NYSDEC PRESS RELEASE - April 18, 2008 Contact Wendy Rosenbach at 845.256.3018 Public Meeting to Discuss Plans for Removal of Coykendall Lodge Saturday, April 26th - 10:00 AM to Noon Hardenburgh Town Hall 51 Rider Hollow Road in Mapledale (Arkville) DEC will be holding a public meeting to discuss plans for the removal of Coykendall Lodge at Alder Lake in the Balsam Lake Mountain Wild Forest of the Catskill Forest Preserve. "DEC staff, along with stakeholders interested in the fate of Coykendall Lodge, have spent many years considering various alternatives for the reuse of the lodge, but unfortunately we have reached a point where the continued deterioration of the structure presents an unacceptable hazard to the public," said DEC Regional Director Willie Janeway. Along with plans to safely remove the lodge, at the meeting we will be discussing plans for rehabilitating the site, including preserving the stone elements of the building that do not present a hazard to the public, and interpretation of the historic, cultural and environmental features of the property. Background: Coykendall Lodge is three-story, wood-frame building with a stone foundation built by Samuel Coykendall in 1901. Coykendall was a prominent financier and railroad owner of the times. The lodge is located on the western shore of Alder Lake in the Town of Hardenburgh, Ulster County, approximately 20 miles north of the Village of Livingston Manor (Sullivan County). The remains of a fish hatchery, a single-story wood frame structure (20' x 30'), is located nearby. The Coykendall family sold their Alder Lake property to a trout fishing club from Liberty in 1945; in 1960 the Boy Scouts of America acquired the property for a summer camp. New York State acquired the property by friendly appropriation in 1980. Since acquisition by New York State for inclusion in the Forest Preserve, little has been done with either the lodge or the hatchery. After operating a modest YCC (Youth Conservation Corp) Camp for one summer shortly after the acquisition, the lodge has remained unoccupied and unmaintained. Over the years, both vandalism and the weather have taken their toll on the lodge and hatchery. Historic Designation: In 1985, NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation (OPRHP) reviewed the Coykendall Property and concluded that both the lodge and hatchery met the criteria of both the State and National Registers of Historic Places and were eligible for listing. Despite this designation, after many years of discussing possible alternate uses and funding options with a variety of interested parties no feasible adaptive alternative was identified. Continued deterioration of both structures led DEC to conclude that demolition of the lodge was inevitable due to the hazards posted by a large structure in such poor repair. In 1997, OPRHP officially agreed with DEC's decision to go ahead with demolition plans as long as DEC adequately documented the historic significance of both structures, which has since been done to OPRHP's standards. In 1998 a group of concerned citizens formed the Alder Lake Restoration Society and successfully petitioned the Governor and the Department to hold off on demolition of the lodge so they could explore the feasibility of restoring and reusing the lodge. They completed a "Feasibility Study for Restoration and Adaptive Use of Coykendall Lodge" and were successful in getting the Coykendall Lodge and hatchery listed on both the State and National Register of Historic Places. Unfortunately, despite their efforts and enthusiasm for this unique property, a feasible use for the lodge could not be identified. Working together, the Alder Lake Restoration Society, DEC and OPRHP concluded that the time had come to focus attention on addressing the hazards posed by the advanced state of deterioration of the building, reclaiming and preserving the stone elements of the site and developing an interpretive plan that tells the story of the role this property has and will continue to play in the history of the Catskills.