The Fall of Halcyon Hall - Demolition of the Bennett School
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- Опубліковано 14 чер 2022
- 🔹If you would like to see our video of the abandoned Halcyon Hall, you can do so here - bit.ly/HalcyonHall-Video
The inevitable end.
Halcyon Hall had rotted away for decades on its grassy perch, demolished by neglect long before any equipment arrived on the property. It was always known that one day the old place would have to be felled, but that did little to dull the ache of actually witnessing it happen firsthand. Timbers snap, walls fall, glass shatters, and stones crumble. In the end, a bare patch of land exists where a stunning hall had for well over a century. A void in every sense of the word.
Demolition work took some months to complete, with the removal of auxiliary buildings and annex structures before the hall proper was brought down. This left the property in a unique state for a few weeks where the original hall was the singular building on the grounds, alone on its knoll much as it was when first opened in 1893. On the last day, when the main peak of Halcyon was tumbled, the weather played out as dramatically as the scenes before us. The bright sun faded away to black thunderstorms, and back again. A repeating cycle of sunshine and oppressive downpours punctuated by rainbows and thunderclaps. In the final hour leading up to the removal of the last and largest peak, the rain had been so constant and the clouds so heavy that we assumed the sun had finally given up for the day. Through the falling rain, we watched as a giant excavator claw tore away the building bit by bit, working now on the sidewalls and roofing when suddenly the upper two floors of the structure listed, pivoting about 10 degrees before settling to a stop atop twisting walls. The excavator backed away and work halted for about an hour, this pause was likely so that the crew could gather together a plan on how to deal with the imminent collapse of the remaining edifice. That hour saw the black thunderclouds slowly pass, and like the lifting of a curtain, the sun returned in theatrical fashion.
Light beamed down upon the school, passing through it from the missing walls in the rear, and exiting out the front facade through the remaining windows. It looked as if the lights of the building were illuminated for the first time in decades, a glimmer of life where none had been for ages. Halcyon had roused from a long sleep to look out at the world one final time. It lasted just a minute, no more, but in that brief instant, it felt that the old place had made peace with all the generations that knew it.
The clouds returned with their darkness and rain. The demolition claw also returned, slowly making its way through the mud toward the crooked peak like an executioner dragging his ax. And then it was over.
🔹The full story of Halcyon Hall can be found on our site - bit.ly/HalcyonHall
🔹Music - 'Among The Roots' by Somnium Music - / @somniummusic
*We would like to give a huge 'thank you' to: atp.photo - ( / atp.photo ) and Abandoned America - (AbandonedAmerica.net), who provided us with updates throughout the demolition process. Without their help, we would have missed pivotal moments.
🔸*If you enjoy what we create and would like to help sponsor our endeavors, please consider supporting us via this link - bit.ly/SupportAntiquityEchoes 🔸 - Розваги
I can’t believe my eyes or luck! I just happened to stumble upon this video moments ago. I was 19yrs old when I first laid eyes on Halcyon Hall/Bennett College. My roommate’s parents literally lived across the street from it. I remember it was winter break as we approached her house…and after hours of driving an old two lane road…it magically appeared in the landscape. It was breathtaking!!!Under a spectacular full moon it stood, covered in fresh white snow! I was so overwhelmed by its presence that I jumped out of the car and ran towards it leaving my friend and luggage behind! Lol! They told me about this incredible building and it’s history that night. I was mesmerized! The very next day, under its spell, I went to explore it. Bennett College was one of the most incredible memories I ever had. It spoke to me and I believe I fell in love with its abandon beauty. For years I would inquire about it and even spoke to a Realtor about it. But it was quite evident the property was beyond renovation. I still have my black and white photos from that adventurous exploration! I cherish them and that incredible experience. My eyes are drying now from the sadness…it was inevitable. Your video was beautiful and tremendously appreciated…even though my heart just cracked. I thank you. She will never be forgotten. ♥️
What an amazing story, thank you so much for sharing. Halcyon had an almost mesmerizing quality, one that it possessed even long after being abandoned. The place was undeniably beautiful up to it's final day.
