Gillette House bagel shop won't have drive-through, owner decides

PHOTOGRAPHER: Kathleen Moore

The historic Gillette House will not have a drive-through when and if it becomes a bagel shop and coffeehouse, owner John McDonald said today.

McDonald had asked the Board of Zoning Appeals to grant permission for a modern drive-through at the entrance to the city’s Historic Stockade District, but he has now formally dropped that part of his plan.

“I talked to some of my neighbors about their issues and decided to delete that,” he said.

He still needs BZA permission to turn the residential house into an independent bagel shop and coffeehouse, which would be open in the mornings. Customers would park at the nearby Van Dyck parking lot, which is also owned by the McDonald family.

The BZA is expected to hear his proposal on Jan. 5.

The Gillette House was the home and office of Dr. Elizabeth Van Rensselaer Gillette from about 1900 until her death at age 90 in 1965. The house then fell into disrepair.

She was the first female physician in Schenectady County. She also became the first woman elected to the state Assembly, running for office a year before women won national suffrage.