Getting Along at the Armory

A couple of years ago, when Galvan Partners/Galvan Foundation first bought the Armory, Scott Baldinger, on his blog Word on the Street, shared his hope that the chain link fence on the south side of the building, complete with barbed wire, would be removed: "Barbed Remarks." His words went unheeded. The fence hasn't come down, and it's not likely it will be removed anytime soon. Yesterday at the Hudson Area Library board meeting, David Murphy, co-chair of the board's capital campaign committee, announced that a sign would soon be installed on the fence, presumably identifying the site as the future home of the Hudson Area Library and encouraging support.

Since the proposal was made to put the senior center in the Officers' Hall at the Armory, some have wondered what the library board thought of sharing the building with the City's nascent senior program. Apparently, Common Council president Don Moore made an effort to find out. HAL board president Mark Orton reported yesterday that he had met with Moore and had told him that he thought the senior center was a "good match programmatically and congenial." He went on to say, at yesterday's board meeting, that he thought the library might "participate with the senior center in developing programs" but commented that the library could not take over the responsibility of running the senior center. 

The discussion of the senior center at last night's library board meeting was prompted by Carole Clark, who had come to the meeting to ask if the library board members knew "what senior activities are like and what the space needs are." Clark specifically wanted to talk about the aerobics program which, she said, "needs a very large space and, when it's happening, is very loud." Clark, who participates in the aerobics program for seniors now offered at the Youth Center, said that more than twenty people--men and women--regularly take part in the aerobics class which is now held in the gymnasium upstairs at the Youth Center.

HAL board treasurer Marie Rasner, intimating that these concerns were being shared with the wrong body, told Clark, "We won't be asked if there is enough room."