|
In 1928 the south-side, upstairs porch on the clubhouse was enclosed.
In 1940, Dr. Francis Shaw, a psychiatrist at the Matteawan State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, was the commodore and was the moving spirit in the reconstruction of the fireplace room. He designed the table between the two columns. The original wall of the room ran through these columns, and there was a porch on the river side of the wall. The wall was moved to the front of the porch. At the same time, the steward's room, which was in the south-east corner of the fireplace room and in which he kept the bath-house keys, was removed. Then the room was finished with wood paneling.
The fireplace was also rebuilt at this time. Axel Carlson, who worked for Dravo, the company that was finishing the Chelsea Aqueduct, welded the metal structure that is inside the fireplace. Dr. Shaw made the decorative inserts that are present in the vents. The stones used in rebuilding the fireplace are from the aqueduct. ( The fireplace-room information is from a conversation with Carver Dumke.)
In the same period, Dr. Shaw bought two ship's wheels and had the inmates at Matteawan electrify them for the ceiling lights at CYC. They are believed to come from the "Mary Powell," the Queen of the River from 1861 until 1920. With three hundred feet of long, clean lines, she was the fastest side-wheeler on the Hudson.
Canoes, kayaks, and sailing canoes were part of the Chelsea scene in this era. A dirt-floor canoe shelter was located between the north end of the clubhouse and the boathouse. Around 1940, the roof was raised and a second floor apartment created for the steward's quarters. A kitchen and a storage room were created on the first floor. These were remodeled in 1969 to expand the apartment facilities.
Also in the forties, all of the porches were enclosed.
In the nineties, under the leadershp of Rear Commodore Jerry Cavagnol, rotten window sills were replaced, the rotted building sill at the south end of the clubhouse was replaced, and a substantial start was made at sheathing the clubhouse with cedar shakes that had been stained gray. In the spring of 1998, a completely new roof was put on the "ballroom."
| 