Would house costumes, sets and theater classes
The Philipstown Depot Theatre has proposed building a two-story facility on town-owned property on Route 403 for costumes and prop storage, set construction, rehearsals and theater classes for high school students.
The project, introduced to the Planning Board on Dec. 19, would include public restrooms, and the theater would donate the 3,675-square-foot building to Philipstown and lease it for 40 years. Its classes would cover stage direction, costume, lighting and set design.
Stephen Ives, the Depot board president, said the structure would consolidate “scattered” operations. Its costumes are “wedged into a room” at the Philipstown Recreation Department on Route 9D; props are kept in “moldy, mildew-infested” outdoor containers; and the scene shop is “jammed into a garage” at Winter Hill, he said. Larger props are stored at the town dump on Lane Gate Road.
“That’s been a huge handicap for the theater to try and operate efficiently,” said Ives. He said the theater hadn’t found a suitable building to renovate.
Because the property is within the Scenic Protection Overlay District, evergreens would be planted as screening along Route 403, said Margaret McManus, an engineer with Badey & Watson. Six parking spaces would be created in front of the building, she said.
Water would be supplied from a well the town dug for the Garrison Landing Water District before determining it was inadequate. The theater would install a septic system.
The Open Space Institute donated the property, which has frontage along Route 9D, to the town for recreational use. A conservation easement allows for a storage structure of up to 4,000 square feet and 25 feet high. The nonprofit “has some issues” with the project because it is “slightly too high, slightly too long and the use is not purely storage,” said Ives. “We are in conversations with them about trying to align with their easement.”
Ives said the Philipstown Town Board has endorsed the project for fundraising purposes. The Planning Board scheduled a site visit for 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 5.
Shakespeare housing
The Planning Board closed a public hearing on Hudson Valley Shakespeare’s application to build a 32-bed residential compound for its performers and will consider a resolution granting conditional approval at its Jan. 16 meeting.
HVS wants to construct five residential buildings forming an L-shaped compound in the northwest section of its 97-acre property at the former Garrison golf course. Four of the buildings — two-story cottages totaling 1,000 square feet each — would have two separate bedrooms with a private bath on each floor and a kitchen and living area off the entrance.
Joe Regele, a Philipstown resident who was one of several people who spoke during the hearing, asked how the housing would be used when not occupied by artists. Town law would prohibit artists from occupying the housing for more than nine consecutive months, and during its offseason, HVS would be allowed to rent the units for stays of less than a month. Any offseason lodgers would probably be guests attending weddings at the property, said Adam Stolorow, a representative for the project.
In its application, Hudson Valley Shakespeare said it wants to build the residences at the same time it is constructing a theater complex so they would be ready for the 2026 summer season. With 12 fewer units than the 44 approved in the master plan, the impacts will be “either the same or less as what was previously studied,” Stolorow told the Planning Board at its October meeting.
