LAKE PLACID – “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times,” Charles Dickens began in his 1859 novel “The Tale of Two Cities.”

In Lake Placid, better days are coming for the Fortunes of Time gift shop building at 2519 Main St. – and for Mirror Lake – as a more eye-appealing addition is planned to replace the back apartments and porches destroyed by a fire on July 25. The Town of North Elba/Village of Lake Placid Joint Review Board has set a public hearing on the addition during its next meeting, which begins at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 6 on the third floor of the North Elba Town Hall.

“We cannot move forward with the rebuild of the interior of the existing building until we have approval on this addition,” building co-owner Mary Anne Hawley said after she presented her plan to the JRB at the Dec. 16 meeting. “Obviously, if we did not get the approval, it would change the floor plans of the existing building.”

The question remains: Is the Main Street facade the front of the building, or is the Mirror Lake side the front of the building? The answer is both.

It is the tale of two fronts, an issue that community planners have been dealing with for decades as they try to improve the look of Mirror Lake – the undisputed focal point of the community. In the long run, they envision a more attractive skyline along the lake, which is created largely by the back side of Main Street buildings. Traditionally, most of the buildings were designed to look attractive from Main Street, not the lakeside, with an out-of-sight-out-of-mind mentality when it came to backside additions. But in Lake Placid, those back sides are not out of sight. They are the featured attraction in postcard-like photos taken by residents and visitors on a daily basis.

Using the town/village planning and zoning code, JRB members are tasked with changing that design philosophy as new construction and additions are planned for those buildings. And Hawley has been an advocate for that change for about 20 years.

“At least we can set an example and hope that others follow with that over time, and that we improve the look from the other side of the lake,” Hawley said.

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Fire aftermath

Interior cleanup of the Fortunes of Time building began soon after the fire. There was major damage to the first floor gift shop and apartments on the floors above, and the roof collapsed on the brick structure, which was built in 1917. Asbestos had to be removed, “which takes more time and costs a whole lot more money,” Hawley said.

In October, new steel beams were installed, and the roof was subsequently rebuilt. While the unusually warm weather in November and December hurt the snow-based tourism industry, it was exactly what Hawley needed for her building. It’s now winterized, and the heat is on inside.

“I’m sure the warm weather made the difference between saving the building or not,” Hawley said. “You can just imagine the moisture in the bricks. If that had frozen, that would have done so much structural damage that I think we would not have been able to save the building.”

The fire gave Hawley the opportunity to bring the building up to code by adding an elevator and interior fire egress.

“That displaced a lot of space in the original building, and so it prompted us to ask for this addition on the back, which is smaller than the space that we’re actually displacing inside,” Hawley said.

Hawley’s goal is to get her building – and Main Street – back to normal. Parking spaces in front of the building have been occupied by trash-removal bins and vehicles since the fire. As for the gift shop itself, Hawley said she’s unclear whether Fortunes of Time will continue or another store will take its place.

“It’s time to just re-assess everything, so that’s what we’re doing,” Hawley said.

Hawley operates two other Main Street shops, Imagination Station and There And Back Again.

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The addition

Hawley needs Joint Review Board approval for the addition to the back of the Fortunes of Time building, which is about 80 feet from the lake, well outside the 50-foot setback. The footprint of the addition is about 26 feet deep and about 24 feet wide, including internal square footage for apartments and decks.

Board members must approve the addition for the materials being used on the exterior, taking into account the measures outlined in the Historic Resource Overlay District section of the planning code, which states that they must “Respect the original design character of the building.”

The code also states that “original materials and architectural details contributing to the historic significance of the structure are qualities that should be preserved whenever feasible.”

While the Main Street side of the building will not be changed, the lakeside addition will have a fairly modern style, including metal side panels, what one JRB member called a “contemporary interpretation” at the Dec. 16 meeting. There was discussion as to whether the design was compatible with the historic section of the code, and board members welcomed the design.

“To me, the historical part of the building is material and architecture, and the material for 80 percent of the building is staying the same,” said board Chairman Bill Hurley. “It’s the brick facade in the front, the cornice work in the front, the window detail in the front, and it’s all remaining the same.”

Hurley read part of the code.

“‘It is not appropriate to construct an addition if it will detract from the overall historic character of the building,'” Hurley said. “I don’t think this addition on the back takes away the historical part of the building, which is the front. … This is one of those (times) modern material and modern design allow for a little more than the typical enclosed three-season wooden porch that a lot of buildings have on Main Street.”