Lake Placid's Clown House Gets Ready To Expand

LAKE PLACID - Jam-packed from floor to ceiling with clown memories, the Clown House at DeVane Park is about to get bigger, thanks to a $100,000 expansion.

A punched-through wall at the cramped quarters of the Toby's Clown Foundation building will lead next door to the new 30-by-30-square-foot area.

Historic collectibles for the clowning museum and hall of fame will hang on three walls of the expanded space. The fourth wall will serve as a library.

A handful of tables will give civic groups and clown aficionados a place to meet and study.

Keith "Toby" Stokes, foundation founder, pushed for more space at the facility that now houses office space, clowning items of interest and clown-related supplies for sale.

"The expansion of our present museum will create a lot more interest in clowning and add more tourism," said Stokes Tuesday.

Stokes promotes "Smiles, Love and Laughter." He splits his time between travel and training fellow clowns, with homes in Lake Placid and Pataskala, Ohio.

Albin "Big Al" Pelski is the president of the non-profit 501 (c) (3) foundation. Pelski also applies the greasepaint and puts on huge shoes as one of about 75 members of the Clown Alley, regularly visiting hospitals, nursing homes, hospices, libraries, schools and fairs.

"The foundation's primary function is to teach the art of clowning," said Pelski, on Tuesday. "This is an art form and we teach classes five times a year."

Plans to build a 5,500-square-foot addition, with a space for performance and practice, were scrapped in favor of current plans.

"It was too big, too much," said Pelski. "We're building something a little bit more comfortable so that we can afford the air conditioning and (property) taxes."

Wendell "The Hobo" Hagg is excited that architect designed sketch plans will soon lead to a new structure.

Pelski hopes to start construction early next year and move in before 2010.

Sixty different clown likenesses are depicted through the mural program. The new building will host two walls of clown-related murals.

"Quite a few people visit the 'Town of Murals,'" said Hagg. "We've blended into the community and become a fixture. We're also the 'Town of Clowns.'"

The museum will feature historic clown memorabilia, but not become a circus museum, said Pelski.

At the free museum, visitors will learn about clowning's origins, with special emphasis placed on the heyday of American clowning in the 1950s.

"While jesters made kings and queens laugh, they often had tough lives," said Pelski. "If they didn't entertain, they might have lost their head."

The clown house is packed full with gifts, clown garb and toys. The colorful building is located at Interlake Boulevard, off DeVane Park. The museum is open on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from noon to 4 p.m.

For information on becoming a clown, to visit the clown house or to donate clown memorabilia or money, call Al Pelski at 243-9473.