The Lakewood Village Hall was nominated to state and national registers of historic places. P-J Photo by Michael Zabrodsky

LAKEWOOD — The Lakewood Village Hall will join 15 other nominees for New York state and national registers of historic places.

According to Village Historic Preservation Committee Chairman Ted McCague, in 2014 the village began the comprehensive planning process for long-term preservation of the village’s historic building.

At an October 2022 meeting of the village board, McCague updated trustees on the nomination process. At that meeting, McAgue said an application was submitted to the New York State Parks Recreation and Historic Preservation Office. The application was reviewed and returned by officials. The building received an approval, so the village hall was officially eligible for historic preservation.

“This is great news for our community because official recognition of our historic village hall will ensure its continued existence as the center of village governance well into the future. I’m especially grateful to our consultants at Clinton Brown Company Architecture, for all of their historic preservation expertise and guidance, the support of the Village Board of Trustees, the Historic Preservation Steering Committee, ‘friends of the project’ for their assistance in researching the historic details of village hall, and those who wrote in support of our application,” McCague said.

The village was awarded a $13,400 grant from the Preservation League of New York State to study the building.

According to the league’s website, preservenys.org, the hall was constructed in 1915 to serve as the first established location for the volunteer Lakewood Hose Company. Over the course of its more than 100 years of continuous operation, the building also functioned as a police station, history museum, community center, and Lakewood’s Village Court.

“I am beyond excited for this. It’s a designation to a building that is very much deserving as it has served the village’s residents since the early 1900s,” said trustee Ben Troche. “Also, my appreciation and thanks to Ted McCague and his committee who led this project and worked diligently with this current Board and Mayor. This will help us access funds to help us secure and preserve this building for next 100 years.”

Mayor Randy Holcomb ehoed Troche’s thoughts.

“The Lakewood Board of Trustees was very interested and happy to participate in this venture. This effort was headed up by the recently formed Village of Lakewood Historic Preservation Committee, being led by Ted McCague. This will be a very interesting project for the building that houses the Lakewood Village offices, the Lakewood Busti Police Department, and was formally the Lakewood Village fire department,” Holcomb said.

Gov. Kathy Hochul Thursday announced that the New York State Board for Historic Preservation has recommended adding 16 properties to the State and National Registers of Historic Places.

“These nominations showcase the New York spirit of innovation, adaptation, and community building that has existed for generations and continues to inspire us today,” Hochul said in a press statement. “Adding these sites to our historic registers broadens our understanding of New York history and encourages us to learn more about our diverse, collective past.”

State and National Register listing can assist owners in revitalizing properties, making them eligible for various public preservation programs and incentives, such as matching State grants and federal and state historic rehabilitation tax credits, the statement said.

The registers are the official lists of buildings, structures, districts, landscapes, objects, and sites significant in the history, architecture, archaeology and culture of New York State and the nation. There are more than 120,000 historic properties throughout the state listed on the National Register of Historic Places, individually or as components of historic districts. Property owners, municipalities, and organizations from communities throughout the state sponsored the nominations. Once recommendations are approved by the Commissioner, who serves as the State Historic Preservation Officer, the properties are listed on the New York State Register of Historic Places and then nominated to the National Register of Historic Places, where they are reviewed by the National Park Service, and, once approved, entered on the National Register, the statement said.