Suffern's Hotel Lafayette to be leveled early Thursday

SUFFERN - A wrecking crew will write the final chapter of the historic Hotel Lafayette this week and make way for the construction of a new, multistory building with high-end apartments.

The remaining portions of the hotel still standing along Orange Avenue will be demolished during the early morning hours on Thursday morning.

Jim Du Broff, the co-owner of Highground Industrial, the contractor knocking down the building, said at the site on Tuesday afternoon that crews will use a ultra-high demolition excavator to “nibble away” at the facade “piece by piece,” beginning at the top of the building.

While DuBroff said crews expect to “slowly and methodically” take down remaining portions of the building, there is a risk of a collapse because the building is a “very unstable brick and wood construction, which is not very predictable.”

HISTORY: Hotel Lafayette, a landmark with a role in Suffern's past, will soon be history

SUFFERN: Orange Avenue Apartments get go-ahead

The property will be the future site of a five-story luxury rental building with more than 90 one- and two-bedroom apartments. The developer, Orange Avenue Associates, did not return phone calls for comment.

Richard Schiekofer, 79, of Suffern, said he thought the construction of apartments will be a “positive thing for the community.” Strolling past the construction site on Tuesday, Schiekofer said he was not sentimental about the hotel’s end.

“I like to see things move,” Schiekofer said. “(The hotel) got to the point where it was done, it was used up. Wear and tear takes its toll.”

A large chain-link fence cordoned off the property and what was left of the 1933 building, across the street from Metro-North Railroad tracks. While the facade facing the street appeared intact, the rear of the building had been razed. Bricks, wood, metal pipes, and large steel beams could be seen jutting out from the rear and scattered behind the building.

Suffern police will cordon off Orange Avenue between Lafayette Avenue and Chestnut Street for about two hours starting around 5:30 a.m. on Thursday during the demolition.

The three-story brick building is the last of four to be taken down on the 1.4-acre site. Demolition began in early May, and the cleanup is expected to extend through the end of July.

The Hotel Lafayette opened in 1933 with much fanfare. In 1947, it added a swank cocktail lounge and became the meeting place of choice for special occasions and dressy Sunday dinners.

In his office Tuesday, Mayor Edward Markunas said the razing of the Hotel Lafayette was an “end of an era for Suffern” because multiple generations of residents had eaten there, celebrated there, and worked there.

However, Markunas added that Suffern was “looking forward to redeveloping the area and bringing some new life into the village.”

Some of that new life can already be seen in the village.

Inside the former Oldwood Bar and Grill on Orange Avenue on Tuesday, crews painted walls and did other odds and ends, preparing a new bar, Plan B, for its late July opening.

The owner of Plan B, Craig "CN" Fletcher of Wesley Hills, said the addition of apartments on Orange Avenue could "kickstart the process" of making Suffern a “humming, vibrant community.”

“I think it is an amazing project," said Fletcher, 55, "and I think it’s incredibly important to the development of Suffern to bring in additional … living space and residents.”

Did you know?

Here's a brief history of The Hotel Lafayette on Orange Avenue in Suffern:

• Opened in 1933, with a dinner for 350 guests attended by U.S. Sen. Royal Copeland and U.S. Postmaster General James Farley.
• Owner Julius Honig got one of the first liquor licenses issued in Rockland after the repeal of Prohibition.
• New Year's Eve 1934, diners could get a full-course dinner at the Hotel Lafayette for $2 per person.
• The Green Room at the Hotel Lafayette -- hailed in a Journal News ad as "the smartest cocktail lounge and dining room in Rockland County" -- opened in January 1947.
• As times changed, The Green Room closed and the building went through several iterations, eventually falling into disrepair.