It's been almost a year since the first information surfaced about a plan to build a senior center appended to the north side of the Hudson Youth Center at the corner of Third and Union streets. Last night at the Youth & Aging Committee meeting, Common Council President Don Moore provided an update on the progress.
The senior center is being funded primarily by a $400,000 Community Development Block Grant. The grant is being admininstered and the project overseen by Hudson Community Development and Planning Agency (HCDPA). HCDPA issued a request for proposals a while back, and the proposal that was awarded the project was a collaboration between architect Jane Smith and Crawford & Associates. Smith is a partner in the New York architectural firm Spacesmith and is also a Hudson resident, living just around the corner from the Youth Center and serving on the Hudson Historic Preservation Commission. Smith will soon be meeting with seniors to learn about programming needs and space requirements. It may be some time before architectural plans for the addition are ready, but we can be fairly sure that the final plans will bear little resemblance to the rendering above, which accompanied the CDBG application.
The total budget for the senior center is $550,000--$400,000 from CDBG and $150,000 from the Hudson River Bank & Trust Foundation. Moore stressed that the priority in designing the building is figuring out what can be built for $550,000.
Crawford & Assoc. is apparently THE only game in town.
ReplyDeleteDid Crawford & Associates ever resolve the massive erosion they created on Mill Street when they were - yet again - awarded the grant money to excavate and reshape the hill - but never considered spreading some seed to keep it all in place?
Oh well - maybe they can be awarded another no bid contract to fix it someday.