MILLBROOK — After a period of relative quiet, the Thorne Building Committee (TBC) recently announced that architect Michael Sloan and his firm, Michael Sloan B.C., of Millbrook, has been retained as the architect who will develop the long-awaited plans to turn the Thorne Memorial Building, formerly the local high school in the village, into the hopefully thriving, all-purpose Thorne Building Community Center (TBCC).
Sloan established his business in Millbrook in 1997 and reportedly has an excellent reputation for working closely with clients and providing innovative answers to their needs. Not only that, but his great-great-grandfather, William Thorne, was one of the original donors of the Thorne Building, and Sloan has “always viewed the Thorne Building as one of the village’s anchors,” believing “it’s so important that the building remain community-based,” according to a statement released by the TBC.
There have been multiple meetings over the past two year to discuss the future of the Thorne Building, at least three of which were open to the public. The future of the Thorne Building — a beloved and familiar piece of Millbrook architecture — was discussed in detail, with residents from teens to senior citizens offering suggestions.
One major step was establishing the Thorne Building Committee. It’s headed by Charles Pierce and assisted by other committee members, such as Ann Gifford, Oakleigh Thorne and George Whalen III. Their work has been hard and tedious, but is described by its members as a labor of love.
Before anything could begin, however, a reverter clause had to be dealt with by the village. This was because there was a stipulation in the original granting of the building to the village of Millbrook in the late 1800s that if the building ever stopped being used as an educational facility, it would revert back the Thorne family. Those involved in the matter said there were more than 100 family members to be notified, who had to agree to release any claim to the property; family members were scattered far and wide across the country and it took some time to locate them.
However, in January of 2020, the Supreme Court of Dutchess County issued a judgment eliminating the reverter clause, allowing the village to transfer ownership to whomever it desired.
Pans for the building include creating an auditorium and large meeting space, which would accommodate a variety of programs, including theatrical, cultural and educational programs. There would be a music studio, with space for rehearsals, podcasts, an exhibition gallery and other technology. Many of these ideas were generated by the public at open meetings. There would also be smart classrooms and seminar rooms, shared offices and space for after-school activities. Outdoor spaces would include a new a band shell and a garden for picnicking. Most impressive, perhaps, are the plans for a kitchen that could be used for catering events, cooking classes or as a small café area.
A time frame for construction has not yet been set, but some of the initial exterior work will likely take place this summer. The hope is plans will be finalized by fall.
The TBCC is now placing its focus on fundraising. The TBCC is a nonprofit, 501(C)3 entity; while some money has been set aside for construction, the majority of the funds still needs to be raised.
The committee is currently researching operating and maintenance costs and ways to produce revenue, including possibly renting the building out for weddings, concerts and other cultural or educational events.
“This could also be an economic magnet,” said Pierce, “bringing people from all over to shop in our stores, eat in our restaurants and enjoy the life we live in Millbrook.”
The Thorne Building was originally donated as a school in 1895, and was the reason Millbrook became incorporated as a village; it served as the high school until 1961.
The community met multiple times to plan for the project, often with Millbrook Mayor Rodney Brown, Washington town Supervisor Gary Ciferri, local clergy, Village and Town Board members and local residents. Community liaison Carole Martin was hired by the TBC to conduct surveys with various groups to discover what the community wanted to do with the site. Now that plans are starting to materialize, the challenging part will be the fundraising, said Pierce.
“We hope that everyone will have the opportunity to give at a level that is comfortable for them,” she said.
Leila Hawken
AMENIA — Always an annual draw, the Amenia Garden Tour, titled “Real Gardens of Amenia,” drew a steady stream of visitors to admire five local gardens on Saturday, July 12, each one presenting a different gardening vibe, but all specializing in beauty of layout and blooms. A true community feel, the event was an activity planned by the Amenia Garden Club and supported by Paley’s Garden Center in Sharon.
With the exception of the manicured beauty of Wethersfield, one of the five stops on the tour, the remaining four gardens were spectacular showings of gardens in progress, evolving from season to season, under the informed care and dedication of their owners, assisted by their bright green thumbs.
