For years, there has been talk about restoring, enhancing, improving the fountain that is the centerpiece of Seventh Street Park, a.k.a. the Public Square. Now it seems it may be time to come together and decide as a community what's to be done and work together to do it.
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| Photo: The Urban Prospector |
As Gossips has reported in the past, the current fountain, known as "Inspiration Fountain," was completed in 1975.
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| Photo: PhotobyGibson.com |
It was a gift of the Kiwanis Club, and it replaced the original fountain, the "Venus fountain," which was installed in the park in 1883.
The entire 7th street park needs help. The black asphalt installed a few years ago over the old and cracked walkways was an affront - ugly, poorly done, not worthy of a downtown, historic public park, no input from anyone, Rob Perry just went ahead and did it. (Notice the cracks in the first picture). There have been 4 large, orange safety barrels near the fountain for at least 8 months now. They add such charm to the park -- its founders would be so proud of us. It seems CSX or DPW put them there to keep people from crossing the tracks, and indeed no one should be crossing there as the steps are in horrible condition. But the barrels don't block access, they are on the side of the path, not in the path, and people continue to cross the tracks there all the time. Does DPW care who put the barrels there if they didn't do it? Apparently not. If DPW did put them there, what for, and for how long will they remain doing nothing but shining brightly night and day? The park doesn't need 4 useless orange barrels. An orange cone has been covering an electric outlet on the ground, too, for like 8 months. Are you going to leave the cone there forever or fix the problem?
ReplyDeleteHomeless people smoking and drinking and sleeping on the benches is a daily occurrence. The police occasionally scatter them away, but it isn't law enforcement. The 2 kiosks along Warren are an embarrassment (especially the map of Hudson). Picnic tables are there, but they get moved regularly (because they are not secured) and often end up in inconvenient locations, like right against a tree or under an enormous limb that looks like it may fall at any time. Several electric box lids on the ground are broken and easily accessible (one is now covered with another orange cone as of two weeks ago). My guess is that Rob Perry has given up on the entire park. He just doesn't care.
It doesn't take someone with an engineering degree (which Rob Perry does not have) to know that all pumps and motors are replaceable. It might not be easy, but it's doable if you have the will and you give a crap. If you can't replace the originals, find something else that will work. (Though this would be difficult for Mr. Perry since he is never in his office) It's frightening to hear our DPW director be so casually dismissive about the fountain. For $108,000 a year, you think we would get a little more effort out of him besides "The fountain is shot." I wonder if he even stepped foot into the fountain to look at the motor or pump.
We all deserve better.
BB, I'm not one to step into the old Hudson vs. new Hudson fray, but I'm going to have to break my own rule on this one. Your one particular comment that "The 2 kiosks along Warren are an embarrassment" bears some clarification. Is it the encasements that bother you? The mosaic of tiles in the park was actually made by my eighth grade art class, and has been in the park for the last 38 years. There is a similar piece on the small parcel of City land at the NE corner of Front and Warren. These pieces aren't an "embarrassment," but rather depictions of the city's architecture and history through the eyes of its youth (albeit youth of the past). There is a constant struggle to not have Hudson's history erased. Over time, we've lost things that were important to our community (e.g. Gold's scrap yard, the CC Club - the list goes on). It's understood that with progress comes change, and that change sometimes means loss. I would suggest proceeding with a bit of sensitivity to the fact that Hudson, while it is in so many ways wonderful and vibrant now, did exist and had its own charm before the beginning of its Renaissance ca. 1990.
DeleteTiffany - thanks for the history. I'm not a fan of either kiosk, nor the one on Front. Hudson was a whale processing town, built on the carcasses of animals we nearly exterminated (we being all white people). Can we get beyond this image and brand? I, for one, am all for erasing that past (at least the act of promoting it through a brand and image), and my guess is that at some point in the future someone in charge at City Hall will agree with me and the smiling whale image will be terminated for something more compassionate. Isn't it the same as sports teams with native american-inspired names and images like the smiling crazy-looking caricature of an "indian" in Cleveland that is no more? We nearly got rid of all of that race of people as well. What does a mosaic of whales say about us? Thank you whales for letting us kill you for your oil so that we could build this town! For 8th graders, I guess it's pretty good work, but what did they care, they were probably just told to make whale mosaics and not question the history, just like our textbooks would gloss over the reality of America's approach to native americans and the desire to get rid of them all. As for the map at the 7th Street park, that is just ugly and useless. And yes, the dirt at the bottom of that one bothers me, too. If that were to be cleaned properly, would it be done by DPW? Of course! Years ago!
DeleteDing dong, that ugly old prison witch is dead. Now let's raise the money to put a proper fountain in, exactly like what was there before. We've talked about this for over 20 years. It's time.
ReplyDeleteJust a question -- how did the original last from 1883 until 1975 -- and the current one has only lasted from 1975 until 2021 ??
ReplyDeletei think in the old days, things were built to last - can we go back to the old model ?
I don't really think what is there can be called a public fountain. It is more of a public chastity belt erected by a bunch of erotophobes as a form of collective punishment.
ReplyDeleteTalk about kicking a dead horse.
ReplyDeleteIf you want to return to Public Square’s original design that everything but the RR tracks must go.
Otherwise move forward with a simple design.
A new fountain, benches and tables.
Trim the older trees plant new add new walkways.
All you need is pencil and paper or cad design.
Please add a spoonful of common sense.
I opened my first shop in 1990 across from the park. At that time only the 500 block was viable, but I was certain that as Hudson rebirthed , the park would be the first jewel to be repolished. After all , a city’s park (and town clock) represent the pride of its citizenry. 30 years later the park is still the same. Now that I am gone the DPW forgets to wind the town clock even though I had to remind them constantly. It’s true. Hudson’s DPW is a joke.
ReplyDeleteVincenzo - Thank you for reminding us of the stuck clocks embarrassment. Since you are no longer around, you may have missed the recent DPW meeting where Rob Perry explained that the clocks were inspected by a professional and that they would be too expensive to fix. They were originally a gift from the Elks or someone, and now we can't afford to fix them. So it is always 11:30 in the park. The question is, like much that should be removed or fixed in the park (especially the 2 kiosks), how long will the clocks remain unfixed and an embarrassment? Will Rob Perry suggest to do ANYTHING other than to say "They're shot" in regards to the clocks and the fountain. Am I missing anything else he is ignoring?
DeleteVincent was talking about the clock in the tower of the First Presbyterian Church. The city clock being in the tower of the First Presbyterian Church has been a tradition in Hudson since 1802, when the church was located at Second and Partition streets. I did a post about it a couple of years ago: https://gossipsofrivertown.blogspot.com/2018/08/time-stands-still.html
DeleteYou, bb, are talking about the clock in the southwest corner of the Public Square. That clock was a gift of the Rotary Club in 2004 or so. Since the Rotary Club is to my knowledge still alive and functioning in Hudson, they might like to fund repairing the clock they gave to the City.
Thank you Carole. It’s amazing so many Hudsonians aren’t aware of their real city clock that chimes every hour - when the DPW winds it - once a week.
Deletewould the mayors office or the mayor himself like to make an official comment on why the clock was made to stop ringing ?
ReplyDelete