Temple to be repurposed as Parksville Arts Center

Building, long vacant, may reopen in 2022

By Emily Froehlich | Manor Ink

Parksville, NY – Adrian and Todd Perlmutter, together with some other local residents, are bringing the former Tefereth Israel Anshei Synagogue back to life as a nonprofit community arts center.

They were living in New York City, but on the weekends they would come up to their house on Hunter Lake and visit Parksville. “It was almost like vacationing in Parksville every weekend,” said Adrian Perlmutter. Both she and Todd have artistic backgrounds – Todd as a drummer, while Adrian is a singer. They have done many projects together. Todd was the producer and musical director of the Blue Man Group for 19 years, and Adrian was hired to sing on tour for the group, which was how they met.

The Perlmutters purchased the Parksville synagogue from Lois Weinstein. According to Adrian, “Lois’s father took care of everything for many, many years. Buying it was a long process – because they ran into title issues, it took nearly five years to complete the transaction. Initially, the couple thought they would turn the temple into a recording studio. After some thought, though, they decided it should be more of a community-oriented building. So they decided to make it into an arts center that the local community could come together and enjoy.

There are several different stories about when the synagogue was built. Some people thought that it was erected in 1907, because there is a painting dated 1907 in the Parksville post office that includes the synagogue. Other people think the synagogue was built in the 1930s, and Weinstein, after some research, believes it was actually built in 1930.

The Parksville synagogue was active for many years, but then became less and less busy over time. The last event that was held there was a wedding in 2007. The building sat vacant until Adrian and Todd Perlmutter decided to buy it.

The Perlmutters have many plans for transforming the building into the Parksville Arts Center. One idea is to include a mini-movie theater. They also want to have bands perform there. But the main thing they want is for the historic building to serve as a center for the local community. The couple said that they also would exhibit art from local schools and would offer classes in ceramics and other arts for people of all ages.

“We would like the whole community to be involved with ideas and planning,” said Adrian. Both Perlmutters are very interested in helping revitalize Parksville’s Main Street.

Before they can open the arts center, however, they have many renovations to make. The couple is working with the Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan Countys to write grants to fund the work. The building’s electric wiring needs updating and heating and insulation will need to be installed so the center can run year round. In addition to other smaller renovations, the Perlmutters want to remove the carpet because there is a beautiful oak wood floor beneath it; they also want to remove a drop ceiling to reveal old ceramic tiles. They hope to offer some programming next summer.

The new Parksville Art Center is accepting donations. For more information, visit their website at parksvilleartcenter.com or their Facebook page.