That Was the Way It Was
Lately, I've been spending some time reading the Common Council minutes for 1969. (For anyone who is not aware, the Common Council minutes from 1895 through 1983 are available on the City of Hudson website. Just click on History in the left column of the home page.)
Some pretty heady stuff was going on in Hudson in 1969. That was the year that the Common Council passed a resolution authorizing the Hudson Urban Renewal Agency to acquire real property in the Urban Renewal Area and another executing a contract for a "Demolition Grant under Title I of the Housing Act of 1949." Accompanying these resolutions was the following boundary description for the Urban Renewal Area.
From the description, it appears that the north side of the first two blocks of Union Street, as well as everything on Warren Street west of Second, was part of the original Urban Renewal Area. Obviously--mercifully--much of Warren Street and all of Union Street were spared.
Also in 1969, the struggle to save the General Worth Hotel was also at its height. Gossips has devoted many posts to the General Worth, notably this one which quotes an article by Ada Louise Huxtable that appeared in the New York Times on September 14, 1969. Two days later, on September 16, 1969, Lilian Reineck, a local champion of the General Worth, appeared before the Common Council. What follows is the account of what happened after she was "granted the privilege of the floor," quoted in its entirety from the Common Council minutes.
The day before Reineck appeared before the Common Council, there had been a public hearing on the fate of the General Worth Hotel at which James Marston Fitch, from the Columbia University School of Architecture, gave testimony in support of preserving the building. The following year, however, despite all the efforts to save it, the General Worth was demolished.
The picture above, taken shortly before the 1837 Greek Revival building was demolished, is part of the Historic American Building Survey at the Library of Congress.
COPYRIGHT 2016 CAROLE OSTERINK
Fascinating. Do you know when that shot of Lower Union was taken?
ReplyDeleteI don't know for certain. Sometime in the early 1970s, after all the buildings on the west side of Front Street had been demolished but before Hudson Terrace apartments were built. I think the last building to go on South Front Street was the Polish National Alliance building, which was right at the southwest corner of Warren and Front. That was demolished in April 1974.
DeleteMs Osterink
ReplyDeleteYou should look into information before posting something you know nothing about. Re: tree taken down on Warren St. There is more to the story than just a tree taken down. Furthermore, Tree Code was introduced a while back in which my husband and son tried to introduce this code for the city of Hudson, but nothing ever came from it. Both my husband and son were born and raised here and the need for a "Tree Code" is considered highly recommended but to no avail. Time wasted on politics and people that have their own agenda.