Amazing story.
did you attend English class there? too bad.....@@AntiquityEchoes
I wish I could say this was a surprise. That such an amazing old place could be left to rot like Bennett was, only to be destroyed. But its all too common and what will replace it will be garbage. Likely condos. Such a shameful waste.
Thank you so much for documenting her fall. This was a special place to me and so many.
Goodbye Halcyon Hall.
It was a sad but foreseeable end. As for the property, you may be happy to know it will become a public park named 'Bennett Park', after the former school. There will also be a museum space housed in the former directors home, which has been restored.
how would one restore something that has yet to be created?@@AntiquityEchoes
Very sad to see. My father was a teacher at Bennett from 1962 until 1972. It was an idyllic life in a fascinating environment. My childhood was spent roaming this campus. That the chimneys remain standing tall is a testament to the great stone masons from the community of Millbrook.
That's beautiful. We've actually been interviewing with those who knew Halcyon firsthand. If you're interested in speaking with us let us know!
@@AntiquityEchoes I’d be glad to talk. Most of the professors lived in Bennett supplied housing. We were just across the road/creek on the south side. West of the tennis courts- which are also gone. The house is still there and occupied. How do we connect?
@@samajax - Thanks! Drop us a line via email when you feel inclined and we can proceed from there - AntiquityEchoes@yahoo.com
My cousin went to Bennett College- and just loved it. When I lived in Manhattan we sometimes drove up that way and ..as many others have said..there was just something about it, though hard to define. There are other marvelous abandoned and demolished structures in the New York area, but Halcyon Hall was unique. I followed any news of it for decades. Would it be restored? Condos? A hotel again? Nursing home? Many ideas, a few offers without real backing..and the seasons came and passed, and still it stood. It lost windows, and began slowly crumbling. Empty, but echoing laughter of guests, then students...then explorers
I think it was last spring when I checked again, it was still there. Today it popped to mind and I found your video.
Grieving a place I didn't live in seems odd, but I grieve. Your video is beautifully done, with love and reverence for what was.
Those chimneys...whew..
Thank you.
Halcyon Hall seems to have resonated with a great many people who never knew it personally. It was beautiful, on a far deeper level than simply its appearance.
I grew up in Millbrook just blocks from this place. When I was in Highshcool in the 90s, we used to sneak in there all the time and explore. Such an alluring building that just begged you to enter. Will be strange to
see it gone when next I visit. I'm happy I had the chance to appreciate it when I did. Great video. Thanks for giving the ol girl a classy ending.
Halcyon Hall was beautiful until the very end.
i never had the guts to explore her kudos to those with it
I explored there many times from the late 2000s, but would love to see more interior photos from the 80s and 90s.
Mama Byerfilms here. I still cannot look at these pictures without feeling devastated. I went to Bennett in 1970. It was one of the most wonderful years of my life. Freedom and independence for the first time for this 18 year old, meeting new people from all over the place, reveling in the absolute beauty that was Bennett and the town of Millbrook. We used to go to New Paltz to hang at Pat and George’s, drink tequila with salt and lime and dance to the music. That’s where I met my husband who was at SUNY New Paltz. Fifty three years later we’re still together. Thank you Bennett College for giving me what was promised in your pamphlet that I found at my local library in Connecticut (no internet back then). It was all about “the Bennett experience”. Rest in peace.
That's beautiful! We've actually been collecting interviews from past alumni over the years, who have sat with us and shared their stories of what life was like at Bennett and within Halcyon Halls. Universally it seemed a very warm and well-loved facility and building from all who have shared their memories. If you would ever like to be a part of this ongoing 'oral history' project, please send us an email at AntiquityEchoes@Yahoo.com
My first year was 1970. Maybe I knew you. My name is Martha, but I think I was known as Marty back then. Tim Vernon was my piano teacher. Ring a bell?
