I'm Not an Architect, But . . .

The City desperately needs a new police and court facility--it has for almost twenty years--and that need is finally being addressed. After months of planning to satisfy the myriad requirements of the Hudson Police Department and the New York State Office of Court Administration, as well as Amtrak and the Department of Homeland Security, the project was expected to go out for bid in the next week or so. But this morning, John Mason reports in the Register-Star, the new facility "may have entered some rough political waters": "Mayor questions police/court process."

The mayor has two issues with the project. He reportedly feels that mayor's aide Gene Shetsky, whom the mayor has designated "clerk of the works," just as Cappy Pierro, mayor's aide to Rick Scalera, was the designated clerk of the works for the Central Firehouse, has been "left out of the loop on recent decision making regarding the design the building." The mayor's other issue is with the design itself.

On December 16, Alderman Nick Haddad (First Ward), who is the point man on the Common Council for the project, presented a progress report at the Council's regular meeting. As part of the report, he showed a rendering of the proposed design for the building, which differed from the rendering created by John O'Connell early in the planning process.

The next day, Gossips published the rendering Haddad had shown at the Council meeting, explaining that some refinement of the design was still to come.

According to the mayor, the appearance of the rendering on The Gossips of Rivertown led to "an outcry of opposition." The Register-Star quotes him as saying:

I am finding there are many residents who are not happy with the exterior design of what this building will look like. I have had several people over the month of December who have contacted me expressing their concerns with the outside building design. While I'm in no way looking to delay this project, I am suggesting that simultaneously to the project moving forward, a public review of the design of the outside of the building take place as the city has done with several other projects along the way.

It's not clear what "several other projects along the way" the mayor has in mind, but he is calling for a public hearing on the design for the police and court building. He is quoted by Mason as saying, "We should be open to allow for a public hearing for people to voice their approval or opposition to these plans. If there were not people saying they were upset, it wouldn't be a problem."

COPYRIGHT 2015 CAROLE OSTERINK