Bannerman celebrates 30 years of performances
Three decades ago, Neil Caplan and his wife, Darlene Swann, thought that staging theatrical productions on Pollepel Island between Beacon and Cold Spring would be a good idea. “We saw a picture in a book and became obsessed,” says Caplan.
People called them crazy, but this weekend’s run of Dracula, which unfolds with the island’s decrepit mansion as a backdrop, sold out long ago.
Now, the place is known as Bannerman Island, after its former owner, Frank Bannerman, who erected a sign on the island with his name. Caplan, who incorporated the nonprofit Bannerman Castle Trust in 1994, solidified the misnomer. The couple also runs the Swann Inn in Beacon, where paintings of the island adorn the walls.
At the opening of the trust’s 30th anniversary exhibition at its Main Street gallery in Beacon on Sept. 14, Mayor Lee Kyriacou recalled the time “when these nutters from Brooklyn moved here with the wacky idea to bring theater to the island,” he said, lauding their “passion for the community.”
Frank Bannerman peddled surplus Army and Navy gear, including live artillery and gunpowder, which got him kicked out of Brooklyn after he acquired 90 percent of the leftover material from the Spanish-American War.
In 1900, he bought the island to store his combustibles in a series of warehouses that resemble a castle he had sketched in Belgium. But faulty construction, coupled with an explosion and fire in 1969, made the structure unstable. Now, six metal braces prop up the western wall. The trust cleared trails, replanted gardens and renovated the house with help from Bannerman family members.
The centerpiece of the anniversary exhibition at the Bannerman Island Gallery at 150 Main St. is Frank’s restored rolltop desk. A photo of him sitting in front of the desk at 501 Broadway in Manhattan often appeared in the company’s catalog. “It was in pieces, and a drawer was missing, but we found someone who did an amazing restoration job,” Caplan says.
Other highlights include Civil War and Spanish-American War artifacts. A savvy marketer, Bannerman sold uniforms to marching bands and turned bayonets and the crowns of military helmets into candleholders, examples of which are displayed at a modest museum in the main residence on the island.
Another prized possession on display at the Beacon gallery is the sword that Jane Campbell Bannerman used to cut her wedding cake when she married Charles Bannerman, Frank’s grandson. Early in the relationship, she painted a landscape on the island and her beau laughed because it depicted the elaborate men’s latrine.
The exhibit also includes photos and visual artworks, including two of the 72 portraits by 19th-century Boston artist Francis William Loring that the trust found in the estate’s possession.
An airborne shot by Linda Hubbard reveals the elaborate breakwater, now submerged, on the island’s southern side. One of its faux turrets is visible as the tour boat approaches the dock.
Other contributing artists include Virginia Donovan, Amanda Epstein, Tony Gabel, Mary Ann Glass, Alec Halstead and Andre Junget.
Without the trust, the historic artwork and ephemera would have been scattered to the wind as the island’s infrastructure decayed, but Caplan says he refused to take no for an answer. Things snowballed as he rounded up funding, developed a network of dedicated helpers and worked with the state, which owned the island and designated it to remain forever wild.
In the late 1800s, before Bannerman took over, vandals and partyers ran wild. They returned 100 years later, in the mid-1990s, when state parks began partnering with nonprofits and figured that stewarding and restoring the island could stem the rowdiness and promote tourism.
As more people shuttled from Beacon, the trust added a staircase, bathrooms and a modest concession stand. At the new deck, halfway up the hill from the dock, visitors congregate in the shadow of the ersatz castle’s facade before boarding the return boat. “There’s still a lot of work to do to save those buildings, which is what people come to see,” Caplan says.
The Bannerman Island Gallery is open Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 5 p.m. The 30th anniversary exhibit continues through Jan. 31. Caplan will discuss the island at a tea at the Swann Inn on Sept. 29; tours continue through October. See bannermancastle.org.
