Kirkland Hotel, RUPCO Masterpiece

My sister Vickie and I took a trip down memory lane today when we got a tour of the Kirkland Hotel in uptown Kingston NY. The building was renovated by Rural Ulster Preservation Co. better known as RUPCO. As Kevin O’Conner led us from basement to the top floor thoughts of many years ago came flooding back. As kids we used to go with the family to the hotel’s restaurant for Sunday dinners, my grandfather was good friends with the hotel owner Max Brugman. I’ve heard since my grandfather would head over to the Kirkland frequently for friendly card games.

It was amazing to see the wrecked old building dating from 1899 come back to life and done so well, it is qualified as a National Register of Historic Places because it is a great example of the wood- framed hotels dating from the late 19^th century. A prime example of the work it took to renovate the building is the fact that it is Kingston’s first geothermal heated and cooled system. The RUPCO site has a great movie by Brugman in the 1950’s. In a city filled with architectural gems that are falling apart it was great to see one brought back, better than one could hope for. Great job RUPCO!