SAUGERTIES, N.Y. — Use of the former American Candle building at 1033 Kings Highway after it largely lied dormant for nearly two decades is being proposed by a Monroe-based toy developer and import company.
The proposal by Audioec Inc. owner Shimon Ekstein was discussed during a Town Board public hearing on Wednesday. Officials agreed to seek a $500,000 state Empire State Development grant to use toward a proposal for $4 million in improvements to the 190,120-square-foot building at 1033 Kings Highway.
“The changes to the loading docks represent about $1.4 million of the budget,” town Supervisor Fred Costello said, “and if we’re successful with the grant we’ll be able to contribute … to that portion of the improvements.
“This funding came for the purpose of rehabilitation,” he added. “It would make an unused building useful or restore a property to a useful purpose. We canvassed a couple of projects and settled on this one as the most likely to be funded.”
Costello said Ekstein has estimated that there would be up to 25 people employed in the distribution center.
“It is somewhat on trend,” he said. “The manufacturing happens overseas and they import through Amazon … but once the facility is up and running they’ll import to this facility and ship from there.”
A website could not be found for Audioec directly but a list of patents showed that the company has developed Karty, a stencil set, and the IQ Challenge set, which consists of puzzle balls and brain teaser items for children.
Costello said developers have expressed interest in using the building over the past two decades, but zoning tended to discourage use.
“Every one of those interests has had a tale,” he said. “Each one had its own story about why it didn’t mature.
“This one seems to be maturing at a fairly rapid pace and we’ve seen financials,” he added, “and this company’s been able to secure funding already from a number of sources, including Chase Bank and (Empire State Development Authority), so on the face of things it seems to be the real deal.”
In September 2000, the building was touted as a location that would create an economic boom when visited by then-Gov. George Pataki to promote Clearly Tech announcing the conversion of the former Philips Components plant to a candle factory that would employ 555 people within five years. It had been supported by a $500,000 state grant for a promise of $6.75 million in improvements. But after quietly changing its name to American Candle, the company managed to fill only around 200 positions before shutting down in June 2003 after questions arose over building, safety code, and permit violations.