This was so well done. It brought tears to my eyes though. This was the place that got me hooked on urbex many years ago. It’s so incredibly sad that no one cared enough to save it. Thank you for sharing.
what did YOU do to save it??
I have been mysteriously compelled to want to know everything about the old college. Since 2020 I have been documenting videos and still pictures found online. I can't explain what it is about the fascination, the hold on me. Never seen it in person, but feel I have. Great video and music for its sad demise. know only memories exist of the former glory.
We understand how you feel, Halcyon Hall had pieces to it that people could relate to. Old world architecture is far more warm and human than our modern-day constructions that give off an air of cold sterility.
I've been reading and watching videos about the place for three hours. I think I'm hooked too.
I’ve been hooked on this place for years for some reason it was the first abandoned building i found fascinating for some reason.
It was well past time and really the only way the story of Halcyon Hall could end at this point but still hard to see a building that would have been so beautiful in its prime come to this. Beautiful footage of a sad but inevitable day.
The time to save the place had long passed. This is a form of closure for many.
Halcyon Hall/Bennett was a beloved Urbex spot, like with Grossinger's Resort, both were unique & both were well covered by Antiquity Echoes. Both have fallen & both are missed, thank you to A.E. for doing what you do to keep these places alive & your music picks are outstanding. Love your channel & content.
Thank you so much for your kind words and support. It really helps us when faced with documenting heartbreaking events like this.
Speaking of the Catskills, I studied Brown’s Hotel for a long while. Like so many, it closed in bankruptcy and later reopened as an all condo property (Grandview Palace.) It too had a storied history until a fire destroyed almost all of it. The condo owners got nothing; the property had been insured relying on false information, so no insurance coverage, and the intrinsic land value is oceans less than the costs of mitigation and cleanup.
Agreed. Beautiful and thoughtful.
Rusty, you and Christina have once again done a masterful piece of work. This was difficult to watch. Halcyon Hall was my all time favorite place to explore and photograph. I'm glad we got to do some exploring in there together a number of years ago. Truly the end of an era. They don't make 'em like that anymore.
This place brought a great many people together, even in the decades after it closed.
Wow! So sad. Well done Rusty and Christina! Another amazing piece of architecture and history put down, but lovingly and artistically documented.
Thank you so much. It was a terrible thing to wake up to every morning we filmed.
This was on my bucket list but I knew I wouldn’t be able to go because of how bad it is. Such a shame it was let go beyond saving.
The past several years found the place in farr to dangerous a condition to explore. Once they boarded the windows and blocked out the sunlight it became nearly impossible to navigate safely.
This is outstanding. Thank you for documenting it for those who weren't able to see it in person.
Glad you enjoyed it! There was lot of heartache here. But, it was our way of saying farewell, so in the end it was therapeutic in many ways.
Videos and news like this make me so sad...
Sorry to have been the source of the bad news 💔
Another flawless documentation of a wonderful building taken from us too soon, this brings a tear to my eye because this building was the one that got me into urbex and made me fall in love with the beauty of urban decay, i'm so glad I got to experience the pure awe of this structure before its inevitable demise...
Goodbye old friend
I had never ever seen this place anywhere until I saw it in a dream awhile ago. Now I’m invested
Whoa.
Even though this was long coming, it's sad to see this landmark go. The building was beautiful even in the ruined/abandoned state. Love the footage and the drone shots!
It was a sad, but expected end 💔
You guys always manage to capture so much in your videos and photos, so much that just leaves me without words. And now here we are again with another beautiful capturing of history, this time with original photos from within Overbrook’s history. Thank you for creating and sharing.
Thank you so much! We are incredibly interested in the histories of these places, and it's great to hear others feel the same way.
What a haunting video. I could almost hear the cries of the ghosts through the old decayed windows.
Were they the cries of ghosts or of the building itself?
