By SEAN GORMAN
THE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: July 16, 2007)
OSSINING - A subterranean network of rooms recently uncovered under Mystic Pointe was a startling discovery for most people, but the chamber has been known to some of the village's older residents for decades.
Arthur Schmidt, a lifelong Ossining resident who grew up in the area near the underground structure, said he used to go in there as a child some 60 years ago.
"We used to crawl in there with flashlights," said Schmidt, 68. "You had to crawl in this space, and you got in there and it was a big open room. ? We thought, 'Oh my God, the bogeyman is in there.' "
Robert Whalen, 74, of Croton-on-Hudson said he went into the rooms in the early 1940s while trapping skunks and raccoons.
"One of us found that thing," Whalen said. "We were only kids. We were all mystified by it."
Norman MacDonald, president of the Ossining Historical Society, said the chamber - unearthed during road repairs at the condos - was built in the 1880s by Orlando B. Potter, a high-profile figure in New York Democratic circles and a fabulously wealthy Manhattan real estate baron. Potter served in Congress and ran his 100-acre Riversdale Farm in Ossining.
The red-brick structure - which has arched doorways and 15-foot vaulted ceilings - was used to store feed for Potter's Jersey and Holstein dairy cows, MacDonald said, as well as root vegetables grown on the farm. It was also used to move the cows to pasture, he said.
"They've survived because they were so well built," said MacDonald, a distant relative of Potter's. "A few of us knew about it. They were sealed up and nothing to talk about until they uncovered them."
The subterranean structure was found in the spring after the condos brought in workers to examine a sinking exit road that leads to Route 9. Mystic Pointe brought in archaeologists and historians to try to get a better idea of the structure's purpose.
Gay Marglin, a member of Mystic Pointe's governing board, said the condominium complex was still doing historical research. One of the bricks found at the site was thought to date to the 1840s.
"It's, unfortunately, a lengthy process," she said.
The structure's size isn't known because it wasn't fully excavated, though Mystic Pointe Property Manager Art Haviland said "approximately eight" rooms were unearthed.
Schmidt said that about 10 years ago, he told workers who were building Mystic Pointe to be careful, noting there were "wine cellars" under the property.
Schmidt said he would notice the road sinking when he went to services at the nearby St. Augustine's Catholic Church.
"The road used to dip and dip," he said. "I said, 'Those are the rooms down there.' "
The condominium complex expects to decide what to do with the structure this week.
Residents have been weighing two options: Break it open and fill it in, at an estimated cost of $50,000; or build a retaining wall and fill in the air vents with custom-made fixtures to keep the dirt out and preserve the rooms. That's estimated to cost $200,000.
Former Rep. Joe DioGuardi, who lives just down the road from Mystic Pointe, said he's offered to sit in on any discussions about the structure's future.
"When you see all that kind of human labor - these apparently are fairly elaborate, 15-foot ceilings with brick -that you would want to at least stop and think about what that could be used for, if anything," he said.
MacDonald suggested opening it up for tours, but wondered who would sponsor it and pay for liability insurance.
"I think anything that's lost to the future is definitely a loss," MacDonald said. "But then again, when you look at the association there, they own the place and they've got to pay the bills. You've got a difficult situation."
http://www.nyjournalnews.com/apps/pbcs. ... /707160336
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