week, and the windows were gone,” Saad said. The engineer told him that they had missed Saad’s comments about the windows.
Saad said that windows were installed that had no historic value during one of the renovations on the building over the years, “Originally only shutters, that are still there, covered the openings,” Saad said.
While workers removed windows that were not historic, they still needed to come before the HRB because the marina is in the historic district. “When I told them about the removal of the windows, the historical architecture firm was very apologetic and quickly made an appointment to go to the HRB the following week,” Saad added.
Shapiro said Struzzieri’s representative came before the HRB last week and again apologized. “They told us they want to do this the right way,” Shapiro said. “They apologized, and nothing historic was lost.”
In addition to replacing the windows, the building permit included replacing the wooden floor and repointing the bricks inside the building.
Saad said the flooring had been ruined by flooding. During superstorm Sandy, the marina was under about four feet of water, and everything in the building was ruined.
The rotted wooden flooring has been pulled out (no HRB approval was needed), a drainage system was installed, and a concrete flooring was poured that will mitigate future flooding problems. Workers also removed the rotted, broken docks next to the Esopus Creek, and a new docking system will be installed later this spring.
When work is completed, weddings and banquets will be held in the renovated building. New docks will be installed, and there will be a public boat launch at the marina.
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