Bonura plans B & B at former funeral home

By Wayne Hall
Posted 6/26/19

The stark white and dark shuttered Coloni Funeral Home that’s a Route 9W landmark to thousands of mourners and motorists long ago stopped conducting funerals.

Now it may become a B and B.

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Bonura plans B & B at former funeral home

Posted

The stark white and dark shuttered Coloni Funeral Home that’s a Route 9W landmark to thousands of mourners and motorists long ago stopped conducting funerals.

Now it may become a B and B.

The elegant mansion framed by the Hudson Highlands and Storm King Mountain, has been bought by restaurateur Joseph Bonura who has told the New Windsor planning board that he wants to re-purpose the Coloni structure into an elegant B and B.

Called Pier Properties Bed and Breakfast the elegant structure would be converted into a 10-room bed and breakfast requiring a site plan and a special permit.

A key addition is installing sprinkler system.

“It’s been sold to a series of mortuary business in the past, the last being SCI (Services International) in Houston.

But the graceful old Coloni funeral home’s structure so much a Route 9W landmark could survive as a bed and breakfast as was recently discussed at a recent New Windsor Planning Board meeting.

As they launched into planning board issues for the old home, New Windsor Planning Board members shared some personal memories of the gracious old white home and mortuary that is a Route 9W landmark to innumerable drivers on Route 9W.

“My dad’s funeral was here,” said planning board chairman Jerry Argenio. “And the line at his funeral,”Argenio said “was out the door because so many people came to pay respects to him.”

Added Planning board engineer Mark Edsall, “I attended many funerals there and the fire department had a lot of activities there and I was a pallbearer and everything else you do there.”

For the record, said Edsall, no changes in the curb cut or any changes in the state right of way relative to the access of the property“so technically there is no reason the building can’t become a bed and breakfast.”

The planning board declared itself lead agency to oversee the plans.

Planning board chairman Jerry Argenio said the project for the proposed 10-room bed and breakfast would be a special use permitted use.

The planning board members declared themselves lead agency on this project.