Those pre-Cambrian latching relays are such a PITA to work with... 
Indeed, and I have 60 of those relays to contend with 
The panels are mostly jumbled bundles of romex, in addition to all the 18V wires, though someone thought enough to label each relay and remote switch so they are a little easier to sort through.
Yeah, those are nice, and I've looked at them... the problem becomes where to put them so they are easily accessible, meet code, and don't look ugly hanging off a wall. Fishing wires through the walls is a nightmare because the builder decided to insulate all the interior walls, and instead of drywall on studs, all the walls are plywood over studs, then covered with 3/4" thick tongue and groove paneling.
I would have guessed that all of your existing 45 year old relays are already inside a large panel. If so, I was envisioning simply rewiring that panel, re-using all of the existing wiring.
I am sure everyone would love to see some pictures of this 1970's high-end lighting solution. That might really help to spark some ideas!
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Wow...your house is not going to fall down. Maybe add a layer of plaster over the tongue and groove, and then some mid-60's fake oak paneling, just to finish it up? 
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Oh, the existing paneling looks 70's enough as it is.
And another fun fact about the house... All the interior paneling and all the exterior siding is nominal 1" clear vertical grain western red cedar. Originally it had a cedar shake roof, as well, though that's been converted to metal, thank goodness.
If the house were ever to catch fire, by the time our volunteer fire department managed to get their boots on, the place would likely be fully involved. How it managed to survive the wildfire over Labor Day is nothing short of a miracle.
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Well, I bet you don’t have termites… or other bugs trying to get in. It’s like living in a huge cedar chest.
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A glass half-full is always welcome. 
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That is what I was thinking too. You shouldn't have to change anything except the relay for the new smart device. Remove the dumb relay and put in the smart one in the same housing/cabinet.
The push button in the wall should be able to be the input to something like those dimmer modules linked above. They take 8-230V input, so 18v is perfect.
Could always do this! 
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LOL!!!
That panel of switches does resemble what I'm dealing with, though mine is rather less neat in appearance, even with only 24 relays per box.
The space in the existing boxes is pretty well taken up, so it would be far easier to add a new box alongside and put the smart modules in that. I'll still need to pull some wires if I go that route, but it tends to be a little easier when simply adding to an existing circuit path up into the attic.
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Sorry for taking so long to get this posted, but I just have too many other projects to juggle, and this one was shelved for a bit. Anyway, here's a photo of one of my relay boxes.
This one contains 24 relays and has dimensions of 18" X 24" x 4". I have another just like it, plus a 12-relay box as well. Of the 60 relay branches, there are about 5 that are a mystery. They don't seem to affect any lighting circuits, nor do I find any outlets that are switched by them.
And this brings me to a question about upgrading my lighting system. Is the Hubitat Elevation able to send an ascii text message to a certain IP address, based on an event like tripping a motion detector? If yes, where should I start to learn how to do this?
I agree they are a pain sometimes. The wonder, however, is just how robust they are. They have been in use for some 45 years, and for the most part are still operating just as designed. Of the 60 relays, only one was replaced over the years, and only two others appear to have failed (but are on "ghost" circuits that don't affect anything inside the house).
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I’m trying to follow but I’m slow. As long as a light is “zigbee 3.0” it should pair with the hue bridge? I’ll lose that power state feature tho?
I suppose nothing is 100% guaranteed, but most Zigbee Light Link (ZLL) or Zigbee 3.0 bulbs should pair with the Hue Bridge. Ones I've tried include the Ikea bulbs (not a fan of most except the CT-only or white bulbs), Cree Conneted, Gledopto, and likely a few more I can't remember (most of mine are Hue now). There are undoubtedly many more.
However, you are correct that third-party/non-Hue bulbs will not support the Hue-only "default power restore state" feature (and also not at lest one other feature, native HomeKit support).
I've tried very similar bulbs (perhaps the same, except they came with a remote in a single pack; lots of people posted about them here a couple years ago). Technically, they can pair to the Hue Bridge. They do have some oddities, like turning on to a higher level before dimming down to a low level even if you turn them on to a low level, but from a compatibility perspective, they work. Again, you won't get some Hue-only features like default power restore state or HomeKit.
I'm not sure how they fare when paired directly to Hubitat, as that is a configuration I never tried with mine. Given mixed luck withdrawal Zigbee bulbs, I'd still probably avoid that setup if you can.
What color bulbs would you recommend that aren’t $50?
Maybe Inovelli's if you don't mind Z-Wave, but they're out of stock now (and still have some shortcomings, like not working well on a C-7, at least not unless you pair them without security, which requires either a firmware update on the bulb or a secondary controller). Some people have good luck with Sengled, but I've never had very good luck with most directly paired Zigbee bulbs, even when I tried a hub dedicated to that purpose. Your luck may vary, and that's probably the cheapest option; I'm just not a huge fan compared to the near 100% reliability of a Hue Bridge. They used to be $60 each, so I'm actually pretty happy with $50 now, even though that price is still pretty out there and I had to build my collection up over time.
If you don't need color, there are color-temperature (shades of white) bulbs for a a bit less and fixed white-only bulbs for way less, even Hue ones. That being said, I enjoy at least color temperature control in most rooms (but really have color almost everywhere, CT in select locations, and fixed white in areas like most of my unfinished basement where this matters far less). But again, your preferences may vary.
I have a few of these and they have worked well. I prefer the warmer CT of the Sylvania bulbs over the Sengled (which have a redish hue I dislike at 2000K), but the only reliable Sylvania are the rt5/6. If going with Sengled, you have to remember that you’re adding end devices.
Like you, most of my lights are now Hue, and most are color even though I rarely use colors, but they have a wider CT range that I like.