So sad to see this go, it still bothers me. I loved this place. Amazing to see parts of the interior you could never see with just a drone though.
I wish Antiquity Echoes could have filmed Greer School when the Fountains of Millbrook bought Greer and they demolished it. Greer was a beautiful place on 1500 acres and a home to 200 disadvantaged children. I was one of those children. We would go to Bennett College every year and were hosted by the students there for a day full of fun and games, including rolling down that big green hill in front of the college. Unfortunately, Greer will be having its last reunion on June 7th, 2023!
It's important to remember that while physical buildings may disappear, the memories and experiences that we carry with us can last a lifetime. The fact that we are able to recall the joy and camaraderie of those times at Greer School and Bennett College is a testament to the lasting impact that those places had on our life.
Wonderful story and memories. Aside from those few who (incorrectly) labeled the abandoned edifice an 'eyesore' the old property seems almost universally loved. We feel that even those who complained about its abandoned form likely miss the place in some way now that it's gone.
As a 16-year-old French teenager, I did not know Bennett School, to tell the truth I discovered by chance on this architectural beauty which I literally fell in love with. I'm a big fan of architecture and historical places like that. Thank you for making these videos on the subject, it's really well done. I know how important this is to many people's hearts, but every good thing comes to an end. As a new generation, we need to discover this kind of place even if it has disappeared. It is now one of the most beautiful places I have seen in my life, sincerely. Thank you so much.
Thank you for the kind words and beautiful thoughts behind them. It's our hope that future generations will care for these places, preserve them, and cherish them as they should be.
Thanks for doing this. Sad, but important.
Broke our hearts every day we were there filming, never got used to it.
This location was a deep dive for me. Four years studying the history and thousands of images and videos. I doubt there will be another place so well documented; Halcyon was an urbex rite of passage.
Anyone notice the insane talent of the machine operator, able to demolish the sections of the structure with the precision of an NFL quarterback?
We agree that, though we hated seeing the building demolished, the machine operators were highly skilled. In fact, everyone we had met from the crew was very personable.
Wow, something that was on my bucket list! Thank you so much for the time to record her demise! A lost treasure.
Someone has to stand witness, in filming it we hoped that everyone could pay their respects in their own way.
Great photography!
Rusty..... Great imagery, Great flying, Great timing, Great documentary on this historic building. You da' man.
This was so well done. Thank you.
Thank you 🖤
Breaks my heart to see history neglected and destroyed...
It's a heartbreaker.
It’s awkward like complimenting a funeral director for his service, but well done. Thank you.
The process of filming, reviewing, and editing very much had the feeling of a memorial service. Thank you.
@@AntiquityEchoes Thanks for documenting this very majestic Building to those of us who live in another State and would not have known about it otherwise. When I first watched, I was like, "Save Her! Save Her!! Save Her!!!" but that was before I read (in the comments) there was a fire involved. It is too bad that no one stepped up to save her. But the Elements (Water, Fire etc) are often fatal to all things man-made once they become involved. Unfortunately Buildings of this magnitude like this will almost certainly never get built again in our life time, and that, in itself, is a big loss. PS: Been keeping up with you and Christina since your ''LiveJournal'' Days. Thanks for sharing Rusty!
Just came across this. Here I thought it was only me 😬 Carson McCullers: “We are homesick most for the places we have never known.”
@@marcboulware6242 - Thanks for the continued support! As for the building, there was never fire damage to Halcyon Hall, though in a lot of places the timber was black with decay and may have had the appearance of fire damage.
amazimg footage. some of your best work
Thanks, always trying to improve, even when filming tragedies like this.
Such a beautiful place sad they had to tear it down😢
the whole town lost it's charm too
For the amount of that building that was wood it's amazing more of it hadn't collapsed under it's own weight sooner.
Old-growth timber is far different than the lumber we all see nowadays.
I wonder in what year a renovation still would have been successful and realistic if you take everything into account.
