Klugo’s Parkview Place Wins

2014 NY Preservation Award

ONEONTA – Chip Klugo’s Parkview Place is one of seven “distinctive historic preservation projects” that received New York State 2014 Preservation Awards in Albany this afternoon.

The awards were presented in the award-winning Academy Lofts in Albany, an abandoned school that has been transformed into a living and work space for artists as well as a community arts center and business incubator for creative enterprises.

The citation praised Klugo and his architectural form, Johnson-Schmidt of Corning, for “successfully revived the former Bresee’s department store in downtown Oneonta as a contemporary commercial and residential complex.”

Established in 1899, Bresee’s was Otsego County’s foremost shopping venue for decades. The multi-million dollar project, the press announcement said, combined private and local funding with historic preservation tax credits.

The project included removal of the large 1950s aluminum facade, revealing the row of 19th-century commercial buildings that were combined to house the department store in the early 1900s.

“The building is repaired, historic features are restored or replicated and the interiors are rehabilitated for contemporary use. The local landmark’s rebirth promises to be a major component of the city’s redevelopment efforts,” the announcement said.