"What Was Once Hallowed Ground ..."

This is a recent email and photo, reprinted with permission from Jim Donnery, one of Guinan's regular parishioners and the man who inspired the name of the book: "Little Chapel on the River." The shot here is where the old bar and Coca-Cola beer cooler once stood.

The proposal to create a new restaurant and store in the spot where Guinan's once operated was turned down by the board of the Garrison Station Plaza based on what it said was inadequate financing for the project. The board is planning to move ahead with renovations to include office space.

From Jim Donnery:

"I had been home this past weekend to attend a funeral for a family member and had some time for goofing off before a dinner engagement in Cold Spring, so I bought a few beers and went down to sit on the rocks by the Boat Club to admire the sun setting on "the river that flows both ways". Old memories brought me over to the Chapel entrance and I peeked inside the front door past the plywood. That's when I saw the vines coming in the windows where the bar once stood.

I was truly saddened by the sight. Nature encroaching on what was once hallowed ground.
.... I then walked up onto the train platform and that's when I saw the source of the growth, and how it had entered through the crack between the windows.
It was one of those times when you want to slap somebody for letting something wonderful deteriorate for no apparent good reason."