Bethel Purchase Raises New Hope

Times Herald-Record - April 25, 1997

By: Alan Wechsler, Staff Writer

(LIBERTY) - Multimillionaire Alan Gerry announced yesterday that he had purchased the site of the 1969 Woodstock concert to build an entertainment complex and protect the legacy of the 60's.

In his lavish company headquarters outside the village, Gerry told a crowd of local politicians he bought the site on Hurd and West Shore roads for around $1 million. He also owns nearly 1,000 acres around the site, property secretly purchased over the past nine months.

The purpose: to "create a year-round, world-class, performing arts destination center" in the Town of Bethel.

The announcement brought spontaneous gasps from the audience of about 60 local politicians, and a single vocal reaction: "Wow!"

"I built my business in Sullivan County, raised my family here and believe in everything that is good about this place I call home," Gerry said. "I am fortunate indeed to be in a position to return something of value to this region."

Gerry plans what he deemed a "summit meeting" with the nations experts in land use, architecture and music to determine what should be built at the site. The planning process, he said, could take as long as six months.

He said meetings are scheduled in June with people who develop special destination areas, such as concert venues, museums and "orderly mass gathering areas." Gerry said he did not know exactly what form the destination center would take.

He said he would decide whether the development would include museums, train rides, concert amphitheaters, multiple movie screens, and re-enactments of the Woodstock event after conculting with architects and entertainment experts.

"I want the site to exist in perpetuity so generations will be able to come there and stand and experience what earlier generations experienced without having to go into a honky-tonk situation," Gerry said. "I want something that will appeal to everybody, not just the yuppies who were there when they were kids."

Gerry, who now owns Granite Associates, made his fortune through Cablevision Industries Corporation. He built it up over 40 years to the eighth-largest cable company in the United States, and then merged with Time Warner in January of 1996. The merger resulted in the loss of 200 local jobs. At the time, Gerry promised to give something back to the community to make up for the layoffs.

Gerry's announcement ends weeks of speculations of just what was going on in Bethel. It was a subject well-guarded for more than a year.

It started with an idea from Gerry's daughter, Robyn. Her older sister, Annelise, stole away to the 1969 concert against the expressed wishes of her father and spent four days there camping out in the mud and rain.

"They didn't create the milking machine or invent the automobile on that site, but it was a defining moment in the music world," the 68-year-old Gerry said. "Some people say they were a bunch of pot smokers and wore bandanas and bell-bottoms, but it's part of American culture, whether we like it or not."

About a year ago, Gerry contacted a company that specializes in purchasing large parcels of land without calling attention to the deals. From September on, more than half a dozen corporations in New York and Schenectady were created to buy land. The purchases could be traced back to a law firm in New York City -- Gerry's law firm.

Deals were made quickly and quietly. In one case, a landowner was paid $170,000 for a 40-acre parcel of swampland, three times the assessed value. Now, Gerry says he owns a footprint of land as big as Central Park.

At the same time the purchases were taking place, Gerry was talking to site owner June Gelish of Brooklyn. Gelish, who died last week of ovarian cancer, had inherited the site from her companion, Louis Nicky. The site had been in litigation between Gelish and Nicky's former wife, but that was an issue Gerry did not address Wednesday.

"My biggest regret is that the person who shared this vision and embraced our goals, June Gelish, did not live long enough to join us today," Gerry said. "She was quite a unique lady once you got to know her."

Although some say Gov. George Pataki has been involved in this project - and some prominent Republicans have had a hand in buying land - Gerry said the project was his baby. At the same time, however, he said he was meeting with state officials in the future, including Charles Gargano, head of the Office of Economic Development.

"There are definitely things going on here," said a Pataki administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "I mean, Sullivan County is hurting. We'd love to do something for them."

The same official suggested the New York Philharmonic, which has been looking for a summer home, would be a perfect fit for the site. But a spokesperson for the Philharmonic said the performing arts center "is not a project we're aware of."

Gerry's announcement came only a few days after it was learned that two developers are considering building another performing arts center in Sackett Lake.

"What we've heard today, that is a dream come true," said Allan Scott, Supervisor of the Town of Bethel, who sat with his family and a contingent of townspeople in the second row of Gerry's auditorium.

A lot of questions remain about what Gerry is planning. He was unable to say what kind of destination he wants to build or what the development would look like.

Another question is what will it be called. Woodstock Ventures of New York City owns the rights to the name "Woodstock" and owner John Roberts said he has not heard from Gerry.

As for the 37 (1/2)-acre site itself, Gerry said he hopes to keep it natural. But he did not say whether the thousands of pilgrims that make their way to the site every August would be allowed to camp or play music at the site.

"No one has ever answered that question," said Abigail Storm, who maintains a web site to keep Woodstockers around the world informed. "That's the question we're going to be asking."

Gerry, who pledged repeatedly to work with town and county officials on the development of the project, predicted last night it is "going to put us back on the map where we belong."

"We're sticking our neck way out on this thing," he said. "My pride says I don't want to fail."

*Steve Israel and T.R. Pavis-Weil contributed to this report.