Reher Center Restoration Project

Video courtesy of Kevin Godbey

In Summer 2024, we began our roof replacement project at 101 Broadway!

Funded in part by a grant from the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation through Title 9 of the Environmental Protection Act of 1993, this project will allow us to continue to preserve and share our historic building for generations to come.

Read on for project updates...

Restoration Project Updates

July 2024

Check out these shots of principal architectural conservator Tina Reichenbach of Richbrook Conservation collecting paint samples at the cornice and cast iron window hoods atop 99 Broadway! Tina is analyzing the historic paint on our building and advising us on paint colors as we move forward with construction.

Thanks so much to Tina, Marilyn Kaplan of Preservation Architecture, and Jude Clary of Titan Roofing for all of the incredible work they’re doing to help us preserve the Rehers’ home.

Tina points towards the exterior of the building while standing on scaffolding
cornices on the roof of 101 Broadway

June 2024

Our construction work has uncovered a surprising discovery in the bakery’s oven room–a hidden door! Dating to sometime before 1910 when the building next door was constructed, this secret door adds to the story of our building and how the Rehers may have used their oven room.

Although we don’t know exactly what this door was used for, we can certainly speculate based on what we know about the Rehers and their business. Did they bring coal to feed the oven through this door? Were flour and supplies delivered through here? Since the Rehers only owned the building from 1908 onward, we know they wouldn’t have used this door for very long. However, a man named James Van Buren ran a leather and hide business out of 99 Broadway from 1883 to 1900, so it’s likely that he got more use out of the door than the Rehers did.

a small, green door found in the oven room wall

May 2024

One of the more interesting preparations involves taking paint samples off our building’s cornices. The colors currently seen on the building’s cornices date to the late 1980s when the City of Kingston painted Broadway shops for aesthetic improvement. However, we do not know what the building’s original paint colors were through the years. Taking paint samples, we can then send them off for analysis to learn more about the historic paints that lay beneath what we currently see.

scaffolding surrounding the Reher Center building

This week, the scaffolding went up for our roof replacement project at 101 Broadway! Funded in part by a grant from the NYS Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation through Title 9 of the Environmental Protection Act of 1993, this project will allow us to continue to preserve and share our historic building for generations to come. Come along on this journey with us by keeping an eye out for more updates!