Fareground will use former restaurant
The Star of Bethlehem Church won approval to move to a former restaurant in Fishkill that will not only replace its longtime home on Main Street in Beacon but host Fareground, the local anti-hunger organization.
The Town of Fishkill Planning Board on Jan. 11 approved the church’s application to renovate 37 Lamplight St. near the Mount Gulian Historic Site. The building formerly housed a bar and restaurant called Mary Kelly’s and an eatery and banquet hall called the Chateau Beacon.
For more than 60 years, Star of Bethlehem held services at the former Mechanics Savings Bank at 139 Main St. It sold the building in 2021 to Hudson Todd LLC, one of Beacon’s largest property holders, for about $1.25 million.
A lack of parking, especially for older members, precipitated the move; that will not be an issue at Lamplight Street, which the church purchased. The two-story, 12,000-square-foot brick building has 79 spaces.
Star of Bethlehem, which has been worshiping at 9 Hanna Lane in Beacon, could be ready to hold its first service at the new building before spring, said its pastor, the Rev. Daniel Blackburn. With the Planning Board approval, the church can begin renovations, he said.
In pursuit of a new home, Star of Bethlehem lost out on a bid for the Reformed Church of Beacon building on Wolcott Avenue, which the congregation sold to a company that is developing the property into Prophecy Hall, a hotel and event space projected to open as early as 2025. The congregation also looked at a property in Wappinger.
In recent years, the previous owner of 37 Lamplight St. had marketed the building and its 2 acres as a prime location for a brewery, highlighting the site’s capacity to cater events for up to 200 people on the second floor, a 140-seat bar and restaurant on the first floor and a full kitchen on the basement level.
Fareground, which used to be a neighbor of the church on Hanna Lane, will benefit from the kitchen’s two walk-in coolers and its walk-in freezer.
Those amenities are “a game changer for us in terms of the amount of food we’re able to take in,” said Jamie Levato, its executive director. The organization has been operating out of a house on Cross Street in Beacon.
“We really need this space,” she said. “We are often offered a large amount of produce donations, especially in the harvest season.”
In addition to distributing food from local farms and the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley, Fareground operates a network of 13 “tiny food pantries” and two community refrigerators.
The kitchen’s appliances represent “huge potential” for Fareground, said Levato. “We will be working on getting the kitchen up and running at some point.”
