Historic Prattsville building getting long-awaited facelift

PRATTSVILLE―A nearly 200-year-old building that once served as the business headquarters of Prattsville founder Zadock Pratt is getting a new lease on life following decades of neglect, flood damage and deterioration.

The Zadock Pratt Museum Board has completed the third phase of restoration work on the historic “Commercial Building,” transforming the long-neglected structure with a fresh coat of red and white paint and improvements to the surrounding property.

Constructed around 1824 with a massive hemlock timber frame resting on a dry-laid fieldstone foundation, the building originally served as Pratt's office, where he oversaw his numerous business ventures, including construction of the tannery that helped establish Prattsville as a thriving community.

Situated along State Route 23 on Main Street, across from the historic Prattsville Reformed Church, the building is among the few surviving structures directly associated with Pratt's life and business enterprises.

During the first half of the 20th century, the building served other purposes before eventually becoming the home of Prattsville-born artist Andrew Dresser, a longtime member of the Zadock Pratt Museum Board.

In 1996, Dresser donated the property to the museum and helped secure its listing on the State and National Registers of Historic Places.

According to Carolyn Bennett, former museum board president and town historian, the board had envisioned converting the building into a regional visitors’ center, capitalizing on Prattsville's location near the borders of Greene, Delaware and Schoharie counties.

“That plan never worked out and the building has sat in almost the same place since the flood of 1996―that flood swept the building off its three-sided stone foundation and stayed propped on steel beams for over 30 years until recently thanks to the work of the current Pratt Museum Board of Directors,” Bennett said.

Despite being displaced from its foundation, the structure survived another catastrophic flood when Hurricane Irene devastated Prattsville in 2011. Although soaked by floodwater, the building did not move another inch.

Nevertheless, the years took their toll. The building remained vacant and boarded up for approximately 14 years, its deteriorating exterior becoming a visible reminder of the damage left behind by the storm.

Efforts to preserve the structure began several years ago when Bennett arranged for the roof to be replaced, protecting the interior from further damage caused by rain and snow.

Restoration efforts gained momentum this summer under the leadership of current museum board President Stephen Birnbaum, who tackled years of overgrowth surrounding the building.

Birnbaum cleared weeds that had reached six feet tall, opening up the property for additional improvements.

Following the cleanup, Joe Van Valkenburgh and his crew from Mountaintop Excavation filled hazardous trenches around the building and added gravel, topsoil and grass seed to improve the grounds.

The work has made the property easier to maintain, with Kenny Mauer helping keep the grounds mowed and trimmed.

With the surrounding property cleaned up, the museum board turned its attention to the building itself, which remained boarded up and covered in peeling paint.

Board members unanimously approved hiring Mejia Reyes and his crew from El Rey Painting & Staining in Stamford to scrape and repaint the exterior and refinish the front door.

The work has given the historic structure a dramatically improved appearance, replacing years of visible neglect with a freshly painted red and white exterior.

For Bennett, the building's preservation represents far more than an effort to improve the appearance of Main Street. It is about protecting one of the few remaining tangible connections to the man who founded Prattsville and helped shape its early economy.

“It's one of two original buildings connected directly to Pratt's life and time still standing. It's older than the Pratt Homestead, built by Pratt in 1828, and used for the last 70 years as the Zadock Pratt Museum,” Bennett said.

“It's the building in which Pratt oversaw the construction of his tannery. It represents business in the early 19th century. I could go on and on,” she added.

While the latest improvements mark a significant milestone, the restoration is far from finished.

The Zadock Pratt Museum Board plans to begin the fourth phase of restoration next year.

“It's an important building,” said Bennett. “But having spent a lifetime trying to rescue many other important buildings and associated structures in the region, I know that it takes an entire town―and its neighbors―to preserve history as important as this.”