“Anyone can garden,” said Michael Peek as he greeted visitors to Wethersfield, pleased that the grand showcase gardens were part of the tour. He expressed amazement that so many local residents are not familiar with that “most beautiful place.”
Rosa setigera is a native climbing rose whose simple flowers allow bees to easily collect pollen.
After moving to West Cornwall in 2012, we were given a thoughtful housewarming gift: the 1997 edition of “Dirr’s Hardy Trees and Shrubs.” We were told the encyclopedic volume was the definitive gardener’s reference guide — a fact I already knew, having purchased one several months earlier at the recommendation of a gardener I admire.
At the time, we were in the thick of winter invasive removal, and I enjoyed reading and dreaming about the trees and shrubs I could plant to fill in the bare spots where the bittersweet, barberry, multiflora rose and other invasive plants had been.Years later, I purchased the 2011 edition, updated and inclusive of plants for warm climates.
On the cover of the new edition, a quote from Adrian Higgins of The Washington Post boasts, “Michael Dirr is the oracle of ornamental horticulture. I trust his judgements implicitly.”I heartily disagree with Mr. Higgins:I blame this book — and my poor use of it — for some of my worst tree and shrub choices.
I realize some readers might find this declaration inflammatory. The book still occupies a place of high regard among experienced and novice gardeners alike, so please allow me to explain.
In addition to giving the reader his opinion on the aesthetic worthiness of the woody plants included in the book, Mr. Dirr makes good on the book’s title with a review of each species’ hardiness. What makes a tree hardy?It thrives in its intended site, resisting disease with leaves and bark not readily eaten by insects and other critters.
Non-native plants make up the majority of the recommended hardy plants in the book.And here is why:Native trees and shrubs are, by evolution’s design, food source and host to our native fauna — critters large and small. There is no substitute equal to the fauna’s co-evolved flora.A native caterpillar cannot eat a kousa dogwood leaf, as it has not evolved to digest it.Non-native plants seemingly have the advantage if the lens we look through values pristine, uneaten leaves.
In the days when there were sufficient thriving ecosystems to maintain local habitats, a non-native specimen tree here and there was just fine.But where we live in Northwest Connecticut, our woods, meadows, marshes and other natural areas have, for a couple of decades, been severely compromised by invasives that have almost entirely removed the food sources for native insects. It is up to us — now — to plant native plants to save the food chain.Without insects, not only will native animals die, but human food sources will also be at risk.
The security of our food pipeline seems a worthy exchange for some caterpillar-eaten leaves — and to be clear, we’re not talking about non-native infestations such as spongy moth, but rather native caterpillars, which are the singular food source for nesting birds.
My issue is that, in being a trusted source for plant selection, Dirr’s book should give equal — if not prioritized — space to information on ecological impact.For example, it would be good to know when selecting a tree, that a native oak provides food and other ecosystem services to more than 400 native animal species, while a native tulip poplar supports fewer than 30 — though that includes the Eastern tiger swallowtail. Including information on the birds and insects attracted to a given plant would enable reader to weigh these factors in choosing what to grow.But this information is not mentioned at all.
Dirr makes no mention of the role some of these plants have played in the degradation of our natural areas — an omission that is highly relevant, as many of the plants featured in his book are, in fact, invasive culprits. Plants like barberry, porcelain berry and tree of heaven are showcased for consideration alongside native plants without recognition of the devastating infestations they can manifest. Tree of Heaven is now responsible for hosting the spotted lanternfly, which is devastating crops.
Similarly Euonymous alatus (winged euonymous) and Actinidia arguta (hardy kiwi) — two highly invasive plants touted in the book — have been banned or are close to being banned for sale from nurseries in the state of Massachusetts. To his credit, Dirr does point out the invasive nature of Ligustrum sinense (Chinese privet), calling it “a terrible and devastating escapee that terrorizes floodplains, fencerows and even open fields, reducing native vegetation to rubble.” Yet Japanese honeysuckle gets an understated warning, with Dirr describing this massively invasive shrub as “bullying their way into understory and open areas.”
