The Syracuse City Preservation Board voted Nov. 20 to accept the configuration presented for replacement garage doors at 118 Windsor Place in the Berkeley Park Preservation District.

Applicant Dennis Sweeny told the board one door was “barely functional” and the other increasingly difficult to open, and that Semki Garage Doors provided estimates and mockups. “The project is basically to replace some garage doors,” Sweeny said, adding the original doors are wood and show rot in parts.

Board members discussed repair versus replacement. One board member said the doors were salvageable in his experience with similar 1927 doors but recommended a front gutter to reduce splash rot; another stressed homeowner usability, noting the doors are heavy and the applicant is concerned about his wife being able to operate them. The applicant said weight and track failure were practical reasons to prefer replacement.

After clarifying available vendor options for glazing configuration, a motion to accept the application as described (the ribbed-long, beadboard option that approximates the historic panels) was seconded and approved by voice vote. The record notes the board favored the historical replication while acknowledging some members preferred repair where feasible.