Friday, April 6, 2012

The Armory Houses

People who champion Eric Galloway and his activities in Hudson often talk about buildings he has rescued, derelict houses he has turned into occupied dwellings, people he has delivered from substandard conditions and given decent homes, and properties he has put back on the tax rolls. Those who have been paying attention know that most of this is hyperbole. With few exceptions, the buildings Galloway has purchased in Hudson were habitable and inhabited when he bought them, though most of them now stand vacant, and, except for 400 State Street (the library) and possibly the house he is reported to have purchased recently from Shiloh Baptist Church, all the buildings were on the tax rolls.


Two houses that Galloway has acquired recently, however, were notoriously derelict--the two houses on Fifth Street just north of the Armory. Their previous owners wanted them gone but apparently not enough to pay for professional demolition. Periodically it would be reported that they had been seen trying to dismantle the houses themselves. They even tried to get the fire department to set fire to them and use them for fire fighter training. 

In 2004, the City decided to seize the buildings by eminent domain. That effort was successful, but the City was required to pay the owners the appraised value of the houses, and nothing had been budgeted for the acquisition. In 2006, during Round I of Restore New York Community Initiatives, the City partnered with Eric Galloway and Henry van Ameringen to write a grant application for funds to restore the two houses and build one of Galloway's signature Greek Revival houses behind them, facing Prospect Street. Unfortunately, the project wasn't funded, and the next year the city attorney failed to file a document in a timely fashion, the houses were returned to their abusive owners, and the City was forced to pay the owners' legal fees.

In recent months, there has been lots of activity at the two houses. Regrettably, the first thing that was done was to remove a mature tree from the backyard, but since then attention has turned to repairing the foundations and removing layers of paint from the clapboard.

The houses are situated in a locally designated historic district, so before work proceeds much further, the project will have to go before the Historic Preservation Commission for a certificate of appropriateness. Fortunately, there is good photographic evidence of what the houses looked like in their prime. There's the photograph from the 1930s that appears at the beginning of this post and the one below, discovered by Lisa Durfee and published on her blog The Tainted Lady Lounge 

4 comments:

  1. This will be interesting.First proposal to our New H. P. C. with Swope now no longer Chair of Historic Preservation Committee,but coming before the HPC Board as a citizen representative of Galloway and Executive Director of GalVan, for GalVan's certificate of appropriateness .This should be closely watched,by citizens and CC ,as may set a standard for the many historic holdings GalVan is in possession of
    to be restored in the future.

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  2. Prison Alley--Tom Swope's first appearance before the Historic Preservation Commission as Eric Galloway's representative has already happened. He came to get a certificate of appropriateness for a new roof on the main house and for the Greek Revival portico, added only about seven years ago, on Galloway's own house in the 300 block of Allen Street. Swope appeared first on March 9 and was told his application was incomplete. (Most bizarre, since he really should know the requirements.) When he reappeared on March 23, the HPC, after some deliberation, granted the certificate of appropriateness and then got into a lengthy discussion about color--paint color as opposed to color of permanent materials, like roofs. Although every other house on that block has a galvanized metal roof that is silver colored, Galloway's portico, which is the only part of the roof visible from the street, is going to have a black metal roof.

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  3. I did see a group of workers there earlier this week pressure washing the old paint off the siding and working on the brick foundation. I was excited by the attention and hope that it later shines for everyone's approval.

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  4. OK,(i didn't know Galloway had fixed his own roof)
    not counting Galloway's personal residence ,Tom's first time for a certificate
    of appropriateness in front of new HPC,
    A New HPC, that I find encouraging
    We have some new people on HPC
    most recently
    Mr. Jack Alvarez "is a native of Hudson.
    His background as a preservation architect"
    has just joined HPC this month
    we also have newly appointees
    Scott Baldinger &
    Rick Rector
    and of course
    Anthony Thompson
    David Voorhees
    This is what I will find interesting,
    these certificates of appropriateness,on these properties.How HPC holds it ground(Law) with Galloway, City,Bldg.Dept. despite political pressure.We have other historic properties at stake that GalVan and others own.It matters how HPC sets the bar.
    I hope to see a change.
    I hope that "Later it shines for everyone's approval"as well, Unfortunately who you are is the sum parts of your actions,when it comes to reputation.GalVanGallowayLanternGRP /ORG's rep is not good.

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