Main Street makeover coming

New buildings set for downtown

By Zoey McGee | Manor Ink

Livingston Manor, NY – There’s a big addition coming to Main Street in this hamlet. It will mean more shops, a dramatic architectural statement and an inviting park area for pedestrians.

What happened to that old stone building at 44 Main Street? You may have asked this question in late December when the building, vacant for years, was suddenly torn down and removed. The plans for what is coming in its place are now revealed.

Randy Lewis, co-owner and co-founder of Global Natural Foods, Inc., and partner in the Catskill Brewery, also owns both 42 and 44 Main Street, plus the open lot next to those. He has scheduled construction to begin this spring on a new structure and parkscape that will create new business activity for this town.

Global Natural Foods has been in business since 2004 and was founded by Randy Lewis and his wife Melissa Holden. It is an ingredient trading company that trades fruit and vegetable ingredients, concentrates, purees, aromas, and more, used in typical juice products, yogurts, dressings, sauces, smoothies, and frozen desserts. Their office is currently located at the back of the Catskill Brewery building, which Lewis owns, and will be moved to the top floor of the new building.

The torn-down building at 44 Main Street is said to have been a storage facility for cold or frozen foods, belonging to an old general store here in the Manor. That building and the one at 42 Main were both built between 1920 and 1930.

“We had hoped to preserve both original buildings,” Lewis explained. “I always thought it was a kind of cool building with a nice façade. I thought we could turn it into an Irish pub, at least with that kind of aesthetic, but it was too unstable; it was cracking in various places that made it structurally risky to do anything to it,” he said, referring to the old stone building. The original plan was to stabilize it from the inside as they did the renovation. Every contractor taken through the building, however, advised against restoration. “They said you have to tear this down,” reported Lewis.

“The remaining building will be renovated to be about two times bigger than it is now by adding onto the back,” Lewis said. Not only that, it will be lifted three feet higher than it is today, making it flood-proof. “The best way to save them and create a problem-free, flood-resistant building for the future, is to lift it up,” he said.

River Architects, based in Hudson, NY, designed the new building. They are the same architects who designed the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design or LEED certified Catskill Brewery. Lewis plans to construct the new building based on LEED guidelines, even though he will not seek formal LEED certification, as was done with the Brewery.

The ground floor of 42 is going to hold two to three retail spaces. “The town needs more retail,” said Lewis. The kind of stores that will go is still being discussed. “I’m looking at something that is complementary to what already exists in the town, and doesn’t directly compete with somebody else. We want to add to the town, not dilute what’s already here.”

The new building and the renovated structure will be visually unified by a deck around the back overlooking the Willowemoc Creek and along the back side.

“It’s really just started, even though we’ve had drawings for two years,” Lewis reported. He expects construction to be completed by fall.

Once completed, Global Natural Foods will move its employees and office, including all cabinetry and lighting, to the new building. The Catskill Brewery will transform the old Global Natural Foods office space into a tasting room for Brewery customers. Lewis anticipates that the expanded Brewery space will be open by the fall of 2024.

The Riverwalk Project

Randy Lewis indicated that it would be ideal if the park adjacent to his buildings could serve as the gateway to the Riverwalk Project, as planned for the town several years ago.

“We’re going to create a beautiful park that gets used. We can do events there, concerts, that kind of stuff. We’re also hoping to do some art-related things in partnership with Catskill Art Space,” Lewis said. “If the Riverwalk gets done, we’ll create a flow of pedestrian traffic in the town. It really changes the community quite a bit.” Lewis believes this will be the next big lift for the town.

Manor Supervisor Rob Eggleton told the Ink that though grant funding for the Riverwalk has expired, the town can reapply for it as soon as the town board decides to resume progress on the initiative. Sullivan County Planning Commissioner Freda Eisenberg indicated that she will be prepared to help seek those funds needed when the Town of Rockland decides to proceed with the Riverwalk Project.