Gellert and the Doors

In May, Phil Gellert appeared before the Historic Preservation Commission, responding to a notice of violation. He had removed and destroyed Victorian doors from a building he owns at 223-225 Allen Street and replaced them with mismatched metal doors. In the process, the Greek Revival sidelights were covered with plywood.

Hudson's preservation law requires that Gellert return the building to the way it was before the violation, which means that he would have to replicate the doors that were destroyed, but Gellert appeared before the HPC on Friday morning with a different proposal. He wanted to remove the plywood to expose the sidelights and install wood doors like the ones on a building that he owns in Philmont: 108-110 Main Street. "I think it's attractive," Gellert said about how the doors would look in the entrance to the building on Allen Street.

The HPC determined that the doors were inappropriate substitutes for the doors that were destroyed and asked Gellert to postpone all work on the entrance to 223-225 Allen Street until appropriate doors were proposed and approved.