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Tuckahoe Cops and Board Return to Their Roots

TUCKAHOE, N.Y. – The Tuckahoe Village Board and the Tuckahoe Police Department returned to their roots Monday night with a meeting at the Generoso Pope Foundation building in Depot Square.

" My great-grandfather served on this village board as a trustee in 1914 in this very building," said Mayor Steve Ecklond. "It is very neat to know that he was in this building conducting village business like I am now."

Former Mayor Phil White said the Pope Foundation building served as Village Hall from about 1911 to 1983. White served as Mayor when the village owned the building and had his office in the same location where David Pope has his office today.

"It looked very different back then," White said.

White said the village opted to buy the old school building located on Main Street, in the mid 1980s because the then village hall building had fallen into disrepair. White said that the building would also have to become handicapped accessible with the addition of elevators, which would have been very costly.

In addition to housing Village Hall, the now 100 year old building has also served as Town Hall for Eastchester, has been a library, a day care center and a funeral home over the years. The Pope Foundation bought the building about 10 years ago, and it took about 8 years to renovate and restore.

"We were very careful when we did the renovations, we tried to keep some of the old flaws, like an old handrail done by a carpenter who meant well but was not a good carpenter," Pope said. "We wanted to restore this building not only for us but for the public as well.

Pope said that even after the foundation took over the building, he would find parking tickets with cash payments slid into the mail slot, a practice that likely went on for decades.

"On behalf of my family, I would like to thank the village board for having their meeting here tonight," Pope said.

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