Page 32 - ARUBA TODAY

A32 FEATURE
Monday 2 deceMber 2019
Mountain village embraces its legacy as cure center for TB

By MICHAEL HILL ley said. "I mean, it never
Associated Press crossed my mind." Then an-
SARANAC LAKE, N.Y. (AP) tibiotics came along, and
— Tuberculosis put Saranac the bottom fell out.
Lake on the map. "That was a wonderful thing
Through the middle of the for humanity, but a terrible
20th century, ailing people thing for our local econo-
seeking a "rest cure" re- my," Catania said.
clined on cottage porches Trudeau discharged its last
in the community to take patient in 1954 and was
in the crisp Adirondack purchased several years
Mountain air. Saranac Lake later by a corporate train-
grew into a mini-metrop- ing group to host seminars.
olis of medical care, with Saranac Lake is a more
a dozen trains chugging traditional tourist town to-
in and out daily, a famous day, a snow globe village
mountainside tuberculosis surrounded by mountains
sanitorium, hotels — and and lakes. The area's past
three undertakers. as a TB haven is highlighted
"It was a bustling place," at the Saranac Laboratory
said 89-year-old Howard Ri- Museum, a brick building
ley, who worked more than that was once Trudeau's
seven decades ago as a lab. Historic Saranac Lake
"tray boy," delivering food This Friday, Nov. 29, 2019 photo shows the exterior of one of the Trudeau Sanatorium houses used operates the museum and
to patients. "Very, very up- to treat tuberculosis patients by sitting on the porch for rest and mountain air under the care of TB this past spring bought
beat. And that might sound pioneer Dr. Edward Livingston in Saranac Lake, N.Y. Trudeau's former home
funny to somebody else, Associated Press and medical practice next
because the whole place door. It is raising $1.7 million
was built on a disease." cally attacks the lungs and the Trudeau Sanitorium, at Trudeau "some of the for a rehabilitation of new
The local boom ended with was among the deadliest named for its founder af- happiest years of my life." In space.
the rise of effective antibiot- diseases a century ago. Fe- ter his death in 1915 after her contribution to the 2002 The Trudeau name lives on
ic treatment, but residents ver, fatigue and an awful battling the disease for de- book "Portrait of Healing," here through the Trudeau
still honor the village's novel cough are common symp- cades. she wrote fondly about Institute, dedicated to
legacy. This year, the local toms. Hundreds of old "cure cot- fresh air, friends and kind the study of infectious dis-
history group purchased Trudeau was among the tages" still stand along the doctors. doctor prescribing ease. And Trudeau's great-
the old home and medical sufferers who came to the hilly streets. Many are resi- the proper shade of lipstick grandson, "Doonesbury"
office of TB treatment pio- Adirondack Mountains in dential homes, their distinc- to match her pajamas. comic strip creator Garry
neer Dr. Edward Livingston the 19th century in the be- tive open porches now en- Riley and Leduc say they Trudeau, provides art an-
Trudeau for conversion into lief that rest and mountain closed. Riley pointed them loved living in a busy town. nually for the village's Win-
additional museum space. air could help control the out during a recent drive Leduc met movie star ter Carnival.
Separately, developers disease. The young doc- through the snow-covered James Cagney when he Developer Wayne Zukin,
purchased the sprawling tor's health improved and village. "Here's a cure cot- visited a local sanitorium part of the group that
site of Trudeau's sanitorium he moved to Saranac tage," he said, from behind that served people in show bought the site this fall,
with plans to refurbish and Lake. He opened the Ad- the wheel. "So is this. I mean, business. Riley, in addition said its first goal this winter
reuse buildings integral to irondack Cottage Sanito- they're all over the place." to delivering food to pa- is to stabilize the buildings.
the area's past as a mag- rium in 1884, beginning a Many patients were young tients, would run errands to Different buildings on the
net for sick people. literal cottage industry that men and women, who still buy them candy bars and grounds could possibly be
"It's just still really a big part lasted 70 years. tend to be at high risk for — of all things — cigarettes. used for retail, residences,
of our identity," said Amy At its height, an estimated the disease. Some stayed Both were subjected to a chef-driven inn or a brew-
Catania, executive direc- 2,000 or more patients at in bed. Others were "up pa- regular chest X-rays at ery, he said.
tor of Historic Saranac Lake. a time would stay locally tients" who could maybe the local school. Riley was "We want to save these
Spread by coughs and at privately run cottages take a walk for exercise. unfazed. "I never even buildings by putting them
sneezes, tuberculosis typi- and larger institutions like They reclined in the open thought of getting TB," Ri- to use," he said.q
air, bundling up in fur coats
when it became cold.
"You couldn't go near them.
You could walk up onto the
cure porch. They all knew
your names and you knew
theirs because it was like a
big family and they were
so young. ... You'd tell them
about your day," said Nat-
alie Leduc, now 89. "They
were so anxious to hear ev-
erything on the outside."
Death cast a long shadow
here, but a surprising num-
ber of patients shared sun-
In this photo from the early 20th century provided by the Sara- ny memories later on. This Friday, Nov. 29, 2019 shows the exterior of the Saranac Lab-
nac Lake Free Library, tuberculosis patients rest on the porch of oratory Museum and home, right, of tuberculosis pioneer Dr. Ed-
a sanatorium in Saranac Lake, N.Y. Anne Irene Remis, who ward Livingston in Saranac Lake, N.Y.
Associated Press came to Trudeau at age 23 Associated Press
in 1939, called her decade