Time has run out for Rumsey Hall

CORNWALL — Rumsey Hall, the once-stately Greek Revival edifice in the center of the village, is slated to be torn down. Building official Paul Prindle has condemned the building, deeming it unsafe. Owner Drew Hingson has applied for a demolition permit.

The news is bittersweet for residents and town officials. While it has become an eyesore that is apparently beyond the means of anyone willing to renovate it, it was once a singularly beautiful and exceptionally large building with a rich history.

Since 1990, it has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places, with the designation of “threatened.�

A brief history

It was built in 1848 as the Alger Institute, a private school for boys. It was later home to the Housatonic Valley Institute. At the turn of the century, the private Rumsey Hall School moved from its founder’s home in Seneca, N.Y., to Cornwall. The school used the former Cornwall Mission School buildings. The hall was used mainly as a gymnasium.

The school moved to Washington Depot in 1949. Rumsey Hall was purchased by a local couple, John and Nora Wise. In 1956, when Marvelwood School was established in Cornwall, it leased Rumsey Hall, but preserved the name. Marvelwood moved to Kent in 1995, but had already vacated Rumsey, having built a new gym.

The building was offered to the town upon the death of Nora Wise, by then a widow. At a town meeting, residents voted to accept it.

Too expensive to renovate

“There were two ideas: to turn it into affordable senior housing, or a town hall,� First Selectmen Gordon Ridgway said at the Sept. 22 selectmen’s meeting.

The Cornwall Housing Committee spent eight years trying to find a way to make senior housing work there.

“I believe they determined it would cost more to renovate and bring Rumsey up to code than it would to build new,� Ridgway said.

Although the current Town Hall was then occupied by the Cornwall Library, and the selectmen’s office crammed onto the building’s stage, residents voted down the second idea. The selectmen recalled that it coincided with a school addition project.

In hindsight, the beginning of the end probably came when the 1989 tornado blew the roof off the building. Rain soaked the inside, hastening its deterioration. A tarp has covered the building since.

In the early 1990s, Drew Hingson bought Rumsey from the town for $150,000.

“The decision was made at a town meeting where he made the promise that he would restore it,� Ridgway said.

While there was nothing legal to hold Hingson to that vow, there was a lot of good faith behind the decision. But there was little the town could do to intervene — or to help.

Hingson lost the building to foreclosure, but was quickly able to buy it back, telling The Journal at the time that he still planned to renovate.

Demolition begins

Neighborhood residents have been contacting The Journal recently, alarmed that workers were on site in recent weeks. Before activities there were stopped, a Dumpster was reportedly being filled below a crumbling chimney.

Ridgway planned to meet last week with a state expert on historic buildings to get an idea of what will be involved in demolishing Rumsey. Now that the town is officially involved, and can act on the building permit, the process will be closely monitored. The building is expected to contain substantial amounts of lead paint and asbestos.