The Latest Word on Promenade Hill

John Duchessi of TGW Consultants just announced, less than two hours after Gossips published a post wondering when it would happen, that the second "public input session" about the proposed improvements to Promenade Hill will take place on Tuesday, July 28, at 7 p.m., at 1 North Front Street. At this meeting, a conceptual design will be presented that reflects the ideas and suggestions solicited from the public at June 24 meeting.

In an email announcing the meeting, Duchessi stressed these points:

• First, the conceptual design that is submitted to NYS Parks is still subject to additional public scrutiny and further refinement.
• Second, the Parks grants have become extraordinarily competitive and, as such, the project budget is a very important consideration. In order to submit a competitive application the redevelopment of Promenade Hill Park needs to have a fundable budget. Stated differently: the project should be broken into phases (the entrance area and then the main Park area) so that each of  the funding requests are more modest and, therefore, more competitive.
• Third, in addition to the volunteered services rendered by [Dragana] Zoric, Thomas Elliott undertook the field work for the base mapping (at no cost and during his busy season) and Crawford and Associates utilized the field data to draft the base maps (pro bono) that Ms. Zoric needs for a technically sound design.

The meeting will take place, as did last year's meeting about a conceptual "re-imagining" of the Public Square, a.k.a. Seventh Street Park, just a few days before the grant application is due, allowing no time to amend what is being proposed for the purpose of the grant application.

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