KINGSTON, — A proposed project by a Red Hook-based musician could see the long-vacant former Trinity Methodist Church on Wurts Street in Downtown resurrected as a music school and performance venue.
Violinist Tom Krueger went before the city’s Planning Board at its November meeting to share his vision for the historic 19th-century brick church at 29 Wurts St. with its towering steeple that features a weathervane with the iconic lost Hudson River steamer Mary Powell.
A music school with the preliminary name of Kingston Music Initiative would occupy the basement of the church, with the fully-restored sanctuary upstairs playing host to live performances and events, Krueger said. “It has beautiful sound,” he said.
Work is also underway to clear brush that has grown up over the years behind the building, he said.
The Kingston Music Initiative would operate under a parent organization Access Contemporary Music, an existing performance-based music composition non-profit specializing in music education.
Krueger said he has no plans to make any large-scale changes to the edifice. The building has all new systems and is mostly in very good condition, he added.
He said he plans to open it in phases based on what developers could do to get “community involvement.”
“We want to make it accessible to everyone,” he said.
He envisions extending out to Cornell Park across the street where the group would consider hosting festivals, concerts, screenings and events. “I think it will be a wonderful addition to the neighborhood,” he said.
Krueger said he envisions attendance at events would not exceed what the building held when it housed an active congregation.
Krueger said an adjacent former parsonage he purchased from the former church’s current owners, Jack Gellen and Sarah Carpenter, could house musicians in residency once the school is up and running.
Krueger said he came to gauge the board’s feelings about the proposed project as Gellen and Carpenter have offered to donate the church to the music school, under the condition that the board is receptive to the plan.
“They had sort of a similar dream of their own, but they’ve had health issues,” he said, adding that they are looking for someone to bring the project to the finish line.
“They can’t donate the building to us until they know we can do this,” he said. “We’re trying to get this preliminary thumbs up provided we cross all our Ts and dot our Is. “It comes down to the temperature in this room tonight as to whether they’re going to sell it to private ownership or sell it to us.”
City Planner Sue Cahill expressed support for the project while noting it would need a special use permit for a cultural institution.
“I think it’s an excellent adaptive reuse for the church facilities that are no longer needed for that purpose,” Cahill said. “It fits in perfectly with the Rondout neighborhood. “I don’t have any issue with it.”
The remainder of the board also expressed approval of the proposal.
Planning Board Chairman Wayne Platte Jr. said he’s amazed by the extent of the renovations that have been done to the former church in recent years.
The church also formerly housed Family of Woodstock’s Darmstadt Shelter for the homeless. It later housed Paul Joffe’s Celebration Church after renovations in the mid-2000s.
Ulster County property records show the church and parsonage were sold to Gellen and Carpenter by Restrook LLC for $687,500 in 2019.
