Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Welcome to Hudson

Just a month ago, Gossips reported on a proposal to demolish this house and create a "gateway park" at the fork of Columbia Turnpike and Route 23B. At the time, one hoped it was just someone's pet idea, with no real legs, but now there seems to be a committee working on the plan that includes Mayor Rick Scalera, his aide Cappy Pierro, Columbia County Public Works Commissioner Dave Robinson, Greenport Supervisor Ed Nabozny, and Richard Koskey, among others. This rendering by Morris Associates of what the park might look like appeared in today's Register-Star, together with a press release


Who's that gnomelike creature dressed in red, pointing the way to Hudson?

7 comments:

  1. I now prefer the abandoned house. At least it's real. The back wall of the Colarusso Park could sell out ad space too.

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  2. I too at first thought that this was a prank or a student beginner Photoshop exercise... until I read that Morris Associates was involved:

    http://www.sampratt.com/sam/2011/04/abandon-all-hope-ye-who-enter-here.html

    This is classic amateur design-by-committee. The prison mason wants a wall, the garden club lady wants a trellis, the gravel magnate wants a big rock, the former car salesman wants a muscle car... and then the CAD engineer tries to render all their suggestions in one tight space, applying the same sensibility used to configure half-hearted natural "mitigations" for big box parking lots.

    Doing *something* better with this gateway is a good idea, but this just makes Hudson look silly... There is no shortage of expert landscape architects and civic planners in our area; why not tap into that local talent?

    (Lastly: Making this into a park that people want to walk around is a really risky idea. Dodging traffic to get to that tiny triangle would not be fun.)

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  3. Melinda Slover submitted this comment:

    I would agree... this is a total embarrassment to Hudson. These people should not be in charge of doing such things. We have excellent resources available to us and should reach out to these people for recommendations. In a tactful way, we need to respectfully submit alternative solutions within the budget and it should be brought before the Common Council or some responsible committee. Projects like this are important and represent money and need to be thoughtfully approached and executed and not done by ad hoc committees operating in a vacuum with no input from the community.

    Can we get organized and submit other recommendations for consideration?

    Melinda

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  4. After reading this, I reviewed the previous Gossips report on this plan, as well as the comments. Is there any hope left for saving the house? Those who mentioned it would make a great statement of welcome to our communities- not in its current condition, of course- are spot-on. I would be willing to help promote and realize such a plan, but it would need a critical mass of interest to stop the wheels already in motion. Anyone?

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  5. I've fixed up a lot of old wrecks in my day, and if you ask me the house isn't worth saving, certainly not in that spot. The entry park seems like a good idea, with a better design perhaps - or just put a great tree there?

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  6. I think grass, some flowers or shrubbery and some pretty trees would be much more attractive as well as a lot less expensive. A better use of our tax dollars than putting up an expensive hodgepodge.

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