Last week, in the post about a new roof for the Galvan Armory, which houses the Hudson Area Library, I indicated that I could not remember the Historic Preservation Commission ever approving the use of faux slate. Readers have informed me my memory in this instance was faulty. The HPC approved faux slate for the mansard roof at 326 Allen Street.
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| 326 Allen Street with its original slate on the mansard roof |
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| 326 Allen Street with faux slate on the mansard roof |
I was also reminded of another instance of faux slate--at 134-136 Warren Street. Gossips followed the plans for 134-136 Warren Street back in 2014 quite carefully, but none of the posts about the building mention putting faux slate on the mansard roof. Nevertheless, it seems that is what happened.
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| Mansard roof at 134-136 Warren before |
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| Mansard roof at 134-136 Warren Street today |
The Galvan Foundation has proposed replacing the slate roof on the armory with an asphalt product meant to replicate slate. Unfortunately, in the photographs of the product presented to the HPC, the product looks more like asphalt than it does slate.
The HPC is holding a public hearing on the proposal to replace the roof at the Galvan Armory on Friday, September 12, at 10:00 a.m. The hearing takes place in person at City Hall and on Microsoft Teams. Click here for the link to join the meeting remotely. COPYRIGHT 2025 CAROLE OSTERINK
611 Union Street also has a faux slate roof, approved by HPC.
ReplyDeleteThe roof on 611 Union Street is faux cedar shakes not faux slate.
DeleteSee this post about 611 Union Street: https://gossipsofrivertown.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-saga-of-roof.html
DeleteAre we on historic preservation's slippery slope?
ReplyDeleteYes Pete,
DeleteIn my opinion, Historic Preservation has been on the slippery slope for years.
They can be very inconsistant with their rulings and often rule by their personal feelings rather than following guidelines.