The town of Hurley expects to soon start converting its former library into the Hurley Heritage Community Center, redeveloping a building that has been empty for two decades.

The town, which approved the $500,000 conversion last May, picked a contractor and is completing financing, most of which is in the form of a grant from Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.

The building, next to the current library at 48 Main St., will house the town historian and serve as the start of tours through Hurley’s stone house district, one of the Hudson Valley’s best-preserved examples of 17th-century Dutch colonial architecture. The new space will also provide space for committees like the Climate Smart Taskforce to hold meetings.

The project was a long time coming.

“We got to the point where we said, ‘Do something with it or sell it,’” said Supervisor Michael Boms. It’s all part of an effort to move forward with projects that have long been the subject of discussions, he said.

A key part of the planning process is making the building ADA-accessible with a new door while preserving its historic character and protecting an old black walnut tree near the rear of the property that could be affected by changes to the parking area. Boms said he does not know the tree’s exact age and that the town will hire a certified arborist to assess its health. 

“We’re trying to do other options not to cut the tree,” Boms said.

Noah Eckstein is the editor-in-chief of The Overlook. Send correspondence to noah@theoverlooknews.com.