Conkling Hall makes friends

Enterprise file photo — Marcello Iaia

Conkling Hall, the historic venue for an annual chili contest and regular concerts, is at 8 Methodist Hill Road, just off of Main Street in the hamlet of Rensselaerville.
 

RENSSELAERVILLE — A not-for-profit organization formed to boost community support for a 176-year-old venue was recently approved as exempt from federal taxes, according to board member Kevin McGrath.

Donations to the charitable organization, Friends of Conkling Hall, will be tax deductible. Before, the hall’s revenues or donations went to the Presbyterian Church of Rensselaerville, which owns the building and will continue to be responsible for basic structural maintenance, said McGrath. Now, donors can give their money to a separate entity, specifically for the benefit of the hall.

While it has received approval from the Internal Revenue Service, the organization still has to submit financial records to the state, McGrath said.

Part of the reason for forming the separate group was to bring more acts and events to the hall, which was originally built as a Methodist church and continues to be a place for plays, concerts, an open mic night, yoga classes, political forums, square dancing, and fundraisers.

In a bid to make the hall more accessible to people using wheelchairs, the board of directors hopes to install a lift inside of the first-floor lobby, but the project could cost tens of thousands of dollars. In that case, McGrath said, the organization and the church might pool their resources.

— Marcello Iaia

More Hilltowns News

  • The Berne-Knox-Westerlo Board of Education unanimously adopted Superintendent Bonnie Kane’s $24.7 million budget for the 2025-26 school year, which will go to a public vote on May 20. 

  • Albany County, in one of its first acts as owner of the property, has fixed up the road leading up to Switzkill Farm as it prepares for more improvements down the line. 

  • Although an old agreement is still in place and would remain so indefinitely, the town of Berne is considering signing a new contract with the cable company, Spectrum, that would keep the franchise fee the town receives from the company the same but would remove an obligation for Spectrum to build new infrastructure in areas that meet a household-density threshold. 

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