Piece by piece, history is slowly being stripped away from one of the Catskills’ most iconic resorts to make room for the future.
In the glory days of the 1950s, when Sullivan County was home to 538 hotels, 50,000 bungalows and 1,000 rooming houses, Grossinger’s Resort was perhaps the most popular of them all.
It famously provided inspiration for the movie “Dirty Dancing,” but has remained empty after closing in 1986.
Since then, its buildings were left to crumble, and graffiti covers the former summer getaway that used to serve as many as 150,000 guests per year.
But soon the site will become a clean slate with an eye toward redevelopment. Property manager Henry Zabatta said there isn’t a definitive plan yet, but whatever is developed will be resort-related.
Grossinger’s famed towers set to come down
The place is owned by Sullivan Resorts LLC, a subsidiary of owner Louis Cappelli’s Valhalla-based Cappelli Enterprises.
“All the old hotel buildings are coming down,” Zabatta said. He estimated they total about 450,000 square feet.
The demolition, which began last month, is not expected to finish until the end of the year and has two phases, Zabatta added.
The first phase includes structures that are outside of the 19 acres that were declared a brownfield site by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, which will provide tax credits for cleaning up the soil contamination there.
Once the DEC approves a work plan for the brownfield site, developers can start taking down the buildings, including the “Jenny G” tower that served as a hotel.
Zabatta said approval of the plan was “imminent.”
So far, workers have taken down buildings such as the Grossinger Country Club’s clubhouse and golf-cart shed, as well as a structure with indoor tennis courts.
By the time the demolition and cleanup of the site is completed, the amount invested in Grossinger’s will total more than $6 million, according to Zabatta.
The country club’s golf course was closed last year for renovations and remained closed this year due to the demolitions, Zabatta said. Improvements include rehabbing the sand traps and replacing the cart
paths.
Although no one has teed off there for two years, Zabatta said its grounds crew has continued to maintain it, calling the course an asset for the future of the site.
“Hopefully, by the end of the demolition we’ll have a clean palette and be able to decide what we’re gonna do with the site,” Zabatta said.
Liberty Town Supervisor Brian Rourke described the demolition of the resort as “bittersweet” given its history, but says he’s looking forward to what it could become and the benefits new development would bring.
“More than anything, we’re hopeful that the future of this beautiful piece of property helps Liberty continue to make a comeback,” Rourke said.
In the glory days of the 1950s, when Sullivan County was home to 538 hotels, 50,000 bungalows and 1,000 rooming houses, Grossinger’s Resort was perhaps the most popular of them all.
It famously provided inspiration for the movie “Dirty Dancing,” but has remained empty after closing in 1986.
Since then, its buildings were left to crumble, and graffiti covers the former summer getaway that used to serve as many as 150,000 guests per year.
But soon the site will become a clean slate with an eye toward redevelopment. Property manager Henry Zabatta said there isn’t a definitive plan yet, but whatever is developed will be resort-related.
Grossinger’s famed towers set to come down
The place is owned by Sullivan Resorts LLC, a subsidiary of owner Louis Cappelli’s Valhalla-based Cappelli Enterprises.
“All the old hotel buildings are coming down,” Zabatta said. He estimated they total about 450,000 square feet.
The demolition, which began last month, is not expected to finish until the end of the year and has two phases, Zabatta added.
The first phase includes structures that are outside of the 19 acres that were declared a brownfield site by the state Department of Environmental Conservation, which will provide tax credits for cleaning up the soil contamination there.
Once the DEC approves a work plan for the brownfield site, developers can start taking down the buildings, including the “Jenny G” tower that served as a hotel.
Zabatta said approval of the plan was “imminent.”
So far, workers have taken down buildings such as the Grossinger Country Club’s clubhouse and golf-cart shed, as well as a structure with indoor tennis courts.
By the time the demolition and cleanup of the site is completed, the amount invested in Grossinger’s will total more than $6 million, according to Zabatta.
The country club’s golf course was closed last year for renovations and remained closed this year due to the demolitions, Zabatta said. Improvements include rehabbing the sand traps and replacing the cart
paths.
Although no one has teed off there for two years, Zabatta said its grounds crew has continued to maintain it, calling the course an asset for the future of the site.
“Hopefully, by the end of the demolition we’ll have a clean palette and be able to decide what we’re gonna do with the site,” Zabatta said.
Liberty Town Supervisor Brian Rourke described the demolition of the resort as “bittersweet” given its history, but says he’s looking forward to what it could become and the benefits new development would bring.
“More than anything, we’re hopeful that the future of this beautiful piece of property helps Liberty continue to make a comeback,” Rourke said.
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