Historic Lincklaen House street sign unveiled after renovation
The restored historic sign indicating The Lincklaen House hotel at the corner of Albany and Lincklaen streets was unveiled last week after two months of work by local artisans using funds donated by local organizations and individuals.
The wood and metal sign, first erected in 1835 — when the hotel itself was built — can be seen quite a ways down Albany Street, and stands in the center of the village’s main street. Its black and white coloring was replaced with the more historically accurate red and white colors, with 23-karat gold on the metal spears and the central wooden ball.
“This is really a part of our community heritage,” said Mayor Kurt Wheeler during the April 27 unveiling ceremony. “It is a landmark in the center of the village.”
Starting in 2015, a community-sponsored effort has been underway to restore the sign to its original design and condition. While the sign promotes a private business, the village of Cazenovia took responsibility for the sign in the early 1980s in order to save it from being taken down by the state, which controls Route 20, according to Dan Kuper, owner of the Lincklaen House.
The village and Kuper have joined into a cooperative agreement to restore the sign — as an important community icon — and maintain it in perpetuity.
The sign, which had been in need of renovations for years, was taken down by the village in February. The work included sign renovation and upgrades, and also brought it back to its original historic look, which was taller, with an octagonal post versus a cylindrical one, and a colored sign rather than black and white.
The work, which was funded by donations, grants and municipal funds, was done completely by local artisans, and cost a little over $9,000.
“This was truly a community effort,” said Ted Bartlett, a local preservation consultant who spearheaded the project.
Numerous individuals, organizations and municipal entities contributed either money or in-kind work to the sign restoration, including the village, the town of Cazenovia, The Lincklaen House, Bartlett, the Cazenovia Preservation Foundation using a Common Grounds Challenge grant, Betsy Moore and Dave Porter, Johnson Brothers Lumber, Cazenovia Lumber Company, D.R. Cornue Woodworks, Mike Walker of Expert Building Service, Kitt Warren of Warren Welding, Joe Picciano and artist Paul Parpard. Many individuals who contributed money to the project also asked to remain anonymous, Bartlett said.
All of the materials and work on the sign renovation will be donated by local business and artisans, with the wood for the sign and pole being provided by Johnson Brothers Lumber and Cazenovia Lumber Company; Walker created the new pole; Dale and Ian Cornue hand-carved the wooden spheres; Warren restored all the iron work, and Parpard hand-carved the letters and numbers on the sign as well as served as coordinator for the work.
“This was a great thing, a real community project, everybody was involved,” Parpard said. “It was a labor of love.”
The April 27 unveiling event was witnessed by about 30 community members, as well as all the artisans who contributed to the project.
“It’s beautiful; it really stands out,” said Town Councilor Jimmy Golub, who was present at the unveiling. “The best part is that it is even more historically accurate than the previous sign. It’s kind of a constant; thgings come and go, but this sign stays the same.”
Built in 1835, the Lincklaen House was a stylish and luxurious stopover for Colonial travelers on the Albany Turnpike. The street sign for the hotel, placed on the corner of Albany and Lincklaen streets, stood about 15 feet high — a four-foot sign on an 11-foot pole. The circular sign has 8-inch wooden spheres at the 3, 9 and 12 o’clock positions, and a 10-inch wooden sphere at the 6 o’clock position. The outer rim of the circle is edged in wrought iron with 15 curled iron scrolls coming off it, while the three 8-inch spheres all have iron spearheads with short shafts and scrollwork coming out of them. A 12-inch sphere is suspended in the middle of the inner circle of the sign.
The wooden sign says “Lincklaen House” across the top half and “1835” at the bottom.
“When the Lincklaen House was built, it was a professionally designed building; it was the piece de resistance of Albany Road — a high-quality, high-end establishment, so the sign would have been nothing less,” Bartlett said.
