Untitled (2)Wappinger F VPs New Town Hall
BY NATHAN DYKEMAN
WAPPINGERS FALLS—The
ToWn of Wappinger soon may
move from hid,
only home it'
eves' has had, a rather plain
log jfitg three-story building on
}} Street in this village.
The building is only "a hop,
ikip and jump" away from the
WappingersCreek, w h i c h
forms the Wappinger boundary
line with the Town of Pough-
keepsie.
Wappinger's Town Hall, if it
is moved, will go about three
miles outside the village to
Myers Corners Road. This site
is comprised of 23 acres and
contains a modern structure
used for several years by the
International B u s i n e s s Ma-
chines Corp.
Although Wappinger is now
the second most populous town
in the county, with 22,040 resi-
dents in the 1970 census, it was
not until 1956 that it had a
"home" for town offices and
records, according to Town
Historian Virginia Ferris.
Mrs. Ferris has learned from
old-timers in the village and
town that Wappinger had no
town hall as such in its 81
years prior to 1956.
She said old-timers recall
that the town clerk and tax
collector kept their own rec.
ords in their houses. Meeting:
(and usually there were only
two a year) were conducted it
a room over the First Nationa
Bank (now the Wappinger:
Falls branch of the Marin
Midland National Bank) a
Mill and East Main Streets.
This is only a matter of feet
}pm the Mill Street Town Hall
suflding.
Froin 19$6 to 1964, the town
rented office space on the first
flooratpf the building after the
WappfI i Savings Bank, still
on Mill Jtrvk, moved out. To-
ward the end of this time, the
town also rented a former
store (Strippel's) which it con-
verted into a meeting room.
Before that time. board meet-
ings had been conducted in
the town clerk's office which
had space for about 15 to 20
persons.
The Wappinger Town Board,
tamplated for Wappinger town offices which lure on rviyers k urueia ,."au —,,,,, ,,,,-
have been housed since 1956 in a three-stery a referendum on its purchase will appear on
brick building on Mill Street (below). A price the Nov. 7 ballot in the town.
then headed by Supervisor
(now a county representative)
Richard H. Linge, made no
hasty decision when it ao-
quired the Masonic building
for $15,500. Early in 1964, sev-
eral months before the de-
cision, the board had been con-
sidering the 16 -acre Bisnoff
tract on New Hackensack
Road as a site for construction.
The price for this property was
$48,000.
Coincidentally, the site selec-
tion committe for a Wappinger
Town Hall at that time was
headed by Harry Holt, who
now is a town councilman.
The cost of the new building
and property, which .may be
purchased if Wappinger voters
approve Nov. 7, is $300,000.
The building is comprised
of 25,000 square feet and is
one story high. It is owned by
XYZ Associates of which
Eugen Schuele is an officer.
As for the Mill Street build-
ing, which already is definitely
tied to early Wappinger his-
tory, more may be in store.
officials of Wappingers Falls
village have made it known
that they want first option on
the property if the town de-
cides to leave it.
For some time, the village
has wanted to move out of the
Mesier Homestead, which now
houses the village police de-
partment as well as village of-
fices.
Historically minded residents
of the village would like to turn
the Mesier Homestead into a
historic site since it dates back
to the 1700s. This transforma-
tion would mean moving vil-
lage offices to another place.
This move. combined wit]
the town's relocation on Myers
Corners Road, could start a
since the village marked its
new chapter in village and
the et is two o, and
town history.
B o t h are comparatively
willl celebrate 100
years of growth just three
young in old Dutchess County
years from now, in 1975.