WILLIAMSBURG — It’s the end of an era in Williamsburg, where a staple of the community may be closing its doors after more than a century.
American Wood Column Corporation, a 110-year-old family business that’s turned timber into everything from pulpits to Hollywood props, faces closure.
“The molds themselves are priceless, and they’re worthless. My grandfather bought them used, so they’ve got to be pushing 200 years old,” said third-generation owner Thomas Lupo, who noted the company’s adaptability over the years. “Part of the reason this business lasted so long was because we didn’t make one thing.
“The other thing is that nobody in my family wanted it to die.”
View this post on Instagram
The company’s handiwork can be found everywhere — from columns and church altars to movie props and even bombs during World War II.
The woodworkers’ steady hands have produced ornate pieces for multiple churches in the Diocese of Brooklyn, including Transfiguration in Williamsburg and St. Kevin in Flushing, St. Francis of Assisi in Astoria, St. Peter Claver in Bedford-Stuyvesant and Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Williamsburg. The company has also produced pieces for St. Francis Preparatory School in Fresh Meadows.
Some of their famous pop culture creations include the iconic Saturday Night Live clock and the fictional gravestone of Don Vito Corleone featured in The Godfather.
However, the slow disappearance of the trades and industries that once formed the backbone of New York City has taken a toll. Lupo acknowledged that the specialized woodworking and ornamentation skills the corporation’s longtime employees have mastered are in demand by fewer customers. Many of the companies American Wood Column once worked with no longer exist, he noted.
Still, Lupo said it’s difficult to part with the business and the two-story building on Grand Street where it has operated.
“Unlike a lot of people who retire or sell their business, this is also giving up part of my family history,” Lupo said. “The desk that I sit at, my grandfather sat at a hundred years ago.”
There’s no official closing date yet. Lupo said he takes some comfort in knowing that even after the doors close, much of the company’s work will remain.
“When I look at a movie or look at a show or something like that, it still shows up,” he said. “The buildings might come down, the sets will change, but you know what?
“With technology today, the images of it will last forever.”
Jessica Easthope contributed to this story.
