by Thaddeus Flint
With the word out that the historic Union Free School building in New Lebanon is to be demolished this week, many from the Town and the surrounding areas have been coming by to take one last look at the structure which has been a part of the Town’s personality for 99 years.
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Closed since 1972, the building simply ran out of time. Over the years many have tried and failed to save it. Even the current New Lebanon Town Supervisor, Mike Benson, once told a Town Board meeting how he had tried to acquire the building soon after he got out of high school. He had envisioned perhaps something for the older people of the Town; many of them probably even attended school there.
The weather this week was the only thing left trying to save the building, listed on the National Historic Register. The State has mandated that the building’s bell tower be set aside . The wind has made this difficult and slowed the process. Where the bell tower will finally go, nobody knows for sure. A parking lot is planned to take the place of the Nationally registered landmark.
“It’s sad,” said former Town Supervisor Margaret Robertson on Wednesday as she watched workmen struggling to free the little cupola from a roof which has been rumored to be on the verge of collapse for over thirty years, “I can still hear that bell ringing.”
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