Billboards reflect a sign of changing times

Back in the 1970s, Route 17 would blaze with billboards for classic resorts that made the “Borscht Belt” famous: Pines, Brown”™s, Raleigh, Concord.  These days, signs touting gated communities and Bethel Woods dominate the landscape between Middletown and Monticello.

Allan Gerry, who made his fortune in the cable industry, didn”™t give up on his backyard. Gerry”™s Bethel Woods Center for the Performing Arts ”“ holding up to 20,000 people on any given night ”“ has doubled its lineup of performers since opening last year, drawing an average of 7,000 to 10,000 people per show.

Gerry”™s $80 million  investment may not be in the black for a while, but land prices around the site where the 1969 Woodstock Festival took place are taking off in anticipation of what”™s to come.

While real estate prices continue to plummet in the Hudson Valley, asking prices surrounding the performing arts center are six times higher than they were in 2003. Many longtime landowners  are asking top dollar for the properties, hoping to cash in on what”™s to come ”“ even if it is far, far away.

While the town of Bethel has declared a temporary moratorium, many builders are continuing to frame out luxury condos and stand-alone homes priced above $600,000 that were already approved. All this, and yet town Supervisor Harold Russell lamented in June, “We don”™t have a supermarket in our own town.”

While Gerry acknowledged it might take years before Bethel reaches the status of Saratoga ”“ where its performing arts center turned the once boarded-up community into an upscale area of million-dollar homes and trendy shops ”“ Gerry”™s got no worries. “I”™m in no hurry. I”™m sure we will eventually become a destination,” said a confident Gerry during the 2006 pre-opening press tour.

These days, billboards lining Route 17 east (soon to become Interstate 86) are also hawking potential jobs the St. Regis-Mohawk casino will bring. While five casinos were originally proposed, the St. Regis-Mohawks seem to be the only contenders left in the game.

Monticello”™s Racino is located off the same exit as Bethel Woods and does draw gamblers, with shows thrown in to entice those who play the slots. It will  become a much larger draw if the St. Regis-Mohawk tribe”™s plans are approved.

And what of rumors of Gerry buying Yasgur”™s Farm, which sits in the middle of his 2,000-acre property where Bethel Woods is located? (Asking price for the famed Woodstock concert site?  $8 million.)  “Mr. Gerry has no comment,” said spokesperson  Ellyn Solis, president of  Vermillion Media Group, Gerry”™s public relations firm.