Historic & Landmarks Preservation Board Meeting – August 28, 2025
Historic & Landmarks Preservation Board Meeting – August 28, 2025
The Peekskill Historic & Landmarks Preservation Board met on August 28, 2025, at 7:30 PM in the Common Council Chamber. The board approved minutes (with a date correction), reviewed two applications for work on the Paramount Theater (1008 Brown St) and a public art project at 950/970 Main St, and set the next meeting for September 25, 2025.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes from July 24, 2024 (agenda mistakenly listed it as 2024; the transcript noted it should be 2025). The board unanimously approved the minutes as drafted, with the correction of the date to July 24, 2025.
Discussion Items
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Paramount Theater (1008 Brown St) – Facade Renovations & Marquee Upgrades
Applicant Joseph Thompson, architect, presented two separate applications: 1) facade renovations (stucco repair, wood trim replacement with Boral composition, refinishing doors, new gates, courtyard improvements) and 2) repair/refinishing of the existing marquee including installation of digital displays on the east and west sides (the primary front face to remain analog). The project is part of a DRI initiative, previously approved in 2023 but expired.- Facade: Colors chosen were Ferret Brown for stucco, Grand Beige for trim, El Serrano gold for marquee bands (deeper muted gold preferred by board over a brighter historic match), and Cottage Red for the marquee background. New gates: east courtyard gate with geometric pattern in dark bronze anodized aluminum; west dumpster alley gate simple picket style.
- Marquee digital displays: Limited to static black-on-white lettering (same grid pattern), no animation, color change no more than once per minute. Display vendor not present, but board agreed to stipulate a final site review of color temperature (target 3000K to match street lighting) and operating hours (to be determined post-installation).
- Board discussion: Questions about materials (Boral composite approved), gate design, and preservation of historic character. Board expressed support for the muted gold and red colors. The applicant agreed to the stipulation.
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950/970 Main St (Burd’s and Baxter’s buildings) – Vinyl art banners and concrete stain
Applicant Larry D’Amico (Peekskill Arts Alliance) proposed 17 vinyl banners (6x6 ft each) arranged in a quilt-like pattern on the Baxter’s wall, plus a matching stain (Ash Gray by Bell Spar) on the Burd’s wall to improve appearance of deteriorating stucco. The project is a continuation of the Pugsley Park “Day in Peekskill” series, using local artists.- Installation method: Test anchors showed failure at 16 ft-lbs; recommended torque 10 ft-lbs. Stainless steel anchors with expanded heads will be used for each grommet (16 in spacing). For any compromised mortar, epoxy injection with removable inserts was suggested. Banners are durable for 5–8 years, not intended as a revolving exhibit.
- Credit signage: Discussion on how to credit 16–17 artists – board noted that a separate sign application would be needed; QR code was suggested as complementary but not a replacement. The board decided to approve the banner layout and stucco color now, with signage to be reviewed later.
- Maintenance: Board emphasized need for weed/debris cleanup before installation and ongoing maintenance coordination with DPW. Applicant acknowledged.
Key Outcomes
- Paramount Theater – Facade: Motion to approve the facade renovations as presented (colors, materials, gates, courtyard improvements). Seconded. All in favor. Approved.
- Paramount Theater – Marquee: Separate motion to approve the marquee work (repairs, refinishing, digital displays on east/west sides) with the approved colors (El Serrano gold, Cottage Red) and a stipulation that final color temperature of the digital displays must be reviewed on site before a final certificate of occupancy is issued. Seconded. All in favor. Approved.
- 950/970 Main St – Banners and Stain: Motion to approve the grid layout of 17 banners on Baxter’s wall and the Ash Gray stain for Burd’s wall, with the understanding that a separate sign application for artist credits will be brought back for board review before installation. Motion also included a requirement to coordinate with DPW for site cleanup. Seconded. All in favor. Approved.
- Next Meeting: Scheduled for September 25, 2025.
Meeting Transcript
Of the historic and landmark preservation board to order. First agenda item is the approval of minutes from the July 24th, 2024 meeting. Did anybody have any questions or concerns about the minutes from last month? Only that the date is wrong. It says 2024. 2025. Just saying. It says July 24th and the On the agenda it does. Oh. Oh. But the contents are we're good. Okay. Motion to approve minutes as drafted, say for the correction of the date. Make a motion. Second. Agreed. Agreed. All in favor, we're good to go. So Sam, do you want to stay in order or start with let's go back to our original order? Okay. So first application of the evening is gonna Joe Thompson for China Brown Street for the Paramount. Hey Joe. So good evening. Joseph Thompson, architect representing the Paramount Theater Renovations at 1008 Brown Street. This project was before the board at the end of 2003, which time the facade renovations were reviewed and approval was issued. It's since expired. So we're here to represent that work to the board as well as an addition to the application that was tabled at that time for some upgrades, renovations, and potential uh modernization and digitizing of the marquee. And so the renovations proposed are primarily on the street facing side. We'll go through that. Also some improvements on the sides of the building and then the courtyard. It's a DRI project. We've presented the scope to the council, which was approved earlier this year, and we're hoping to start construction this fall. Uh the work that's proposed for the front of the building is to refinish essentially all of the stucco and wood areas. Uh a number of pieces have become deformed and rotted. So the proposals to replace in kind using comparable colors. We posted a number of color samples on the building. We have some physical samples of those we can pass to to review. As part of the prior approval, we looked at a series of several shades of brown and and beigees, and the two that were selected on the prior approval were ferret brown and also the Grand Beige, I believe. On the marquee, we also have new colors proposed that are comparable to the marquee colors, um, but soften it a little bit. The uh the bright red and bright yellow are are a little harsh, and so we're proposing to mute those down a little bit. The project did also receive a review by Shippo through the DRI review, and so SHIPO actually imposed some regulations on the work and on the marquee renovations that were proposed, uh especially with regard to the digital displays. So we get to the point where we're looking at the sign drawings, certain things were taken into account for how those digital displays are allowed to operate. We're not allowed to have animated pictures, we're not allowed to have you know colors or graphics or anything like that. And so they cited an example of the Apollo Theater in Harlem where it was pretty successfully implemented. There's been a number of marquees that have turned over to some form of digital to help uh to better promote the shows to free up the storefronts, and to also alleviate what could be a safety concern with people getting up on down on ladders to change out the letters the traditional way. So those proposed displays would change no more than once per minute, and they would use the same black color letters that currently exist and also have the same grid lines with white background. So essentially it should appear very comparable to what's there. It's just a flattened digital face. Uh the front would be left alone, though. The front would be a traditional physical letter style insert, as it currently is.
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