Two vine-covered towers stand on Lower Main Street in Callicoon, NY. The twin coal silos are massive and imposing up close, but surprisingly easy to miss when driving past them to Peck’s Market or the Callicoon Youth Center. Like many old structures, their lack of usefulness has made them inconspicuous, at least to the uncurious.
The silos and the adjacent “Weigh Station” are remnants of the thriving coal industry that once dominated the economies of the Catskills and Poconos. In the current day, the silos have been adopted, and purchased, by ENGN, an arts and education group based in Callicoon.
ENGN (pronounced “engine”) bought the almost-100-year-old silos in 2013. The Weigh Station has been refurbished as an art space and offices, but the silos require more work to become useable.
Frankly, they’re in danger of collapse without community assistance. And if you’re reading this article, you’re already a member of that community.
A community around coal
The silos have been part of Callicoon for just shy of a century.
The structures were built by the Erie Railroad in late 1930 and leased to the local Kautz brothers shortly thereafter. Trains brought Pennsylvania coal for storage in the silos.
Back in the day, the silos were a de facto hangout. Residents from Honesdale to Monticello would make the trip to Callicoon to purchase bags of anthracite for their homes and businesses. They would buy coal, then spend a little time chatting with friends and neighbors at the silos.
ENGN continues that tradition of community. The organization was started by Callicoon artists Thomas Boskett, and Isaac Green-Diebbol. They’ve been joined by local farmer Mark Keoppe and poet Carolyn Preziosi, ENGN’s president and vice-president respectively.
Since its inception, ENGN has engaged with local communities through art-centered programs. It has worked extensively with schools and youth organizations throughout Sullivan County.
ENGN sees itself quite literally as an engine (the letters are not an acronym). Green-Diebbol said the group is “an engine for civic and creative energy and activity—an organization that gets things going.” But an engine requires fuel, and in this case, the fuel is our community—people giving their time, expertise and/or money.
This brings us back to the silos. The Weigh Station, ENGN’s current home, is a small space, and the organization would like to incorporate the silos into their mission.
Right now, though, the silos are unusable. The main structures are sound structurally, but the roof is tattered. This has left the silos mostly open to the elements.
Over the past few years, pieces of the roof have fallen into the silos, and onto Lower Main Street as well. Without immediate remediation, this exposure will lead to greater damage and perhaps to collapse.
The overhaul is set to begin at the end of April, and ENGN needs roughly $40,000 to complete the repairs. In addition to the contributions already made by the community, funding for this project was made possible in part by a Community Development Grant from Sullivan 180. See sidebar for ways to contribute to the repair effort.
ENGN sees the silos as a symbol of Callicoon’s history, a “library of the soul.” They envision the silos becoming a creative civic space, with a community herb garden on the land above the Weigh Station.
However, restoring the silos would be beneficial beyond the use ENGN would make of them. The silos are a part of our area’s history, and belong to the community regardless of who holds the deed.
Restored, repaired and repainted, the silos would be a symbol not just of Callicoon’s past, but of what the town has become—a thriving community for the arts, business and farming.
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