Mist likey something could have been done with it up until some point in the 90s. We first saw the place in 2008 it was badly decayed by that point.
@@AntiquityEchoes Even then already too late, sad but inevitable. It wouldn't be so terrible if they were building new grand constructions in other places, unfortunately they don't.
always wanted to see this place. glad i have a good pic to use for my wallpaper
An iconic structure and a historic look into the highlights of the golden age of architecture. I passed it for many years and year after year hoped it would be saved, preserved for future generations to admire. An irreplaceable loss to our culture and the visionaries or our historic past, never to be replaced by our disposable society...
Fewer and fewer places like Halcyon remain, making this loss all the more impactful.
Me too
this old girl has been my necessity from 40 years would plan my yearly trip to Millbrook watched her destruct how wonderful where to go now???
When Halcyon Hall fell a lot more was lost than just old walls.
Im so sorry to hear of this...😥
I can bring back some if the fondest memories exploring this place by thinking of a single Number that anyone that frequented this place still has drilled in their heads.......282
Saw an old reddit post on this place in r/OldPhotosInRealLife and it sent me down a rabbithole. Was really hoping the hall would end up saved, so this is incredibly sad to see. Some of the historical interior photos are really magnificent. I guess at least it got a final fitting tribute with such a well-done video
Sorry your rabbit hole led to a sad ending. Thank you for the kind words though, it was a somber send-off for a place that deserved much better.
so sad to see such a popular urban expl building get destroyed rip Halcyon Hall
I think we all knew that Halcyon Halls days were numbered and that it's fate was demolition. Especially with how the fire that ravaged it made it unsalvageable, sort of like Dixmont back in 2005.
Still doesn't change how sad it is seeing it put out of its misery.
We all knew it was going to happen eventually, but that doesn't mean we didn't hope against it.
Remember Woodville and Mayview?
There was NO FIRE!!! it's Water damage
I wish they just let it until it naturally came to the ground.
Sad, so very sad....
Heartbreaking.
I remember 2 yesrs ago I told someone that this was gonna be the next location to get Demolished soon after two local abandoned places got demolished..and unfortunately I was right..
I'm glad I got a couple photos and some videos of Bennet College before, and after.
Its a shame the mega rich don't care about these kind of buildings, they'd rather spend 90 million to live on the side of a cliff in a giant glass and steel monster.
It must have been the most amazing place to go to school! Sad.
It was amazing, even decades after closing.
I drove up and and saw this place once. Sad it was a shell of its old self but honestly what could be done with the place it was falling apart.
It lingered like a ghost for decades. In a lot of ways it haunted the town of Millbrook.
Sad...looked like it was a beautiful building at one time.
It was beautiful until the last wall fell.
Sad😢
I can almost hear the building crying...
This was one of the most difficult things we have ever filmed, and it went on for weeks 💔
It was a well-constructed building, to have been abandoned for 40+ years, with all that water damage and decay, and still be solid in places.
It was considerably more rigid than it appeared, even the demolition crew were impressed by the strength of the old timbers.
Does anyone have the basement floor plans for this building? I have the upper floors ( maybe not an attic, if that exists please upload to imgur or somewhere! )
We would love to see that as well.
check in with the library
So sad!!
💔
Just got back from work and have it streaming now. Is it over?
Once the premier ends you can rewatch it like any of our other videos.
explored this place in 13 , decay was headed your way .
There were so many things that could have been done with this beautiful building!!😪 They just let it sit and rot
It would have been beautiful in any role, such a shame.
It was doomed almost from the moment it was abandoned. IIRC, the heat was shut off but not the water. So within weeks of the college closing down, the first night below freezing caused the pipes to burst and flood the place. That caused many would-be buyers to turn away.
This is so sad, I with it could've been saved earlier. Maybe even turned into a hotel.
😢
💔
terrible loss
The end of an era.
Incredible place HJ ( xplorer llttf)
😢😭
💔