Dutchess County Poor House / Infirmary Site
SAVE A Dutchess County CEMETERY!
&
A piece of Dutchess County HISTORY!

Picture taken March 2000 by a volunteer,  Paula
 

ALTERNATIVE USES INVESTIGATED

FINAL REPORT

TO: Dave Kelly, Chair, Public Works & Transportation Committee

FROM:  Ham Meserve, Chair, Ad Hoc Millbrook Infirmary Sub-Committee

RE:  Community Views on Infirmary's usage

DATE:  Sept. 1, 2002

Please refer to our May 1 INTERIM REPORT.

Our goal has been to explore if there were an alternative use for the 110-acre County Infirmary campus
- - other than a county services complex which would be:
a) supportive County priorities
b) welcomed by the Millbrook community.

Priorities we explored:

a) AGRICULTURE: discussed with the County's Farm & Home Center
relocating its headquarters to the campus. The F&H needs to expand
beyond its current 18,000 square feet (the Infirmary campus buildings
total roughly 50,000 square feet). It could also use 70-80 of the
surrounding acres as an experimental and show farm to help stimulate our
agricultural sector, as in Suffolk and Weschester Counties.
 

b) ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: invited the DCEDC to include the campus in its
roster of investment sites, particularly for education, high tech,
medical or back office operations.

c) SOCIAL SERVICES: discussed with The Family Partnership the opening of
a central Dutchess branch of its Poughkeepsie operation at the campus.

d) OPEN SPACE: considered devoting a major portion of the campus to
low-impact recreation (eg: nature preserves, trails) along Rhinebeck's
Poet's Walk model, possibly in conjunction with the Dutchess Land
Conservancy.

(The five-acre Potter's Field would be maintained as a separate historic
cemetery. The Town of Washington has requested use and/or ownership of
ten acres for Little League and other youth activities.)

e) AFFORDABLE HOUSING: discussed with three successful senior housing
firms using the existing infirmary buildings (or expanding them) for up
to 100 units for active seniors.

The Farm & Home Center's staff and board, after consideration, do not
favor moving from their current, centralized location. There's been no
interest evidenced in the campus as an investment site. Family Services
would be interested in a branch at the County Infirmary only as tenant
to another major occupier...such as the County's services complex.

The three senior housing developers were quite enthusiastic about the
campus' potential. They were: Church Homes Inc. which operates both
active and assisted living senior sites on the East Coast (closest being
Nobel Horizons in Salisbury, Ct.); the developer of the 21-unit Church
Homes in Millbrook; and the largest developer of senior housing in the
Hudson Valley who currently operates 5,000 senior units in the Hudson
Valley and who recently converted the Orange County Infirmary into 91
affordable senior housing units and resuscitated a senior housing
complex in Rhinebeck.

When considering what would be the best alternative to a county services
complex at the Infirmary campus, the Committee recommends affordable
housing for active seniors. This would answer a growing need in
Millbrook as well as throughout the County. Such a development would
make full use of all the Infirmary's buildings, including the 19th
century structures which are of historical significance. It would create
less traffic than the Infirmary itself did when last in full use, would
blend well with the surrounding rural environment and thus would be
fully acceptable to both neighbors and the community at large.

A senior housing complex (100 units appears to be the ideal economic
configuration) would also provide a dual economic benefit to the Village
of Millbrook. First, the economic stimulus of new jobs and disposable
income, and second, the full use of the Millbrook water and sewer
system, underutilized to date since the closure of the County Infirmary
in 1999 ...and at considerable extra cost to rate payers.

A County Request for :Proposals (RFP) might, inter alia, stipulate:

1) 10-15 acres be sold to a developer who would construct and manage up
to 100 units of affordable senior housing @ about 1,000 square feet per
residence;

2) 10 acres be ceded to the Town of Washington for youth activities

3) The 5-acre Potter's Field remain under County ownership.

4) The remaining 75-80 acres become the County's third park and be
devoted to low-impact recreation and open space (nature preserves and
trails).

When considering whether it would be better for the Millbrook community
to have the Infirmary devoted to a County services complex or to active
senior housing, the committee could not reach consensus.
 

So, if the "Potter's Field" does remain in County Hands.
Will there be public access to it??????
Will it's boundaries be defined??????
Will it be fenced or be enclosed by some other means
in order to protect the dignity of those buried there?????
or will the County just allow the property to become further overgrown
which will only serve to make sure it is forgotten
and will not insure that this cemetery is memorialized
for future generations???????

It seems to me that this site would be suitable for the office of
County Historian.
*    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *    *

The County Needs to Explore the Issue of
County Historian,
consider Appropriate Budgeting for such an office,
including staff and facilities conducive to
Preserving the Unique History of Dutchess County,
and
actively pursue filling the position.
"The Web Master"

Links

Public Works & Transportation Committee RESOLUTION #202258 - 17  September 2002

Ad-Hoc Sub-Committee  MEETING MINUTES - 9 September 2002

Ad-Hoc Sub-Committee  INTERIM Report - 1 May 2002
 

 Dutchess County Alms House 1908 Report
Notes Of Inspection Of The Dutchess County Alms House , Oak Summit, N.Y.

 Dutchess County Genealogical Society
Established in 1972 to help organize and direct genealogical work in Dutchess County, N.Y.

Family Ties are Lasting Bonds Woven in Each Heart
To Keep a Family Close in Thought Together or Apart

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