COPAKE—You’d never know by looking at it, but “The Land of Rural Charm” turns 200 in 2024.
When the town initially appointed a committee and began planning this once-in-several-lifetimes event many months ago, the idea was to wait a year, until 2025, to celebrate.
By then, town officials were confident the long-awaited multi-million dollar Copake hamlet “County Route 7A Reconstruction and Preservation Project” would be completed and all the festive activities planned could take place in and around the bright and shiny new streets.
But the project, which has been talked and dreamed about for more than 20 years, has now hit another bump in the road and will not even start until the spring 2025, Copake Supervisor Jeanne Mettler reported at the April 13 Town Board meeting.
The recent turn of events has caused officials to rethink the idea of holding off the celebration until 2025, since the construction project will then be ongoing, and instead hold the 200th birthday party in 2024 when it is rightfully supposed to be.
The latest snag related to the reconstruction project has to do with the plan to move the Copake Memorial Clock from the center of intersection, where it sits on a small grassy island with some war monuments. The plan is to move the clock a short distance away to the south, out of the road and in front of the Clock Tower Grill.
Ms. Mettler reported that Columbia County Department of Public Works Commissioner Ray Jurkowsi told her the state Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) says there is a problem with just moving the clock, which appears on both the State and National Historic Registers. The problem is—not only is the clock on the registries, but the grassy circle is too. SHPO considers the absence of the circle as part of the clock move “a loss which must be mitigated,” the supervisor said.
She went on to say that the county can help mitigate the loss by conveying land between the present circle and the Clocktower Grill to the town, which will then maintain it as a town park, as it does now.
But the additional steps will take time and require a “4F” review by state and federal government offices which will take until December 2023. The review, in turn, will delay the final designs by Greenman-Pedersen, Inc. (GPI), the project’s engineering/design firm—the bottom line is no shovels in the ground until the spring 2025.
The many-membered Bicentennial Committee has already stated planning the 200th birthday bash and met at Town Hall this week.
Ms. Mettler is the Town Board liaison to the committee, which is chaired by Kellie Nardin and three honorary chairs, Flora Bergquist, Edgar Masters and Angelo Valentino.
Many events are still in the planning stages, but there will definitely be a ceremony and reception at Town Hall April 4, 2024 to kick-off birthday festivities and an appropriately magnificent parade with all the trimmings will take place in the summer 2024. The Roeliff Jansen Historical Society will host an exhibit on the History of Copake and the Copake Historic Preservation Committee is getting plaques for historic houses and other buildings throughout town, bearing the dates the structures were built. A map of these places will be distributed so people can take a tour and see them identified.
Vice chairs of the Bicentennial Committee are Lesley Doyel and Liana Gaston. Other members are: Lindsay LeBrecht, MaryAnn Fallon, Vana Hotaling, Cyd McDowell, Bob Callahan, Sue Hallenbeck, Winette Edge, Howard Blue, Roberta Roll and Gina White.
All finalized events will be announced at a later date.
Supervisor Mettler, who is already looking forward to it, says the year-long party will be a “hoot.”
To contact Diane Valden email dvalden@columbiapaper.com.
