Media Center

July 10, 2009

Hospital Unveils Pataki Center on Grounds of Historic Home

LoHud.com • By Brian J. Howard

CORTLANDT - Valerie Dempsey Carano surveyed the renovated screen porch at the east end of her childhood home and voiced approval for the posh makeover.

"We're very pleased with how this property ended up," said Dempsey Carano, 58, touring the home with her children and grandchildren. "It's perfect."

A yearlong project breathed new life into the Colonial-era cottage and saw the construction of a 2,500-square-foot conference center named for former Gov. George Pataki and built on the footprint of an adjacent carriage house. The project is part of the ongoing $115 million expansion of the Hudson Valley Hospital Center next door.

The two buildings, once owned by Dempsey Carano's father, James Dempsey, were unveiled yesterday. James Dempsey, a local attorney, died in 1996.

The center is the first local building named for Pataki, who left office in 2006. A Garrison resident now, he was joined by his wife and several other family members for a ribbon-cutting and tours of both buildings.

"I have been supporting this hospital since the day I was born," Pataki said, referring to his birth in the old Peekskill Hospital.

The one-time Peekskill mayor was credited with securing $1 million of the project's $1.6 million cost during his final year in office. The two buildings combine to provide space for hospital functions, community meetings and offices for the hospital's marketing and foundation staff.

Pataki said he had a strong connection to the property, where he and hospital officials were in 1993 when he got the call confirming his nomination to run for governor the following year.

"From here, literally in that building, I began the process to run for governor of our great state," he said. "So it's an emotional moment for me to be back at this wonderful facility."

Hospital President John Federspiel said the restoration and construction aimed to maintain the original look of the home. An organic vegetable garden is planned on the site in conjunction with the hospital's wellness initiative.

The hospital expansion is progressing, with a new institute for wound care and hyperbaric medicine opening this summer along with a physical rehabilitation center. A surgical center will open this fall. Work has begun on a 450-space parking garage, and an 84-bed patient tower is set for completion next year.

The Dempsey House dates to 1740 and was known as the Hercules Lent House, the Tory House and the L.T. Wilcox House before the Dempsey family purchased it in 1920 and made several upgrades. The hospital acquired the property about eight years ago.

"I really like what they have done here," said hospital board member Jim Kane, touring the house with his wife, auxiliary board member Carol Kane. "The governor has been such a good friend of the hospital for years."