Happening Before Our Eyes
By coincidence, two different readers alerted me today to two different buildings in Hudson suffering problems as a consequence of being vacant and neglected. The first is 501 Union Street, once known as "Apartments of Distinction."
The building was constructed c. 1864. From 1883 to 1896, it was the location of the Home for the Aged, before the home moved upstreet to 620 Union Street, where it stayed until it ceased to exist in 2014.
In 2013, the building got a new slate mansard roof and the chimneys were re-created, but since then, nothing much has happened. Today, the wall facing South Fifth Street is crumbling. The hole created by the bricks falling away is reported to go through to the interior.
The other is a humbler building, with a less distinguished past: 250 Allen Street.
A brick chimney on the house's east wall is crumbling. There is a hole that goes completely through to the interior.
And the wood of the little gable roof over the door is rotting.
Both buildings are owned by Galvan Initiatives Foundation. The Galvan Group acquired 501 Union Street in 2004. Galvan Partners acquired 250 Allen Street in 2011. Ownership of both properties was transferred to Galvan Initiatives Foundation in 2012.
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By sheer coincidence -- though looking for something also "happening before our eyes" -- I found this in a 2008 Register Star (and was too cheap to pay for the whole story:
ReplyDeleteRegister-Star (Hudson, NY) - July 12, 2008
New four-story building planned
HUDSON — The southwest corner of Fifth and Warren streets in Hudson is going to be seeing some major changes, as the Galvan Group plans to build a four-story mixed use building at 449-451 Warren Street.Project Manager Kevin Walker was before the city’s Historic Preservation Commission Friday with the plans for the project, which also boasts three attached townhouses along Fifth Street to Cherry Alley. The lot is 150 feet wide, Walker said, and would be built to its full width.The...
Three years later, that project morphed into the notorious "Starboard" project--thirty-three units of permanent supportive housing, which also, because of public outcry, never happened: https://gossipsofrivertown.blogspot.com/2011/08/about-galloways-lantern-organization.html
DeleteDon't get me started...
ReplyDeleteIf the Galvan building at 5th and Union has to be razed for neglect, we should reintroduce the pillory. That place should be HOUSING people. Galvan probably laughs at our vacancy law (if it's ever actually enforced) -- what's $500 to them?
ReplyDeleteBreaks my heart.
ReplyDelete