The Milan Town Garage
By Frances Sandiford

Architect David Borenstein calls it "adapted reuse." The residents of the town of Milan simply call it "cleaning up an eyesore." No matter how one describes it, the former Milan town garage has undergone a makeover of mammoth proportions. Two short years ago it was literally falling down. Today, although not yet quite completed, it is a sturdy multi-use complex, fully visible on Academy Hill Road.

The original structure was put up by the town of Milan in the 1930s as a garage for its town vehicles and salt trucks. Since there was no official town hall at the time, a portion of the garage was partitioned off to serve as a room for voting, town court and other official purposes. For three decades, Milan made do with this arrangement, hectic as it was.

In 1964, Irene Wilcox, a lifelong Milan resident, willed to the town the resources to build the present Milan Wilcox town hall. When the town's administrative functions moved to that new location on Route 199, the original building went back to being just a garage and stayed that way until it was replaced five years ago.

Abandoned, the old building detoriated. Architect Borenstein, who lives adjacent to the property, saw its possibilities if it were restored to house his own expanding business, and in September 2000, he offered to purchase the building. Milan town officials were glad to get the property off their hands.

The building is still going though its transformation. The outside is rough; the inside is nearer completion. To the one story original structure, Borenstein has added a second story, two-bedroom apartment with its own entrance. His architectural offices are downstairs on a landing above his painting and sculpture studio. A shop, garage, and equipment storage area are on the bottom level where the town trucks used to be housed. These are for the David Borenstein Construction Company, which he also operates. The new roof has a much greater pitch with dormers and skylights incorporated in it to bring more light into the offices and loft above them.