The latest edition of Dirr’s book devotes seven pages of copy and photos to various Berberis species, about which Dirr waxes poetic. He notes the addition of “30 new cultivars” in the latest revision and complains that “this species is under assault for its aggressive invasive nature.” He refers to Berberis thunbergii — Japanese barberry, the most invasive of them all — as “the species of major importance in garden commerce.” This plant has already been outlawed for sale in New York, Pennsylvania, New Hamphsire and Maine.A few weeks ago, a bill was passed in Connecticut recognizing the harm of a broad group of invasive plants. Under this new legislation, barberry will be phased out from sale or transport by October 2028.
In understating the invasive nature of many non-natives and de-prioritizing the importance of native species, Dirr’s widely used reference may be partly responsible for many a devastated woodland, forest, meadow and marsh in New England — if not across the U.S.Certainly, the evolution of species, and scientific knowledge about the environment, is changing faster than new editions of books can be printed. I can only hope that if a new edition of Mr. Dirr’s reference book is in the works that it will account for this criteria we now know to be vital in plant selection.
Which brings me back to that quote on the cover from The Washington Post and the larger issue it suggests:Should “ornamental horticulture” get a pass when it comes to ecological survival?I think we can agree — it should not.The consequences are simply too destructive.
Dee Salomon ‘ungardens’ in Litchfield County.
Foxtrot Farm & Flowers’ historic barn space during UAW’s 2024 exhibition entitled “Unruly Edges.”
Art lovers, mark your calendars. The sixth edition of Upstate Art Weekend (UAW) returns July 17 to 21, with an exciting lineup of exhibitions and events celebrating the cultural vibrancy of the region. Spanning eight counties and over 130 venues, UAW invites residents and visitors alike to explore the Hudson Valley’s thriving creative communities.
Here’s a preview of four must-see exhibitions in the area:
1. Wassaic Project (37 Furnace Bank Road, Wassaic)
“So It Goes” is a powerful group exhibition curated by Eve Biddle, Bowie Zunino, Jeff Barnett-Winsby, and Will Hutnick. The title, drawn from Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse-Five,” signals a reckoning with how we process the horrors of the world. Through play, reflection, and immersive scale, 43 artists respond with urgency and imagination. Installations can be seen throughout the town of Wassaic at Maxon Mills, Gridley Chapel, and Luther Barn, each space transformed by this deeply thoughtful show.
2. Foxtrot Farm & Flowers (6862 Route 82, Stanfordville)
“Queer Bestiary,” a group show curated by Charlotte Woolf, is inspired by Patricia Ononiwu Kaishian’s book “Forest Euphoria.” The exhibition investigates queer ecology and human relationship to land through the work of 10 artists using painting, sculpture, textiles, and photography. The exhibit is accompanied by a variety of interactive experiences including tattoo pop-ups, karaoke, book readings, and pick-your-own flowers.
3. ChaShaMa North/ChaNorth (2600 Route 199, Pine Plains)
ChaShaMa North (ChaNorth) will have open studios all weekend and has partnered with Paradice Palase, a platform for emerging artists, to mount a site-specific sculpture exhibition featuring 20 artists entitled “Alone, You Are Heard.” On Saturday evening, July 19, stop by for Weird Music Night for an audio-visual synthesis of experimental music, performance art, and unexpected happenings. Don’t miss this opportunity to experience an eclectic lineup of acts that redefine the boundaries of performance.
4. Millbrook Arts Project(3 Friendly Lane, Millbrook)
The Millbrook Arts Project is hosting a curated exhibit entitled “Generated Utility” at the newly renovated gallery at the village library. The exhibit will feature the work of artists Natalie Beall and Kathy Greenwood. Additionally, visitors will have access to 12 open artists studios across town. The weekend culminates in a free outdoor concert on Saturday evening at 6 p.m. at the Millbrook Bandshell. Enjoy the Indie-Folk sounds of Strawberry Runners and She Keeps Bees.
For more information and a complete list of participating artists and locations, visit: upstateartweekend.org
